OSAGE COUNTY — Osage County Republican Central Committee (OCRC) Chairwoman Linda Rantz issued a cease-and-desist letter on Monday to Osage County Clerk Brooke Dudenhoeffer demanding she stop advising candidates they can file for the Republican primary ballot without first being nominated by the party.

“We are concerned that candidates are being misled,” said Rantz. “The Candidate Declaration Form they sign is a request for nomination, not an automatic grant. Our process ensures candidates align with conservative principles, but the statute doesn’t dictate how we nominate — we could flip a coin if we wanted. The clerk has zero authority to make those decisions on our behalf.”

The dispute centers on who has authority to determine which candidates appear on a party’s primary ballot. The Osage County Republican Central Committee argues Missouri law gives political parties the authority to nominate candidates before they appear on the ballot. Clerk Dudenhoeffer maintains that candidates who properly file during the statutory filing period must be placed on the ballot, leaving voters to decide the party’s nominee.

According to the committee, Missouri statutes require candidates seeking a party nomination to first obtain approval from the party’s political committee before their names can appear on the primary ballot.

The OCRC argues that Missouri law gives party organizations authority over nominations, while election authorities typically administer candidate filings and place qualified candidates on the ballot during the statutory filing period.

On March 6, the committee reported it had nominated Valerie Prater for county treasurer and John Glavin for presiding commissioner. The committee rejected Darryl Griffin’s candidacy, returning his $100 filing fee after it was submitted in cash. Committee documentation states payments exceeding $50 may not be made in cash under Missouri campaign finance law.

Documents released by the Osage County Republican Central Committee show filing-fee checks of $100 each from Sonya Brandt, Brooke Dudenhoeffer, Amanda L. Grellner, Mary Ann Jacquin, Carrie A. Muenks, and Denise Nolte were marked “hold — do not deposit,” indicating the payments would only be processed after the candidates completed the party’s vetting process.

In separate letters dated March 7, Rantz also contacted each of them, urging a review the party’s nomination requirements and complete the committee’s vetting process if they wish to appear on the Republican primary ballot.

In the letter, Rantz wrote, “I strongly urge you to take a close look at the Candidate Declaration Form you swore under oath and submitted to the clerk. In the sentence where you fill in the name of the ‘party ticket,’ you declare ‘if nominated …’

“Who nominates you? Have you been led to believe that the clerk nominates you, or that you nominate yourself simply by submitting the declaration form and a filing fee?

“Imagine a scenario where a Republican candidate for a county office faces a strategy from another party (for example, the Democrats) to confuse voters by getting 10 Democrats to file as Republicans. If anyone who files with the clerk gets on the Republican primary ballot, that’s 11 names for a single office. How safe is any Republican candidate in that race? It’s likely that among the 10,000 voters in the county, only a small number will recognize the authentic Republican’s name on the ballot.”

Rantz added that this is not a theoretical scenario — it is happening around the U.S. She noted, “Here’s another: If the clerk has ‘nominating’ authority, what if five good Republicans file for the same office, but the clerk believes there should only be two candidates? Does the clerk have authority to decide which two get on the ballot? What criteria does the clerk use? What if you are one of the three rejected?

“The fact is that the county clerk has absolutely no statutory authority to make nomination decisions regarding candidates. The attached letter outlines the many statutes that clearly give that authority to the county political committees.

“For our county, OCRC designed a nomination process that includes vetting — a process that we determined to be the fairest approach to making these decisions,” Rantz noted. “We could still just flip a coin or base decisions on personal preferences — Missouri law does not dictate to political committees what process they must use for nominations.”

The committee established a vetting process in 2023 and used it to nominate candidates during the 2024 election cycle. That process was updated for the 2026 election and made available online as of Jan. 13.

Rantz reiterated the committee’s concern that candidates are being given inaccurate information. “If the only advice you have received about nominations comes from external sources like lobbyist organizations or officials who may not fully understand the process, we urge you to seek qualified advice,” she concluded.

The committee encouraged Republican candidates interested in running for county offices to complete the vetting process before the March 29 deadline.

Rantz said the committee could pursue further action through the Missouri Secretary of State or the Missouri Attorney General if the issue continues.