Vetting process leads to current divide among Republicans

In an effort to ensure candidates running on the Republican ticket will stand up for the party’s platform, several committees across the state, including the Wright County Republican Committee, instituted a vetting process this political season, which started last November.
They used an approach created by the Republican Association of Central Committees of Missouri (REPACCMO) that featured a Republican values survey with a Republican pledge to be signed by candidates.
With official filing for local positions taking place between Feb. 27-March 26, the anticipation was for all filing candidates, including incumbents, to follow through with the vetting process.
Only a handful of candidates have went through with the vetting process in the following races: Eastern Commissioner, Western Commissioner, Assessor, Coroner, Public Administrator, Sheriff and Missouri House District 141.
A big reason for this came in the aftermath of a meeting between Wright County Republican Central Committee Chair Paul Vliestra, Secretary/Vetting Computer Tech Jim Dake, a founding director of the REPACCMO, Wright County Clerk Loni Pedersen and Wright County Prosecuting Attorney John Tyrrell.
After studying the state statutes, both Pedersen and Tyrrell felt it necessary to follow state statutes strictly as the vetting process is not currently mentioned in them.
“I researched my law and statutes with a strict conservative interpretation of state law and came to the conclusion that vetting is not a part of the state law that I have to follow,” Pedersen said. “It is not a requirement and that has upset a lot of people...The way I interpreted it when I look at this, it could be considered some type of ballot manipulation and that was not something that I thought was a good idea...My position as an elected official is I have to follow the law and that state statute says nothing about vetting.”
Tyrrell said it is also not the county’s position to “broadly interpret state statutes.”
“Folks want to legislate what they read in a state statute, saying ‘they really meant this,’” he said.
The statute issue comes as the committees say the statute notes that the only person who can take a filing payment is the committee treasurer. They printed this in article and legal ad previously published in the Wright County Journal. But the same statute also notes that the lead county official can accept the payment and then forward it “promptly” to the committee’s treasurer.
“So we’re at an impasse,” Pedersen noted as it means the County Clerk can receive the payment.
Tyrrell noted that there is a lawsuit in Vernon County where the vetting process is on its way to a Missouri appeals court. In that case, a circuit court judge first ruled in favor of  that county’s local committee. A lawsuit there was filed as the county clerk allowed eight candidates to be listed as Republicans on the August primary ballot for different contests. The committee said the fees should have been paid to their treasurer first, which in turn, allows them to make sure a vetting process has been followed. Just after press time, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals will hear the case. All eight candidates remain on the ballot with just one month to go until the primary.
In the meantime, Pedersen went on to say incumbents who have seats up for election don’t understand why they need to be vetted if already elected to the position by Republican voters.
“They’ve been voted in as a Republican once by voters, why does it have to change now, is the general question that keeps getting brought to me,” she noted.
The issue has led to the Wright County Republican Central Committee hosting events featuring primarily candidates who have went through their vetting process. Back on June 14, the committee held one event in Hartville recognizing former President Donald Trump’s birthday along with Flag Day while Wright County Elected Officials held an event for Lincoln Day in Mountain Grove. Voters will vote in the primary on Tuesday, Aug. 6.