Republican process revealed
by Wyoming Republican Party press release
June 14, 2007
Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Fred Parady held a press conference today (Monday, June 11) to describe the process in which the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas’s seat will be filled.
“I’d like to begin by honoring Senator Craig Thomas. He served Wyoming with incredible dedication, highlighted by the fact that he traveled over 3 million air miles between Washington and Wyoming during his 18 years of service, and countless miles on the highways and byways of Wyoming once here. His stamina, grace and cordiality set the benchmark for our coming candidates seeking to fill his shoes,” Parady said.
“Our purpose today is to review our blueprint for selecting three names to put forward as Wyoming’s next United States Senator. Our goal is simple – to put forward the three very best possible candidates for the office of Senator,” Parady said.
“The process will be open. I want to invite every citizen of Wyoming to come and observe our work. Wyoming’s Republican Party has an incredibly deep bench, and we are going to see many of our best and brightest seek this chance to serve,” Parady said.
Parady then reviewed the process. (Please see following description of the process.)
Parady reported the Party is also working to co-sponsor a candidate forum with the Casper Star Tribune, Wyoming Public TV and Radio, and Casper College on Sunday, June 17th, to introduce the candidates to Wyoming. “This is Wyoming’s seat in the Senate, and we welcome and are working to make this process as open and interactive as possible, given the compressed timeline available to us,” he said.
WYOMING REPUBLICAN PARTY
STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
PROCEDURES FOR SELECTION OF CANDIDATES
FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR
JUNE 19, 2007
A. Vacancy in the Office of United States Senator. On June 4, 2007, Wyoming’s senior United States Senator, Craig Thomas, passed away.
B. Initiation of the Process to Fill Vacancy. On June 5, 2007, Governor Dave Freudenthal notified Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Fred Parady that Senator Thomas’ passing had created a vacancy in office of United States Senator. This notice initiated the fifteen (15) day period for the Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee (who are the County Chairman, State Committeeman, and State Committeewoman of each of Wyoming’s 23 counties, and the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman) to select three persons to be candidates for the office of United States Senator. The Central Committee must submit those three names to the Governor on or before June 20, 2007.
C. Process Required by Wyoming Law to Fill United States Senator Office Vacancy. Wyoming Statutes § 22-18-111 provides that a vacancy in the office of United States Senator is to be filled through a three-part process. First, the Governor is tasked with the responsibility of declaring the office vacant immediately after it becomes vacant, and with providing notice of the office vacancy to the Chairman of the party of the Senator vacating the office. Second, the Central Committee of the party of the Senator vacating the office is tasked with selecting three candidates for the office within fifteen (15) days from the date the office is declared vacant, and with submitting the names of those three candidates to the Governor. Third, the Governor is tasked with selecting one of the three candidates to be the new Senator within five (5) days from the date he is notified of the three candidates. The person so named serves as United States Senator until January of the year following the next general election in which a successor is elected to fill the remainder of term of the Senator vacating office.
D. Procedures for Process to Fill Vacancy. In order to provide a process that will be comprehensive and fair, and that will provide three outstanding Republican candidates for consideration by the Governor, the following procedures will be followed.
1. Solicitation of Candidates. On Monday, June 11, 2007, following the funeral and burial of Senator Thomas, Chairman Fred Parady will announce that he is soliciting applications for the office of United States Senator from any Wyoming resident who is registered to vote as a Republican and who is interested in serving in that office and is otherwise qualified to serve as a United States Senator (Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution sets forth three qualifications for senators: each senator must be at least thirty (30) years old, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past nine (9) years, and must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state he or she seeks to represent).
2. Application Procedure. Anyone interested in being considered as a candidate for the office of United States Senator shall file an application with Chairman Fred Parady at the Wyoming Republican Party Headquarters in Casper, Wyoming.
a. Filing of Application. Applications can be mailed to the Chairman at P.O. Box 241, Casper, Wyoming 28601, faxed to the Chairman at (307) 473-8640, e-mailed to the Chairman at wygop@coffey.com, or delivered to the Chairman at 400 E 1st Street, Suite 314, in Casper.
b. Application Information. Applications shall consist of the following information:
i. a completed application form, a copy of which is attached hereto;
ii. a cover letter expressing interest in being considered for the office; and
iii. a resume and/or any other information that the applicant wishes to have considered as a part of his or her application for the office.
c. Deadline for Submission. The deadline for submission of applications to Chairman Fred Parady shall be 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2007. Applications received after that time will not be considered; regardless of the reason such application was not timely received.
