OGDEN — The Weber County Republican Party rules governing selection of the party’s nominees are again coming under fire.

This time the criticism comes from would-be Utah House hopeful Lorraine Brown, who lost her bid for a place on the ballot at the party’s April 18 county convention by a single vote. She was vying for the District 10 post, which covers parts of southern Ogden and South Ogden, but was defeated, 30 votes to 29, by fellow GOPer Travis Campbell in her bid for a place on the ballot.

“That’s offensive, it’s illegal and it’s wrong,” Brown said, alluding to provisions of the county party bylaws that kept her off the ballot despite the narrow finish.

Because Brown was a dual-path candidate — seeking a place on the ballot via petition and at the party’s nominating convention — the county party bylaws, meant to favor hopefuls who go only through the party convention, benefitted Campbell. Campbell sought a place on the ballot solely through the convention.

As is, Brown was eliminated from contention in the District 10 race because she lost to Campbell and was unable to garner the required 1,000 signatures from Republicans to secure a place on the ballot via petition. Had the situation been reversed, however, and Brown defeated Campbell by the same margin at the April 18 party convention, both would have faced off at the June 30 Republican primary. The party bylaws state that a convention-only candidate like Campbell only needs to muster 30% of the vote at the party convention in a race against a dual-path candidate like Brown in order to get on the primary ballot.

The different guidelines applicable to dual-path and convention-only candidates are a lingering point of contention among Republicans in Utah — and at the heart of debate over how party representatives should be selected. The rules here emerged as a point of debate after the 2018 Weber County Republican Party convention as well, though the controversy two years ago stemmed in part from a number of last-minute changes ahead of actual convention voting. Now the issue is flaring up again, though no concerted push seems to be brewing for change.

Advocates of the convention-only process say it allows for proper vetting of candidates, unlike the petition process, which requires only that candidates get the requisite number of signatures from fellow party members. Brown, though, takes umbrage at what she sees as the denigration of the petition process.

State law allows her to seek a place on the ballot by petition, and to be penalized for doing so by the county party’s bylaws amounts to discrimination under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, she maintains. She doesn’t plan to take legal action, but thinks the party’s bylaws should be changed and has broached the issue with other party members. If such provisions remain, she worries, they could limit the prospects of the party’s growth.

Party leaders can change the rules in question “or we can continue to foster ideology that narrows our reach and shrinks the tent,” she said.

Lacy Richards, chairwoman of the Weber County Republican Party, deferred comment, saying Brown didn’t reach out to party leadership with her concerns.

“We have not received any type of complaint or challenge,” Richards said.

Beyond that, Richards noted that the party bylaws were followed scrupulously in the April 18 convention voting. Moreover, Republican Party bylaws for some other Utah counties are similar to Weber County’s.

Brown also criticized the bylaws in a letter after the convention to Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.

“The Weber County Republican Party has used illegal rules to retaliate against candidates who exercise their legal right of gathering signatures to get on the ballot,” she wrote.

She noted that 56 votes separated the two GOP hopefuls for the Weber County recorder-surveyor’s post at the convention, yet both will face off again at the June 30 primary. Brown lost by just one vote, by contrast, “yet I was denied the right to participate in the primary election — solely because I chose to exercise my legal right to gather signatures,” she wrote.

Challenger James Couts beat incumbent Leanne Kilts 285-229, a 55.4%-44.6% margin, in the recorder-surveyor vote. But because neither garnered more than 60% of the vote and both are convention-only candidates, party bylaws dictate that they both earn a primary ballot place.

Justin Lee, director of elections in Cox’s office, rebuffed Brown’s contention that the bylaws are illegal.

“I know that several county parties have implemented systems that require different thresholds for candidates who gather signatures, but I am not aware of any law or ruling that has declared that practice to be illegal,” he said in a response to Brown.

Brown also took issue with the guidelines Weber County Election Office officials used in counting the signatures on her petitions. The election office deemed 982 of the signatures to be legitimate, just short of the 1,000 she needed, but threw out others. Cox’s office reviewed the matter, though, and Lee said the Weber County election officials “did the job correctly.”

Campbell will face Lou Shurtliff, a Democrat and the incumbent District 10 Utah House representative, on Nov. 3.