After caucus frustration, GOP plans to revisit process

Posted 3/3/16

Local Republicans got a chance to speak on behalf of their favorite presidential candidates — about 15 of the more than 100 people at the Cody VFW took that opportunity — but a mixture of restrictive county, state and national Republican party …

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After caucus frustration, GOP plans to revisit process

Posted

It’s believed that more people than ever turned out for the Park County Republican Party’s caucuses on Tuesday — and it appeared that perhaps more people than ever left dissatisfied with the process.

Local Republicans got a chance to speak on behalf of their favorite presidential candidates — about 15 of the more than 100 people at the Cody VFW took that opportunity — but a mixture of restrictive county, state and national Republican party rules effectively prohibited any kind of vote or poll on the candidates.

“This is all well and good, but when I walk out of here ... I don’t know where anybody really stands,” said Cody resident Tom Keating.

Many attendees said they felt they were not being given a voice on the GOP’s presidential nominee.

Dona Becker of Powell, one of a number of Republicans who participated in the caucuses for the first time, left disappointed.

“I came wanting to take part in the process and this was not quite the process that I wanted to take part in,” Becker said.

Cody High School student Charlie Davis came to his first caucus, too, citing concern about the country’s direction.

“It’s not what I thought it was,” said Davis, who will turn 18 before the election. “I was kind of disappointed, because I thought there’d be a vote.”

The state party did conduct a straw poll at its caucuses four years ago that, while having no direct bearing on the presidential race, gave folks a chance to cast some kind of a vote for their favorite candidate.

However, Wyoming couldn’t even do that this year because of Republican National Committee rules.

“I think the Republican Party needs to address this for 2020 and change the whole process,” offered Jody Horvath of Cody. “We have no vote.”

Park County Republican Party Chairman Colin Simpson said the state party is assembling a committee to discuss changing what he called the “archaic” current process.

“It’s a long discussion actually, with a lot of ramifications to any change, but clearly, it needs to be easier and people’s votes need to count more” than they do now, Simpson said.

Wyoming’s Republicans weigh in on their party’s presidential nominee by getting to pick 29 delegates to the party’s national convention; a candidate needs 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination. (Current estimates from The Associated Press put Donald Trump with 319 delegates, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz with 226, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio with 110, Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 25 and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson with eight.)

Wyoming’s GOP chooses its delegates through a complicated, three-step process.

At the caucuses, any registered Republican can show up and vote on who will represent their precinct (or voting district) at their March 12 county convention. Then, at the county conventions, the delegates elected at the caucuses pick either a delegate or an alternate to the national convention. (Because it got to pick a delegate in 2012, Park County will choose an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention this presidential cycle.)

The delegates at the county convention also vote on who they would like to represent them at April’s state GOP convention, and those Republicans will pick 14 more delegates to the national convention.

While the role of rank-and-file Republicans is limited by the process set up by the state GOP, the Park County party further limits members’ participation.

Under the county GOP’s bylaws, the only Republicans who are eligible to be elected as delegates to the county convention are precinct committee people — party leaders who were elected during the 2014 primary. Caucus goers were required to vote for their precinct committeemen and women as delegates and were only allowed to pick alternates to the county convention.

The main way that non-precinct committee people could make a difference in the presidential race at the caucuses was by bending the ear of their precinct committeemen and women — assuming they were in attendance.

Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Matt Micheli recently explained that, “you have to be there (at the caucuses) and be a part of that to get elected to the county convention,” but those are not the rules in Park County.

Precinct committee people who missed Tuesday’s caucuses were automatically advanced to the convention. Only if they fail to show up for the March 12 convention can they be replaced by the alternates chosen on Tuesday night.

While the presidential race is the most attention-grabbing part of the caucuses, they also provide everyday Republicans a chance to make suggestions about the county party’s platform, resolution and bylaws.

That was little consolation to some.

“As far as a platform, all of this, I think it’s fine, but there’s nothing like being able to cast your vote and have it count,” said Jo Walker of Powell.

Walker drew the night’s biggest applause when — during a speech in support of Sen. Cruz — she mentioned her disappointment about there being no vote.

She said later that she feels the process benefits the GOP’s leadership.

“To live in the state of Wyoming and not be able to cast a primary vote for the candidate of your choice is unbelievable,” Walker said. “I believe it’s unpatriotic and un-American.”

The disappointment with the caucuses seemed widespread, but it wasn’t unanimous.

For example, Terry Hinkle of Cody described himself as pleased with the turnout and he didn’t take issue with the process.

“I think it’s a fair process and I’m glad we had the people we had tonight,” Hinkle said.

Simpson, the county party’s chairman, said the dissatisfaction didn’t become really apparent until it was too late to change things for 2016. (Under Republican National Committee rules Wyoming had to finalize it’s plans by Oct. 1.)

“It’s been the same way for two decades without anyone raising big objections to it,” Simpson said. “And now we have to take action.”

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