Behind closed doors in Douglas, Wyoming Republicans gathered in early 2022 to replace the state's school superintendent. Jillian Balow had resigned, and the party had to nominate three candidates.
The outcome was already decided.
Between meetings, party allies quietly passed around a preselected slate. The questions asked of candidates weren't about budgets, teacher policy, or education law. They were about loyalty.
One candidate was grilled about a legislative vote. Another was attacked over a contract she had no part in issuing. The third was tested on GOP platform compliance.
It was about loyalty, not leadership.
Then came the new rule: every voting delegate had to select exactly three candidates, no more and no fewer. Ballots that didn't follow that instruction were thrown out.
The current party chair claims that under voting (voting for fewer than three) is "gaming the system."
But ask yourself: what system were they protecting? The one that lets party insiders pick successors before the vote even happens?
Since then, that rule shows up in every vacancy nomination: county commissioners, state legislators, assessors. And in every case, the results follow the same pattern.
The chosen few advance, the qualified get sidelined, and the public is left out.
Look at Park County in early 2025. When longtime Assessor Pat Meyer retired, six Republicans applied to replace him. Only one was a certified appraiser with years of experience: Meyer's deputy, Terry Call.
Yet in the first round of voting, the Park County GOP knocked the list down to five. Wouldn't you know it, Call was the only one excluded.
Meanwhile Bob Ferguson, a state party officer with no appraiser credentials whatsoever, made the list. Troy Bray, a central committee member, posted publicly that Ferguson was the preferred candidate.
The fix was in. Too bad for them that the committee messed up the voting and it went to a judge.
Or take Sheridan County, where a commission seat opened in 2023. The GOP's primary nominee, Holly Jennings, was not only active in the county party but also part of a politically connected family. Before the central committee even voted, another nominee reportedly told someone he already knew he'd be on the list.
The county commissioners declined to appoint any of the three and sent it to the courts instead. The judge ultimately picked Jennings. The county party sued anyway. And lost.
Senate District 6 required both Laramie and Goshen counties to fill the vacancy jointly. They held the meeting in the farthest northern corner of Goshen County, a long drive for Laramie delegates.
No proxies allowed.
The result? All three nominees were aligned with hard-right leadership. Laramie County, long out of step with the state party, had little say.
This month, Laramie County had to fill the House District 10 seat after Rep. John Eklund passed away. The Laramie County GOP, often maligned by state party leaders for its independence, chose three nominees with real records of public service.
One was the mayor of Pine Bluffs. The county commission held public interviews and made their pick without drama or lawsuits.
It worked the way it's supposed to.
That's the difference.
Here's the thing: when party insiders don't control the process, qualifications rise to the top. When they do, ideology and loyalty win the day.
The law governing these appointments says little about how parties make their nominations. There's no requirement to force voters to pick exactly three names. In regular elections, voters can select up to the number of seats available; one, two, or all three. That's how it should be here.
But here's what that rule really does: it ensures loyalists stay in and qualified independent thinkers stay out.
The party rules don't allow voters to select the one or two best candidates. They require full slates, protecting insiders at the expense of qualifications.
The game isn't over. In Sheridan County, the current Assessor plans to retire at the end of 2025. The process to replace him begins in January.
Whether anyone qualified gets a fair shot is questionable. The pattern suggests otherwise.
It's laughable that the current powers-that-be in the state Republican Party, with their joined-at-the-hip Freedom Caucus cohorts, regularly blather about the so-called old guard.
In over 50 years, I have not seen the level of cronyism that these folks have institutionalized.
This isn't what representation looks like.
Ask yourself: do we want our public offices filled by those who earn their positions through experience and integrity, or by those who are simply loyal to the right people?
The public still has power here.
Show up at central committee meetings. Ask questions. Demand transparency in how nominations are made. Run for precinct positions yourself.
Because when the game is rigged, the only way to win is to change the rules.
Gail Symons can be reached at: GailSymons@mac.com
