This has been going on for decades. It all started when a guy named Mike Ridgeway was sent to Utah by the head of the American Independent Party (or something like that) to infiltrate and destroy the Utah republican Party from the inside. He recruited Drew Chamberlain, Lowell Nelson, and a few others to help.
Along the way Lisa Shepherd (spurned by her mentor Curt Bramble because he wouldn't support her run for Legislature) joined the cause and she and a small group of nuts (armed with a conspiracy theory about legislators in Utah and their unlimited power) worked to purge all legislators and large donors from leadership.
Once the nuts had driven all the adults from the room, they learned how to 'weaponize' Robert's Rules (taught by a man named John Holbough) and proceeded to use "bylaws" and "bylaw committees" to secure more and more control over the party. Notice how much time is wasted on bylaws and Robert's Rules these days? That's their influence.
Over time, as explained by Dana Dickson above, sane people have gotten tired and walked away. That attrition is what keeps the nuts going. They're "covert narcissists" and one of the tricks of their trade is to shower new people with adoration and superficial charm. By the time new people (like you) figure out that it's all a sham, you're burnt out, fed up, and you leave to allow a new crop of fresh recruits to be seduced by the nuts. During the year or so when I was under their spell, one of them made the mistake of explaining the dynamic to me in confidence.
Today, there are very few "community leaders" left in the party. They used to run for SCC, but now they don't bother, meaning that the top vote getters are people who were too nutty or too extreme to win officer positions in their counties. Most delegates give them SCC positions as a 'consolation prize', which means the SCC is even more extreme than the delegate base.
As time goes on and successful, prominent, responsible community leaders continue to abandon party politics in favor of more rewarding pursuits, it will continue to get worse and worse. Moreover, the nuts intentionally drive the most vocal 'normal' people from the party to consolidate power.