The Knox County Republican Party had their official candidates forum tonight making it the first gathering of local Republican candidates since the recent bylaws change passed by the SEC.

These bylaws changes raised the bar for what constitutes a “bona fide Republican,” effectively raising the requirement to be considered for the Republican nomination and giving the state party leadership more oversight and control of the nomination process.

It’s long been thought that these bylaws changes are written to keep candidates like Glenn Jacobs, Don Ridings, Charlie Susano, Larsen Jay, and others from getting on the ballot as Republicans.