Every other spring, Republicans in Wyoming’s 23 county organizations gather to elect delegates to this summer’s state convention, adopt a platform for the next biennium, and pass various resolutions. We are in the middle of that convention season.
Last Saturday, I spent an interesting day as one of 55 voting delegates to the Uinta County Convention. I had invited a friend who is highly interested in public policy, but who is not engaged in the local process. I wanted him to see the value of local politics, but he was unable to attend.
After a slow start, the Uinta County Republicans spent the day walking through a raft of amendments to organizational bylaws and considering nearly 20 resolutions.
Resolutions on “Protecting Unborn Life Through Constitutional and Lawful Means” and “Supporting Children Through Strong Stable Families,” were so solid that they encountered no opposition. A “Resolution on Education Freedom” was nearly as strong.
Other resolutions drew sustained debate. Delegates picked apart the language. They stood to speak for ranchers, or teachers, or parents. They explained constitutional principles and legal nuances. Through it all, I learned a lot.
If you have never attended a party meeting, you would be amazed at the depth of understanding on display. Its participants are anything but “deplorables.” Some have an encyclopedic knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and its principles. Others have spent countless hours researching issues ranging from the history of federal land in western states, to education funding, to data centers.
Most impressive is not only the level of understanding that you will hear in debate, but the capacity of delegates to listen and to be persuaded. If your only experience with the political process is to consume rage porn from cable news, you probably think that arguments are pointless tirades.
But at the convention, I saw more than angry arguments. I saw neighbors being knit together by a common understanding of the world. They didn’t come with that understanding already in place. Nor did they leave in perfect agreement.
But at the end of the day, they were better citizens and better neighbors than they were only hours earlier. That’s what participation in public discourse is all about. And that is why the final resolution of the day was such a stark contrast.
Whereas the previous resolutions were about issues - ranging from the obvious to the highly contested - the last resolution was wholly ad hominem.
It called for “the immediate censure and removal of Karl Allred from all future Uinta County GOP meetings and representation at any Wyoming GOP function and additionally demands that this action be adopted or rejected by a roll call vote of the body to recorded in detail in the meeting minutes” (sic).
Whoa! Its gravity was underscored by former Representatives, Ryan Berger and Jon Conrad, who brought it to the floor.
I had heard that some county conventions would be considering various censure resolutions to formally rebuke the actions of elected officials. But this was different.
Allred is not an elected official, but a private citizen. For decades, he has served Uinta County and the State of Wyoming with countless volunteer hours as party chair, vice-chair, state committeeman, and precinct committeeman. Not only that, he honorably served as Wyoming’s Secretary of State at the appointment of Governor Mark Gordon.
Allred has given thousands of dollars and thousands of miles, from his own pocket, to support conservative public policy. His pockets are not Teton-County-deep. They are grass-roots generous.
So, what could possibly merit such an over-the-top and illegal measure as banning a member of the public from future public meetings?
As it turns out, the infraction - if there was one at all - originated with the vice-chairman of the county who gave Allred his proxy to represent the county at the state central committee. And it was confirmed by the entire state central committee that accepted it as valid. So, why was only one person out of dozens singled out?
Awkward does not begin to describe it.
Once the egg was laid, discussion began timidly. But the convention quickly understood the absurdity of the charge and the prescribed punishment. When the roll call was taken to be “recorded in detail in the meeting minutes,” it was unanimous - and emphatic. Even the bringers of the resolution went on record against it.
At first, I was glad that my friend had been unable to come and did not see this embarrassing episode. Such meanness doesn’t do much for GOP recruitment efforts. But, on further reflection, I decided to write this article for him.
Even this event demonstrated the value of participating in local politics. If reasoned public debate can persuade the bringers of such a resolution to vote against it, cooler heads can prevail in just about anything.
We need your voice and your participation. Don’t stay away because of the politics of personal destruction. Show up and put an end to it.
Jonathan Lange is a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod pastor in Evanston and Kemmerer and serves the Wyoming Pastors Network. Follow his blog at https://jonathanlange.substack.com/. Email: JLange64@protonmail.com
