Cowboy State Politics

Fresh off of the Superintendent of Public Instruction debate, Tom Kelly joined me in the studio.  I had a couple of questions I wanted to follow up on.  I asked him if it is possible to evaluate teacher performance--which came up in the debate.  His answer surprised me. Also we were able to dive a little deeper into recalibration and his thoughts on local control.

In an effort to avoid what it actually means to be a Republican, candidates are trying to brand themselves as some other type of Republican. It leaves the rest of us to ask, "Why not just be a Republican?" There's the "Common Sense Republicans," "Real Republicans" and now, "Rational Republicans." It's funny, these are the same folks asking you to reject labels and focus on issues. Then why don't they?

Chad Auer is one of the people running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He was one of Gordon's policy advisors on education, after being a teacher for a while.  This past Tuesday, I moderated the WYGOP Superintendent of Public Instruction debate in Upton--there were more than a couple of questions I asked during the debate that needed more discussion.

Sheriff Richard Mack is the founder of the Constitutional Sheriff and Peace Officers Association.  He is also the first person to sue the federal government over Clinton's Brady Bill.  He's the the author of several books including his latest The Democrat Murder of America.   He joined me on the program to discuss the importance of the Sheriff and how to know if your candidate is the right guy for the job.

The Wyoming Realtors PAC has issued their 2026 endorsements.  It's a who's who of Democrats masquerading as Republicans. The average score of adhering to the Republican Party Platform from their honorees is 15% and they only vote with the Republican majority 17.2%--sure sounds like a bunch of conservatives to me. It looks like Ogden Driskill's "Become a Peacemaker" pledge didn't take. Not only is he making it up as he goes along on social media, he's letting his pal Tyler Lindholm and Americans for Prosperity do most of his dirty work for him in the Senate District 1 race.  I spoke with Speaker Chip Neiman about it.

Being Independence Day we should have guessed that a Redcoat would post a video. J.D. WIlliams posted a video in which he tried to explain why the Democrats vote with Republicans and not the other way around.  Interesting though, there are a bunch of Republicans that the Democrats DON'T vote with.  Why?  The answer is easier than you might think....maybe it's because the values of the Democrats line up with the values of J.D. and his pals.   J.D.'s Video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1c4uZEXoaP/ 

A young volunteer with Americans for Prosperity (AFP) mistakenly knocked on my door this morning. He obviously didn't expect all the questions I was going to ask him--turns out he didn't even really know anything about the candidate he was supporting. Also, this morning on the live program I interviewed CJ Young who is running to be Wyoming's next Secretary of State.  

Earl Collier is running for the House of Representatives in House District 3.  That seat is currently held by Rep Abby Angelos who is running for the Wyoming Senate.  Collier is a GIS specialist and a surveyor.  We talked about why being a father and a busy business owner why he decided to do this.  We also spoke about the oil and gas industry, sage grouse and why government regulations--both state and federal--are hampering Wyoming's extractive mineral industries.  

Rep Abby Angelos is running for the Wyoming Senate in Senate District 23.  Her opponent in that race is Dwayne Dillinger.  He's one of the "republican" candidates in Campbell County that refused to show up at the Republican Party debate. I spoke with Abby on Thursday during the live program.  

A semi-anonymous group, BecomePeacemakers.org, is asking candidates to sign their "Love your enemies" pledge. Most of the people who have signed it are the very people have said some really nasty things about their political opponents.  Perhaps it wasn't the intent of the pledge but the real question is how it will be used--and that is a typical Redcoat tactic.   David Hill Joins the program to talk about his race for HD50.  The audio is a little choppy in the beginning but you can follow it once I had David call in to the program.

Steve Friess is running for the U.S. House along with 9 other candidates. He joined me in the studio for an hour a few days ago. It was a wide ranging discussion that covered everything from the Save America Act, the Convention of States, guns, so-called affordable housing and exactly who he is. I pressed him on the central claim of most of his campaign material--that he helped author executive orders for the Trump Administration.  The first question I asked him was what has he done in Wyoming politics. It's a great interview that lasted longer than it was supposed to.

Just like the 8th grade delinquent that tries to forge his own report card, Eric Barlow has created his own Republican Party Platform Scorecard.  It appears to show he follows the platform 100% of the time--until you actually read it.  What it does say is that on 83 out of 5,815 bills he's followed the platform. When you look at his actual voting record it's, not surprisingly, the opposite of what he's claiming. There's numerous votes against the platform.  But he's asking you to believe the opposite.

It's not that the media and Redcoats disagree, they do, but it's that they can't understand conservatives.  It is psychologically impossible for them to get it; because they've never lived in a time when government wasn't involved in the economy. Wyoming's economic statistics are shockingly dismal--far below the national average.  Why? The number one industry and employer in the state is government and not business. It's almost like I am teaching a class on conservatism.

Carlin Jones is running for the Wyoming House of Representatives in House District 28. He's a rancher from Otto, WY. House 28 covers parts of Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs and Park Counties. We had a wide ranging discussion about schools, spending, guns, data centers and more.

During a recent forum, gubernatorial candidate Eric Barlow couldn't give a straight answer to a clear question about abortion.  He said he's in favor of one exception. But other than that he's totally pro-life.  His voting record doesn't show that either. Link to The Open Range Record Article about his record: https://www.openrangerecord.com/news/d9236f31-fae6-4775-864e-7f8f589068a7  Anonymous "news" pages are cropping up.  I had a back and forth with one of them that yielded hilarious results.

