Shortly before Ed Buchanan left the secretary of state’s post early to take a judgeship, the Wyoming Republican Party wrote a letter asking him to stay on through the November election.
Party officials wrote that asking an interim secretary of state to oversee an election with only a few weeks on the job would be setting that person up for failure. There was just too much to learn in that short of a time.
Buchanan was undeterred. When he resigned, Wyoming law required the state GOP to help find the person to finish out his term. Specifically, the party was tasked with nominating three people for the job. It would then be up to Gov. Mark Gordon to appoint one of those nominees.
While the secretary of state may not be well known among the general public, the position is critical in Wyoming. For one, the secretary of state is the No. 2 elected official in the state. If something should happen to the governor, the secretary of state takes over as leader of Wyoming.
Moreover, the office oversees the state’s elections department, working with Wyoming’s 23 county clerks to run the most essential part of the democratic process. In the past, the secretary’s role in elections seemed more procedural than anything, but with the rise of unfounded fears of election fraud, the job has taken on newfound importance. Buchanan, for example, traveled the state last year to bat down electoral conspiracies while demonstrating that Wyoming’s system is safe and secure. (And to be clear, no one has present actual evidence that a single race here has been undermined by ballot drop boxes, absentee ballots or voter fraud).
Given party leaders’ fears that an interim secretary would be put into a difficult position by starting the job only weeks before the election, you would expect they’d have picked someone ready to hit the ground running. There were people who sought the job with that sort of resume. One, for example, was an experienced county clerk. A second was an assistant attorney general who has worked with the secretary of state’s office.
Instead, the party’s state central committee passed over those with experience in favor of three of its own members: Karl Allred, Bryan Miller and Marti Halverson. Rather than pick someone with the background for the job, the committee chose Republican stalwarts who could be expected to toe the state party line.
The trio had another thing in common. Voters in their communities had rejected all three nominees in their most recent legislative contests. Halverson, a former lawmaker, lost her reelection bid in 2018. Miller and Allred both unsuccessfully challenged GOP incumbents in August.
Gov. Mark Gordon ultimately selected Allred, a foreman at a gas plant, as interim secretary of state. Up until now, Allred was known mostly for an unsuccessful lawsuit against former Gov. Matt Mead over capitol reconstruction.
Gordon’s announcement of Allred’s selection was notable for its lack of enthusiasm. The governor did not sing his selection’s praises. Instead, he merely noted that state law required him to choose one of the candidates selected by the party.
Which brings home a point this editorial board has made before – this process is broken. This is the second time in a year that the party’s central committee has passed over qualified Republican candidates in favor of nominees who share leadership’s mindset. In fact, Halverson was selected as a nominee in both processes – apparently, she’s uniquely qualified, in the eyes of the central committee, to serve as both the head of state public schools and the head of the state’s elections and business licensing systems.
There is a better way. And one that is objectively more democratic. Rather than leaving the decision up to 60 or so party leaders, we could let the voters do it. A special election would require candidates to share their views with the public ahead of time so that voters can vet for themselves the people who may hold critical roles. It would also mean that rather than a vote of dozens, the decision would be made by tens of thousands of Wyomingites.
And frankly, the party’s leadership has shown that it’s not taking the job seriously. It’s twice passed over the most qualified candidates. It’s ignored experience in favor of what’s best for the party, rather than what’s best for Wyoming.
There is legislation being discussed that would move Wyoming to a special elections system. It’s time we give it a try. The current process is broken. Let the people decide who should lead us.
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