The Park County Republican Party has removed over 20 precinct committeemen and women from their elected positions, saying they failed to attend enough party meetings. However, there’s some question as to whether the party’s action is legal.

The Park County GOP amended its bylaws last year to say that members are deemed to have vacated their seats if they miss three straight meetings without giving notice to the party’s chairman or secretary or sending another Republican in their place. At its Aug. 3 meeting, the party passed a motion to remove those who’d violated the policy; a total of 22 individuals — representing nearly a fifth of the central committee — were notified of their removal in an Aug. 31 letter.

The party discussed the situation for more than an hour during a Thursday night meeting in Cody, but mostly did so in a closed-door executive session, leaving the details unclear.

While the party hasn’t disclosed a list of the vacancies and not who was removed, those booted from their posts include former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, former Speaker of the Wyoming House and party chairman Colin Simpson, Powell Mayor John Wetzel, Park County Commissioner Scott Steward and Northwest College Trustee Dusty Spomer.

Grievance filed

Two of the ousted committeemen, former Cody City Councilman Landon Greer and Mack Frost, attended the August meeting. After the body voted to remove the members who’d violated the three-meeting policy, it was revealed that Frost and Greer were among them, and they were asked to leave the voting area, Frost said.

The men subsequently filed a grievance with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office. They note that the party’s bylaws go beyond state law, which says a committee seat becomes vacant when the person dies, resigns, fails to be elected or moves out of the precinct.

“We are NOT dead, we have NOT resigned, we were duly ELECTED, and we STILL RESIDE in our respective precincts,” Frost and Greer wrote in their Aug. 23 complaint, contending the party lacks the legal authority to remove someone for the missed meetings.

The Wyoming Republican Party has also taken note of the Park County GOP’s actions: At the state central committee meeting last month, former Carbon County Republican Party Chairman Joey Correnti successfully brought a motion to reject any new committeemen or committeewomen put forward by the Park County GOP in the following 15 days, according to Cowboy State Daily’s reporting. 

“I would love for this to be the way we operate,” Correnti told the publication, referring to Park County’s three-missed-meeting rule, “but right now it is against state law.”

Park County Republican Party Chairman Martin Kimmet said the issue will go through the state party’s dispute resolution process. The Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday that it's reviewing Frost and Greer’s complaint.

"Our office takes all election complaints very seriously," said Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel Joe Rubino.

A change in policy

The bylaw change was made in November — after the current precinct committee people were elected, but before they took office. Kimmet said all of the committee members were informed of the policy.

“I distinctly remember saying it at least once, if not twice, at the first meeting [when the new committee members were seated], and at the second meeting to clarify that,” Kimmet said.

The party had endorsed the bylaw change during its March 2022 convention.

State Committeeman Vince Vanata said then that elected and appointed members should be attending meetings and participating in the process. Vanata charged that some members were making “an obstructive move, to occupy a precinct and to weaken the individual party.”

At the outset of Thursday’s meeting, Kimmet suggested that those upset about the removal of the committee members should be more focused on the country being “in dire straits,” specifically mentioning high inflation and “the corruption we see in Washington and in the White House.”

“If people have questions, I’m not diminishing that, but I would like to look at the big picture,” Kimmet said. “And if we can unify and go against the evils and fight these evils that are happening in a unified way. To me, that’s what I feel that we should strive for.”

Competing factions

The local party has not been particularly unified in recent years while the central committee has more aggressively gone after Republican officials that it believes are not following its wishes. Last year’s races for precinct committee spots featured many battles between more moderate and more conservative factions of the party. Though the more moderate camp picked up some seats, the more conservative group retained the majority and the leadership positions, along with the once-a-month meeting schedule. Years ago, such as when Colin Simpson was chairman, the party met much more infrequently.

Frost described the party’s current attitude as “very, ultra conservative, ultra right wing.” He said he attends meetings every once in a while, “just to make sure that something that they have important that they want to vote on is not a ‘unanimous’ decision.”

“It’s just not the Republican Party that I grew up with,” Frost said.

He acknowledged that it’s “not difficult” to provide notice if he’s going to miss a meeting, but he called the three-meeting requirement “a bunch of power mongering.” Frost also said the agendas typically lack any details about what’s going to be discussed, “so you look at that, and you say, ‘Oh, well, there’s nothing going on, I’m not gonna go.’”

Precinct committee people are elected during Republican primary elections and they control the direction of the county party. Under Wyoming Republican Party rules, central committee members have also historically been the only ones allowed to directly participate in the process of selecting the GOP’s presidential nominee.

In explaining why the party discussed the fate of the elected officials in an executive session, Kimmet said the 116 precinct positions are “elected within the [Republican] body, not within the general populace. So it’s the body’s business to resolve it.”

The 22 vacant seats will be filled by the remaining members of the central committee. Those interested in serving — theoretically including those who previously held the seats — can contact Kimmet at 307-272-8088.

To be a precinct committee person, you must be a registered Republican voter and live within the precinct in question. Voters can look up their precinct by visiting Park County’s MapServer application at tinyurl.com/PCPrecincts and clicking on their property or by contacting the Park County Elections Office at 307-527-8620.

(Editor's note: This version has been updated for clarity and to add a comment from the Secretary of State's Office.)