Republican Party of Wyoming

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Republican Party of Wyoming
Basic facts
Location:	Cheyenne, Wyo.
Type:	Political party
Affiliation:	Republican
Top official:	W. Frank Eathorne, Chair
Website:	Official website

The Republican Party of Wyoming is the Wyoming political party affiliate of the national Republican Party. The group is headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Party chair

W. Frank Eathorne

The chair of the Republican Party of Wyoming is W. Frank Eathorne.

Party leadership

As of November 2023, the executive director of the Wyoming Republican Party was Kathy Russell.

The website for the Wyoming Republican Party lists the following individuals as the party's state leadership as of November 2023:

• W. Frank Eathorne, Chair
• David Holland, Vice chair
• Donna Rice, Secretary
• Nina Webber, National committeewoman
• Corey Steinmetz, National committeeman

Party platform

The Republican Party of Wyoming follows the platform of the Republican Party. Click here to view the full platform.

Party rules and bylaws

For complete information on the Republican Party of Wyoming's bylaws, please click here.

Party candidates

Note: The following table lists candidates who filed to run for office with this political party in a given year. This may also include candidates who filed to run with more than one political party. The list may not be comprehensive if the state's official filing deadline has not passed. This list may not populate if no candidates have filed to run with this political party. The table lists non-presidential candidates who filed to run for office with this political party in a given year. For more information on presidential candidates and elections, please click here.

Using the tools at the top of the table, you can increase the number of candidates shown on your screen or scroll through the table to view additional candidates. To report an error, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Noteworthy events

Dispute and litigation about county party precinct member elections (2021-2025)

In 2021, the Uinta County, Wyoming, Republican Party adopted a bylaw stating that outgoing members of the county central committee could vote in county party elections for leadership positions including chairman and state committeeperson after losing election. On April 19, 2021, a group of Republicans in Uinta County, including current and former state lawmakers, sued alleging that the bylaw violated state election laws and seeking to declare March 2021 leadership elections, which included members of the party that had lost election at the 2020 primary, as null.

At issue was whether state law required that only members of a county central committee as chosen by voters at the biennial primary election could vote in county party elections for leadership positions, or whether the county or state party could pass rules that allow other party members—in addition to the county central committee—to vote in leadership elections.

According to Wyoming Statutes § 22-4-101, the "county central committee of each political party consists of precinct committeemen and committeewomen elected in the county at the regular biennial primary election."

And according to Wyoming Statutes § 22-4-105:

“

The county central committee shall meet at the county seat each odd-numbered year at a time and place determined by the county chairman. ... At the meeting, the county central committee shall elect the chairman of the county central committee, one (1) state committeeman and one (1) state committeewoman and other offices as provided by the party bylaws. A state political party may provide in its rules for the election of additional state committeemen and additional state committeewomen.

”

On July 14, 2022, the Uinta County District Court ruled against the plaintiffs and upheld the party's bylaw allowing former committeepersons to vote in leadership elections. In the ruling, the court held that, "Uinta County Republican Party bylaws, and not W.S. § 22-4-105, govern the election of chairman, state committeepersons, and other offices for the county central committee." The court also held that the interpretation of state statute as prohibiting the bylaw in question infringed upon the party's First Amendment rights and that the state had not displayed a compelling interest that would allow it to do so.

At the Wyoming Republican Party's 2022 convention, the party adopted a statewide bylaw similar to Uinta County's that allowed former members of the county central committee and other members of the party to vote in leadership elections.

On May 18, 2023, the Wyoming Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision and ruled that political party rules must conform to state statute. The ruling said, "the voting procedure used in the election and the Party’s bylaw violated the clear and unambiguous language of § 22-4-105." With regard to the question of whether state law violates the U.S. Constitution, specifically the First Amendment's right to freedom of association, the court said, "We do not consider whether § 22-4-105 violates the Party’s constitutional right to freedom of association because the issue was not properly presented and the Wyoming Attorney General was not notified of, or allowed to participate in, the litigation."

On March 17, 2025, the general counsel of the Wyoming Republican Party, Brian Shuck, sent a letter to members of the Weston County Republican Party advising them that they should disregard the May 2023 decision from the state supreme court and allow former committeepersons to participate in party leadership elections because state statute was unconstitutional. In the letter, Shuck wrote, "the Wyoming Supreme Court expressly stated that their opinion did not decide whether the state statute was constitutional. My response to their argument is this: 'I will see your statute and raise you a Constitution.' The U.S. Constitution trumps a conflicting state statute every time."

On April 21, 2025, the Hot Springs County GOP sued in state court to block the state party intervening in the county party's leadership elections. The county party disregarded the state party's counsel to allow former committeepersons to vote in these elections, and as a result the state party sought to invalidate those election results and the party's Dispute Resolution Committee ordered the party to conduct a recount that included votes made by former committeepersons. As a result of the recount, the result of the election changed and two different individuals won election to chairman and state committeeman positions for the county party.

The lawsuit said, "If the Wyoming Republican Party is allowed to overturn local county party elections through secret tribunals, it will have become a self-perpetuating, Soviet-style politburo rather than a functioning political party in a representative democracy." In a response published on to its Facebook page that was later deleted, the Wyoming Republican Party said, "Just as President Trump has been targeted by lawfare and liberal lawyers, the Wyoming GOP has been as well. This case is just another example."

On May 3, the state party refused to seat the two members of the Hot Springs County Republican Party who lost election as a result of the recount at the party's central committee meeting.

See also

• List of political parties in the United States
• Political parties in Wyoming
• Republican Party
• Washington

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Wyoming Republican Party Website
• Wyoming Republican Party on Facebook
• Wyoming Republican Party on Twitter