"We threaten the power structure," said county GOP Central Committee member Mike Ridgway, whose status with the party will be discussed tonight during a closed Executive Committee meeting.

"I know they want to purge me because there's a need for control."

Ridgway alleges that because he was outspoken about the "moral implications" of replacing Workman on the ballot with developer Ellis Ivory, he and National Committeewoman Nancy Lord have been singled out for excommunication from the party leadership.

In 2002, nearly a dozen party loyalists were removed from leadership posts for supporting the election of Democratic County Councilman Randy Horiuchi. Most were reappointed by neighborhood precinct chairs after a frenzy of public attention embarrassed the party.

While Ridgway alleges that his situation is similar to the 2002 purge, County Republican Chairwoman Tiani Coleman and other executive committee members say there is no comparison.

"This is different," said Coleman. "This is hinging on a lot of different behaviors - a lot of different allegations."

In 2002, Ridgway was reprimanded for allegedly "trying to weaken the party;" the committee took a similar action in May this year. Under party rules, a member can be removed for simply disturbing the function and well-being of the organization.

"It's about whether or not he has taken serious actions that go against the party," she said. "If we were to find that the allegations were not true - although a lot were quite visible - we would drop it and be done with it." Coleman added that Lord is not on the chopping block.

nwarburton@sltrib.com