Weston County Votes To Create Own Legislative Seats, Now Waits To Be Sued

NEWCASTLE — Weston County Commissioner Chair Don Taylor made it clear at a special commission meeting Tuesday he expects the county will be sued.

That’s because the majority of Weston County commissioners attending Tuesday’s meeting voted to install two appointees to serve the county in the state Legislature, one in the House and one in the Senate. The vote was the latest move in an aggressive effort by the county to create its own legislative districts.

Only three of the county’s five commissioners were at the meeting that also was sparsely attended by the public.

Even as they vote in their new legislators, the commissioners already expect a fight over the legality of counties creating their own districts and not the full Legislature.

“If they’re sent down to Cheyenne, I think that a judge will at least block it temporarily until it goes to a court and they make a case for it,” Taylor told Cowboy State Daily.

Many people in Weston County believe it's unconstitutional that the county doesn’t have legislators that solely represent the county, and some like Taylor believe the county has to take matters into their own hands after being ignored for decades on the issue.

“This is an extremely controversial situation but one the community believes in, so that’s why we’re not putting a roadblock on it,” Taylor said.

The commissioners selected Newcastle resident Karl Lacey and former county attorney Bill Curley to fill the state House and Senate seats, respectively.

Although there was little drama on Tuesday, what the meeting accomplished was symbolic in the small county’s fight against what it sees as a lack of representation in Wyoming’s political process.

“There is an issue with rural voting being diminished, there is an issue with these elected officials going to highly populated areas, running their campaign, and the people that are left out are those in the small population areas,” Taylor said. “No one knows Weston County more than a Weston County resident.

“What they’re asking for, I believe in it.”

Taylor’s argument about a prioritization for urban interests is questionable however, as none of the state legislators representing Weston represent a city with more than 6,500 people in their respective districts.

Commissioner Nathan Todd, who agrees with the sentiment behind the push for direct representation — but doesn’t agree with the aggressive approach the county is taking — said he chose not to attend Tuesday’s meeting to try and prevent a quorum from being present to vote. Todd said he had fellow commissioner Ed Waggoner take him to a doctor’s appointment instead.

“Although I agree something needs to be done, I don’t believe this is the right path,” Todd said. “We need to work toward a constitutional amendment for us and the rest of the state.”

Larger Tension

Commissioner Vera Huber expressed disappointment that Wagoner and Todd weren’t at the meeting, but Taylor told Cowboy State Daily he wasn’t surprised.

Taylor said a rift exists on the commissioner board between him, Wagoner and Todd, the latter two he considers part of an old guard averse to change and term limits.

“I was always the black sheep even when they were in because I was the new person, wanted to try some new things,” he said.

He also finds it hypocritical that Todd and Wagoner are leery of engaging the county in a lawsuit considering they were part of a questionable selection process to select a replacement legislator in 2021 that eventually led to a lawsuit. There was also a lawsuit filed in 2022 against a Weston commissioner who moved out of the county while continuing to serve on the board.

Taylor lost his reelection bid and will be replaced by a new member in January that could swing the balance in the county’s commitment to the representation effort.

When speaking to Cowboy State Daily after Tuesday’s meeting, Taylor acknowledged this could change, but expressed confidence the selections they took on Tuesday lock in the county’s commitment to the matter.

“My prediction is they will pull their support, but they can’t stop it,” Taylor said.

Lacey, a former coal miner and candidate for the Newcastle City Council, said he fully intends to show up and serve in Cheyenne unless told otherwise, and acknowledged he’ll now have to drop his council campaign.

“I plan on serving there. I am the nominee for the vacancy right that was declared there,” Lacey said.

What’s Next?

It’s unclear what will happen next in the Weston County saga between now and the start of the 2025 legislative session Jan. 14.

Taylor said he expects a lawsuit challenging the vote, but said Wyoming GOP Chair Frank Eathorne gave him his word that the state party will help Weston County financially and through other means in any future lawsuit.

“I commend the people that have been nominated, I just hope that they understand that it’s going to be a bumpy road and the seriousness in it could cause it to fail if we aren’t committed to it,” Taylor said.

If in the unlikely scenario that no lawsuit is filed against Weston County, it could be up to the Legislative Service Office at the Capitol to decide if it will seat the impromptu state legislators.

Matt Obrecht, director of LSO, did not immediately respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment on the situation.

Selections Made

Taylor himself was one of the three nominees selected for the state representative position by the Weston County Republican Party last week.

Taylor commended the Weston County GOP for its efforts, but county party chairman Kari Drost clarified that it wasn’t an organized effort made by the party to create the legislative districts, but rather a group of standalone citizens.

Whenever a vacancy is declared for an elected partisan position in Wyoming, it’s the responsibility of the county party of the political party the former elected official belonged to nominate their replacements.

Weston is a deeply Republican county that hasn’t had a Democratic state legislator since 1957, according to data on the Legislature’s website. However, there are legal questions that could be asked about why only the county Republican Party got to select nominees when the positions being created didn’t previously exist.

Huber said the nominees picked must be able to handle the scrutiny and pressure they’ll receive for the county’s controversial effort, and then nominated her fellow commissioner Taylor for the representative role.

“I feel like you would be more capable of dealing with some of the scrutiny and pressure and have a little bit more experience working with the people in Cheyenne,” she said.

Taylor refused to nominate himself, citing a conflict of interest, even though he told Cowboy State Daily afterward that the Weston county attorney had told him he was allowed to vote for himself.

Commissioner Garrett Borton nominated Lacey because of his commitment to their cause.

“It’s an important and also a needed move to make,” Lacey said. “Hopefully, we can get our state and county back on track by following the constitution.”

The commission cites Article 3, Section 3 of the Wyoming Constitution, which says that each county is entitled to its own senator and representative. There’s also a footnote in the constitution stemming from a 1991 federal court lawsuit that determined that the Wyoming Legislature may disregard this stipulation when it redistricts because it’s inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution’s concept of one man one vote.

Huber was the only commissioner to vote for Taylor, while Taylor and Borton voted for Lacey.

For senator, Borton nominated Curley, who served as the county attorney from 2014-2018, citing his legal background and work on the Weston County effort. Curley has been a major driver behind the push for county representation in Weston since the 1990s.

Although Taylor expressed concern about Curley’s age in the event he actually gets to serve in Cheyenne, he still gave him his support.

“This isn’t just a ‘may go’ to Cheyenne — it's going to be required if you’re in that position,” Taylor said.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.