The following transcript of the above interview is AI generated. Minor spelling errors are likely to occur.

(0:00) Heading into an interview this morning, (0:02) Lance Oviatt joining me live in studio. (0:04) He is chairman of the Lincoln County Republican Party. (0:07) Lance, good morning, how are you today? (0:09) I’m doing great, thank you.

(0:10) It’s a busy time of year to be chairman (0:11) of a political party right now. (0:13) It’s extremely busy right now. (0:15) Absolutely, well, I wanted to have you in studio (0:17) to give us some more details and explanation (0:21) on the decision by the GOP to not endorse candidates.

(0:25) And so first off, let’s talk about why this was discussed (0:28) because historically, the party has not endorsed candidates. (0:31) And so why did this come up as a discussion? (0:34) So the state party amended their bylaws (0:38) to really encourage parties, (0:45) county parties to look at this option (0:47) to endorse candidates in the primary election. (0:49) Their feeling is it’s always been legal, (0:52) but it’s just really never been done.

(0:55) So we decided we needed to look at that. (0:57) And we did that in accordance with our state bylaws. (1:00) When we looked at it, we sent out a survey (1:04) against the survey suggested by the state, (1:07) went to all the candidates in the county, (1:11) and only five responded to the survey.

(1:16) And people have wondered who those five are. (1:18) There was Bill Winney from House District 20, (1:21) Scott Heiner from House District 18, (1:24) John Long, who’s running for commissioner, (1:26) Jessica Lozier for commissioner, (1:28) and also Don Marquardt, who’s running for treasurer. (1:31) They responded to the survey, (1:33) and the others did not respond.

(1:37) And I don’t wanna put words in their mouth (1:39) and comment on why they did or didn’t respond. (1:45) So I would encourage people to talk to them (1:49) and ask them why they responded or why they didn’t respond. (1:54) And of the, so the five that responded, mixed responses, (2:02) some in favor, some not? (2:04) So they responded, those five responded to the survey.

(2:08) And in order to be considered for endorsement, (2:11) candidates had to respond to the survey. (2:13) Okay, gotcha, gotcha. (2:15) All right, so you had that survey go out, (2:17) and then you held, the county GOP held a special meeting (2:21) in Cokeville afterwards.

(2:23) Tell us what happened there. (2:24) So that special meeting was actually for two purposes. (2:28) The first purpose was Taylor Allred, (2:31) our state committee man, has moved out of the county.

(2:33) And so just by way of information, (2:35) we elected Deb Wolfley to replace him. (2:37) He’s our new state committee man for the county GOP. (2:41) But the other purpose was to talk (2:44) about this endorsement issue.

(2:45) And after discussion and reviewing the five surveys (2:50) that we did receive back, the county party decided (2:54) not to endorse candidates in the primary, (2:57) this election cycle, due to a lack of information. (3:00) Okay, so a couple of things. (3:02) This election cycle, so this conversation could (3:05) and likely will come up again then, right? (3:07) It could and likely, yes, it will come up again.

(3:10) Okay, and also just to clarify, (3:13) the decision wasn’t to say we’re not endorsing this candidate (3:17) or we’re not endorsing this candidate. (3:18) It was we are going to continue (3:22) to not endorse candidates, period, right? (3:25) Correct, we’re not, it wasn’t that we favored (3:28) any over any other, it was we just decided (3:31) not to endorse anyone this time around. (3:33) I’m not saying that anyone was a good candidate (3:36) or a bad candidate, leave that up (3:37) to the voters this time around.

(3:40) And I think part of our role as the party (3:43) is just like your role to provide information (3:47) and opportunities for people to learn about the candidates. (3:49) And with that in mind, we did send out another (3:53) smaller survey, the one we did send out originally, (3:56) we had some six and seven page responses to, (3:59) which is just too long. (4:01) So we are invited all the candidates, (4:04) including all the statewides, to respond (4:07) with a short video to three questions.

(4:10) And we will post their responses if we get them back (4:14) on our LCWYGOP.com page and on our Facebook page (4:18) and our YouTube channel. (4:20) So people can go there for all the candidates (4:23) and find out what their stances are, (4:26) what their beliefs are, and find out (4:28) a little bit more about them. (4:30) So that’s the direction we decided to take this time around.

(4:33) Lance Oviatt, Chairman of the Lincoln County (4:35) Republican Party, in studio this morning. (4:38) So with that in mind, giving information (4:41) along with what’s on your website, (4:42) you have a Meet the Candidates night coming up, right? (4:45) We do, on Wednesday, July 29th at seven o’clock (4:48) at the Thayden Community Center, (4:49) we’ll have a candidate forum for our county officers there. (4:52) Perfect, and fair’s on the way.

(4:55) Will there be a GOP booth at the fair this year? (4:57) We will have a GOP booth and candidates are signing up (5:01) to work at the booth, so you’ll be able to come (5:03) and meet them there. (5:05) And I’m sure they’ll be there other times as well (5:07) at the fair. (5:08) That’s a great time to come and learn about (5:11) the issues facing our state and county.

(5:14) Perfect, Lance Oviatt, (5:15) Chairman of the Lincoln County Republican Party. (5:17) Anything we missed, Lance? (5:19) No, you know, some people were concerned, (5:21) why is the party looking at this endorsement issue? (5:26) The real issue is that, and you’re having a problem (5:30) even in Wyoming, the Democratic Party (5:34) is actually encouraging candidates (5:37) to run as Republicans just to mess (5:39) with the Republican primary. (5:41) That’s happened in Ohio and some high profile cases (5:44) and in Tennessee, and those states have ways to address it (5:48) and we really haven’t had a way to address it (5:50) and it has happened in our state (5:52) where we have someone who’s running for election (5:55) who’s gone to their county Democratic Party (5:57) and asked for donations and encouraged people (6:01) to change parties and vote as a Republican (6:05) just so they can get a Democrat into office.

(6:08) So that’s where this really originated from (6:10) was the party’s concern with that (6:12) and how to address it. (6:14) And this is one way to address it (6:16) and there are others, so this is something (6:18) that is going to be happening, (6:21) whether it’s endorsements or some other method (6:23) to put some guardrails around that. (6:26) And it sounds like even though the endorsement (6:28) wasn’t something that was approved (6:30) at the county level this time around, (6:32) the state GOP is going to be meeting on this soon, correct? (6:37) Correct, we actually have a meeting tonight (6:39) to determine which candidates we’re gonna endorse.

(6:42) We already went through a vetting process (6:44) and that vetting committee recommended names (6:47) to the state central committee (6:49) on who to endorse or not endorse. (6:52) And that meeting is going to be held this evening. (6:54) So we’ll know the results of that tonight.

(6:57) Okay, all right, that’s Lance Oviatt, (6:59) Republican Party, Lincoln County. (7:01) Republican Party Chairman Lance, (7:03) thanks so much, we appreciate it. (7:04) It’s all part of the weekday wake up this morning (7:06) on the SBI Radio Network.