3. Distribution of Applications. The Chairman shall assemble all applications and shall cause copies of all of the applications to be distributed to all Members of the Central Committee on Friday, June 15, 2007. Distribution shall be completed by such methods as will best insure timely receipt of the information by the Central Committee Members, including fax and e-mail. Copies of all application materials shall be made available to the public.
4. Meeting to Nominate Candidates. On Tuesday, June 19, 2007, starting at 8:00 a.m., at a meeting location in Casper, Wyoming to be announce on Friday, June 15, Chairman Fred Parady shall convene a meeting of the Central Committee for the purpose of selecting three candidates for the office of United States Senator.
5. Participation in the Meeting. Members of the Central Committee shall constitute the only voting members. The State Chairman and all other State Party Officers shall be entitled to otherwise participate in the meeting. The meeting shall be open to the public.
6. Proxies. Proxies are allowed under the Wyoming Republican Party’s Bylaws. A person holding a proxy for an absent Central Committee Member must be a resident of the same county as the Member represented and must be a registered Republican. No person shall be allowed to vote
more than two (2) proxies.
7. Conduct of the Meeting. The Chairman shall convene and preside over the meeting and then shall call upon the Secretary to call the roll to establish Members present and Members represented by proxy. The meeting will be open to the public and media.
a. Review of Proxies. A Proxy Committee, appointed by the Chairman, shall review the proxies and report back to the meeting on the validity of the proxies. The Central Committee shall then consider the proxies and determine any questions concerning eligibility to vote.
b. Adoption of Rules. The Central Committee once formally
convened will vote on the adoption or amendment of the rules as proposed by the Chairman and State Party Officers.
c. Meeting Agenda. The agenda and format of the meeting shall be determined by the Chairman after review of the number of applicants and taking into consideration such factors as necessary to insure a workable process, and will be distributed to the Central Committee and announced on Friday, June 15th, 2007.
8. Voting for Candidates. The Chairman shall bring the selection of candidates to a vote after the interview process as follows:
a. Teller Committee to Count Votes. The Chairman shall appoint a Teller Committee, which shall consist of an odd number of Republicans designated by the Chairman and presented to the Central Committee for approval, which
committee shall meet to tally and report the votes of the Members for the three candidates for United States Senator.
b. Secret Ballots for Votes. Voting for candidates shall be by secret ballot. A different color ballot shall be used for each round of voting. All ballots from each round of balloting will be preserved.
c. Announcement of Votes Cast After Each Round. After all of the ballots are collected, the Teller Committee shall count the votes and shall provide a vote total to the Chairman. The Chairman shall announce the votes cast for each of the applicants after each round of voting.
d. Breaking Tie Votes. If necessary, any tie votes shall be broken by a separate ballot on which each Central Committee Member shall write 1 of the 2 names of the tied candidates. Once the Teller Committee has counted the ballots, the Chairman shall announce the votes cast for each applicant. A simple majority is required.
e. Voting Procedure. The specific voting procedure will be announced on Friday, June 15th, and adopted by the Central Committee as described above. It will follow the previously used format of voting for three distinct candidates in each round, dropping the candidate with the lowest tally, and then voting again. The procedure will be repeated until three candidates remain and are thus selected. It is anticipated that a large number of candidates may apply for the vacancy, in which case a tiered process will be used, with an initial vote, after an opening short speech by each candidate, to drop the number of candidates down to a group of 8.
9. Reporting the Three Candidates. The three applicants receiving the highest number of votes shall be the candidates for United States Senator, and the Chairman shall report the three names to the Governor in writing on or before June 20, 2007.
10. General Provision Regarding Procedures. All rules, time limits, procedures, guidelines and other decisions not specifically outlined by state law or party bylaw shall be determined by the Chairman as outlined herein or by the Chairman should a circumstance arise not specifically covered by law, bylaw or these procedures. Any changes to these procedures made by the Chairman may be overridden by a majority of the Members of the Central Committee.
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