January 27, 2018
Fellow Republicans,
On Thursday the legislature voted down SF 32 which would have ended cross-over voting. It was first stopped in committee, then brought back for consideration after educated Wyomingites like you contacted your Senators emphasizing the importance of this bill. Unfortunately, the same five Senators who voted to defeat the bill the first time up again voted to stop the bill from going to the floor for consideration by all members of the Senate.
So, we will continue to encourage House members to support Representative Blackburn’s HB 106 which mirrors the SF 32 language. Current Wyoming law requires the political parties to use the Primary ballot to nominate their candidates for State and District offices. That nomination by ballot has to remain free from sabotage by non-party activists, as that selection
process is intended to allow each Party to select the candidates who best represent the party
‘brand’.
The party-switching voting promoted by activist groups in several of our elections has a very specific purpose – to stop the Republican party from selecting its own candidate and effectively instituting ‘open primaries’, which has been used in other states to turn the control of government over to Democrats.
HB 106 has been assigned to the House Corporations Committee. Please contact the Committee’s members and encourage them to vote for HB 106.
Tyler Lindholm
Tyler.Lindholm@wyoleg.gov
(307) 282-0968
Jim Blackburn
Jim.Blackburn@wyoleg.gov
(307) 275-2647
Aaron Clausen
Aaron.Clausen@wyoleg.gov
(307) 351-3664
Scott Clem
Scott.Clem@wyoleg.gov
(307) 660-7141
Andrea Clifford
Andrea.Clifford@wyoleg.gov
(307) 840-4327
Shelly Duncan
Shelly.Duncan@wyoleg.gov
(307) 575-2894
Roy Edwards
Roy.Edwards@wyoleg.gov
(307) 680-4290
Danny Eyre
Danny.Eyre@wyoleg.gov
(307) 782-6376
Dan Furphy
Dan.Furphy@wyoleg.gov
(307) 760-0148
The Wyoming Republican Party’s State Central Committee, consisting of elected members from
every county in the state, voted to make the abolition of cross-over voting our top priority. It is our right and responsibility as a political party to nominate our own candidates. By Wyoming law, that must currently be done through the nomination by ballot during the so-called primary election.
We need a groundswell of support from all Legislators to stop this destruction of our citizen’s rights to select the candidate who best represents the political party ideals. HB 106 needs to go to the floor for discussion. It is such a critical issue that it should not be blocked by a committee of nine.
Republican voters strongly support this bill. We will continue to broadcast that message. We will not allow others to turn our nomination process into a meaningless game.
W. Frank Eathorne
Chairman, Wyoming Republican Party