Next step: Choose leg candidates
GOP Central Committee to hold selection meeting Oct. 16
An ongoing protest over the Wyoming State Legislature’s decision to divide Weston County when it created state senate and representative districts has resulted in a declaration of legislative vacancies by the Weston County Commissioners, and the county Republican Party’s central committee will now take the necessary steps to help fill those positions.
The Weston County Republican Party Central Committee will hold a meeting at 5 p.m. on Oct. 16 to select candidates for the positions of Weston County state senator and Weston County state representative, Chair Kari Drost told the News Letter Journal on Oct. 7.
The event, which is open to the public, will be in the meeting room of the Weston County Library, she said. The library is at 23 West Main St. in Newcastle. Under state statute, only precinct committee members are allowed to vote for candidates, but the candidate interviews will be open to all community members.
Drost told the NLJ that she would like anyone interested in being a candidate for the positions to contact her with a letter of intent. She can be reached at 860-670-6657 or karidrost72@yahoo.com. Candidates must be registered Republicans, and notifying her in advance will allow her to confirm with the county clerk that the candidates meet that qualification.
Drost said that the county’s commissioners, following Wyoming Statute 22-18-111, and the Wyoming Republican Party formally notified her that the Weston County Republican Party “is to move forward with the process outlined in WY Statute to fill vacancies” in those positions, and the Wyoming Republican Party told the Weston County Republican Party to call a meeting within 15 days of notification.
The county GOP’s central committee will choose three candidates per position and send the names to the commissioners, who will then have five days to choose one final candidate per list.
The central committee meeting is being held as a result of the Weston County commissioners approving a resolution in a 3-2 vote on April 2 to declare vacancies in the Legislature for the positions. On Sept. 3, the commissioners unanimously approved sending the state’s Republican Party chairman, Frank Eathorne, written notice of the resolution after William Curley, a county resident and former county attorney, said Eathorne had requested it.