George leaves state GOP post, moves to Nebraska

Posted 6/25/19

Wyoming Republicans are looking for someone to represent the state party at the national level after local resident Richard George resigned to take a job out of state.

George, who had most …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

George leaves state GOP post, moves to Nebraska

Posted

Wyoming Republicans are looking for someone to represent the state party at the national level after local resident Richard George resigned to take a job out of state.

George, who had most recently been living in Meeteetse, moved to the Alliance, Nebraska, area in April to manage a farm there.

In early June, he officially resigned his position as the national committeeman for the state Republican Party.

George had been an active member of the GOP, holding leadership positions at both the Park County and state levels. He ran for the Park County Commission in 2016 and 2018, finishing as the top runner-up each time, and the state party picked him as one of three finalists to replace Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray; Gov. Matt Mead ultimately chose Ed Buchanan.

In announcing George’s resignation to Wyoming Republican Party members, party executive director Kathy Russell said George “has been a force for good in his community and a valuable member of the party, so he’ll be greatly missed here.”

George said he’ll miss his friends and family in Park County and around the state, but noted Alliance isn’t that far from the Wyoming border — and only about six hours away from his home in the Heart Mountain area.

George said his new employer in Nebraska asked what compensation he’d need for him, his wife and children to leave Wyoming and agreed to his terms.

“It’s kind of sad, because there in Wyoming, there wasn’t a single farm management job in Wyoming that would even come close to competing salary-wise with what these out of state jobs are,” said George, who also received job offers in Texas and Kansas. “That’s one of the struggles of living in Wyoming. We all know it.”

George had shut down most of his own farming operations last year amid financial challenges, including a tough market for commodities like sugar beets.

As national committeeman, George represented Wyoming at Republican meetings around the country and was in-line to serve as a delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina; that’s where President Donald Trump is expected to be formally nominated for re-election as the party’s presidential nominee.

The Wyoming GOP needs to fill George’s post by the end of September and has drawn letters of interest from several people around the state.

George said it was a lot of fun to participate in the state party — and he called it better organized and less contentious than the divided county party, which recently saw a spate of resignations.

“There’s so much blame to go around for it. We need so many new people to just step in and change the dynamics of the Park County Republican Party,” George said. “The old guard needs to disappear. Even though I love all of them, they need to let the young people fill their shoes — without too much guidance.”

As for whether George will get as involved in Nebraska politics, “who knows,” he said.

Given how busy he currently is with his new job, “I think we will wait until after the 2020 election to even see,” George said.

Comments