Park County Republicans were supposed to pick their leaders for the next two years during a Thursday night meeting in Cody. However, the officer elections had to be postponed after it was pointed out that the party had failed to provide proper notice of the meeting.

The elections were rescheduled for Monday, March 31.

“Quite frankly, I thought this would be my last meeting [as chairman],” outgoing Park County Republican Party Chairman Martin Kimmet told the crowd, “and to the delight of some and the chagrin of others, I guess I’ll see you on the 31st.”

Word of last week’s meeting had obviously reached the party’s members: The Cody Cowboy Church was packed and 83 of the central committee’s 86 voting members of the body were represented; only one member had an unexcused absence.

But as the meeting got underway, precinct committeewoman Robin Berry rose to assert that the party had failed to follow the specific notification requirements for the elections.

State law requires major parties like the GOP to advertise their regular meetings in a local newspaper at least two days ahead of time. For the biennial officer elections, however, the party is required to publish that notice at least 10 days before the meeting; in this case, the party didn’t provide the notice to the Powell Tribune until March 4 — nine days before the meeting.

Additionally, the Park County Republican Party’s bylaws require the chairman to
notify the county clerk of the election at least 10 days in advance, and no notice was provided to the office.

Given those violations, “this election cannot take place,” Berry said.

Kimmet immediately agreed that he’d been “remiss.” He thanked Berry for bringing the problem to his attention and called off the vote.

“We are a nation of laws and rules, and I think that we should follow the laws and rules,” Kimmet said, adding, “We want to have a proper election.”

Amid some groans, he acknowledged the delay was “going to be pretty disappointing for a lot of people because there’s been a lot of people that were looking forward to this.”

Bylaws fight

Precinct committeeman David Hill made a motion to suspend the party’s rules and move forward with the elections, but Kimmet and Berry said the party could not suspend state law.

Hill countered by arguing that the party was “already violating state statute” by allowing its three current officers who aren’t also precinct committee people to vote on party business. The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that state law only allows precinct committee people to participate in party elections, but the Wyoming Republican Party’s attorney contends that the law conflicts with the party’s First Amendment rights — an argument the Supreme Court never addressed.

Kimmet stuck with his decision to let those three officers vote; they also voted at a January meeting, helping pick three candidates to replace retired county assessor Pat Meyer.

Like Thursday’s meeting, that nomination process was marred by errors. First, party leaders advertised the wrong email address for applications, which caused one assessor candidate to miss the deadline (though he was still allowed to participate). Then a Kimmet-overseen recount of the initial round of voting on the six assessor applicants determined that three ballots had been improperly tabulated.

Unsure of what impact the miscounted votes had on the process, Park County commissioners said they were uncomfortable picking between the parties’ three nominees and turned the decision over to a district court judge. She ultimately chose then-First Deputy Assessor Terry Call, who had not been among the party’s picks.

‘Fragmented’ leadership

The incident prompted some finger-pointing within the Republican Party. 

At a February meeting, Kimmet took the blame for the errors, but said he’d heard comments that the party’s other officers “should have caught that.”

State Committeeman Vince Vanata countered that he and the rest of the board members had “no input” into the process, saying Kimmet didn’t agree to meet with the other officers until just before the January meeting.

Vanata and Vice Chairman Bob Ferguson have also criticized the commissioners’ and Kimmet’s handling of the dispute, saying in part that Kimmet lacked the authority to conduct a recount.

At Thursday’s meeting, Kimmet suggested that the lack of proper notice for the officer elections was the result of not working together as a team.

“When the management is fragmented, some of these things happen,” he said, “and it’s very unfortunate.”

The Park County Republican Party’s officer elections are now set for 6 p.m. on March 31, again at the Cody Cowboy Church.

As for Park County Democrats, they’re set to elect their officers on Saturday, during a 1 p.m. meeting at the Park County Library in Cody. In-line with state law and their bylaws, the party provided notice to the clerk’s office and published ads in the Powell Tribune and Cody Enterprise more than 10 days ahead of the meeting.