Nick Ellis is one of the founders of "Christian Halls."  It's an alternative to our university system complete with all the accreditation that any other undergraduate or grad school would have.  Before our pervasive university system existed, if someone was interested in a craft, they'd go find someone who was good at it and apprentice under them. For thousands of years we educated our children like this.  The question is can we return to this method of education.

We have always been wary of new businesses or technology that we don't understand.  Just because we don't get it doesn't automatically make it bad. Data centers are in this category.  They're cropping up all over the place.  The businesses we should be wary of are the ones propped up by government.  If any business is playing by the same rules as anyone else, we shouldn't go running to government to stop it.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray had a contentious interview with Claire McFarland on the Cow Pie's morning show. It followed the release of a poll the Gray campaign released the day before. As with just about every poll, it contained message testing that McFarland and the liberals she talked to considered offensive. The interview turned into more of Gray questioning the "reporting" of McFarland and the Cowboy State Daily more generally.

With this many candidates in the race, it's hard to figure out where they're all at.  The easiest way to figure that out is just to look at how well known they all are. All of them fall into one of three groups: everyone knows them, some people have heard of them and the third, who the heck is that? There's some clear front-runners but the rest of them have a race on their hands.  

Are there really moderates when it comes to politics?  In reality, no.  There clearly aren't any in the legislature.  When you look at the voting data, our legislators are solidly on the left or the right.  The reason why many adopt the "moderate" name is if they were honest and admitted to being on the left, few people in Wyoming would vote for them.  There's also a question of "purity tests." That's as ridiculous as claiming to be a moderate. Also, after my interview with Jimmy Skovgard, he went to Hot Springs County.  Maybe someone should have told him I have operatives everywhere.

For a long time, liberal Republicans and Democrats in Wyoming have been trying to water down our primary system to make it easier for liberals to get elected.  In 2021, the Senate Corporations Committee discussed the idea.  That was pretty much a non-starter.  Now the same individuals--Nancy Case--is trying to water down efforts at eliminating crossover voting.  Of course, the Wyoming media, who did write an article about Friday's Corporations meeting, conveniently glossed over it.

Jillian Balow is the twice elected former Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She took a job working for Glen Younkin's administration in Virginia for a time and has since moved back to Wyoming.  Now she's trying her hand at the U.S. House of Representatives.  Balow joined me on Cowboy State Politics Live to discuss her candidacy.

Moran ranch owner Frank Chapman is running for Congress.  He's lived in Teton County since 2011 operating the Heart 6 Ranch.  He's a lawyer and a hunting guide.  A political newcomer to Wyoming politics, Chapman says he's the right candidate because of his experience fighting the federal government.  He sat down in the studio with me on Wednesday.

Christine and I are off on another one of our adventures.  We've crossed the southern border--something about shopping and the Texas Rangers. On Friday's edition of Cowboy State Politics Live, I interviewed Rep Bill Allemand.  He just recently announced his re-election campaign.  The Supreme Court lifted the injunction on Wyoming's ESA bill.  And a lot more.  See you when we get back!!

Kevin Christensen is running for the United States House of Representatives.  He is among the 10 other people who have declared their candidacy for that office.  He spent 27 years in the military and a time as BLM director for NE Wyoming. One of the topics we focused on was the Buffalo RMP which was implemented when he was one of the heads of that agency.  I pressed him on what those BLM policies meant for Wyoming energy producers.  It's a great wide ranging discussion.

Rebecca Bextel announced Wednesday that she is seeking a nomination for Governor from the Constitution Party.  It sets up an interesting electoral scenario.  Historically, Wyoming has elected very liberal people to the Governor's mansion.  For 36 years, basically, the Democrats controlled the governor's office.  Since 2011 the Democrat party has struggled to gain voters and now is on the verge of not even being a major political party. With the nomination, Bextel would appear on the General Election ballot bypassing the primary contest.  I interviewed Rebecca this morning to make her announcement.

Friday, I interviewed Fremont HD55 Representative Joel Guggenmos about his re-election campaign.  There had been some rumblings about him living for a brief period outside of his district.  He and his wife had their rent increased 600% and so they moved. For a few months, the Guggenmoses lived in a camper a short distance outside of his district. When they found a home they could afford, Joel and his wife moved back.  Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese told the Cow Pie that he sold his home, bought a different one and then moved back.  This, of course, blew up on social media.  Saturday morning, Guggenmos issued a statement clarifying that has never owned a house.  The Cow Pie, for their part, added an editor's note to their original article...at the bottom, where few people will ever see it. I spoke with Joel early this morning to get an update.  Also included in this episode is the original interview I did with him on Cowboy State Politics Live.  

Kari Drost, Chairwoman of the Weston County Republican Party joined me to discuss Weston County's commissioners choosing not to follow statute and select someone to fill the vacancy of County Clerk.  While technically the commishes have 3 more days to comply with statute, Tuesday they tried to do the exact same thing as Sheridan county in 2022.

"In a room full of RINOs, it's better to be a bear."  Rep John Bear announces his re-election campaign.  If successful, this will be his 4th term in the Wyoming House.  During our discussion, I asked him about some of the bigger issues he and the Freedom Caucus have faced.  I pressed him on the issues that he's specifically going to do.  We also discussed some of the criticism he's faced from the other side of the aisle.

March 31st Governor Gordon issued an "Arab-American Heritage Month" proclamation.  Don't feel bad if you didn't know about it.  Nobody did.  The proclamation doesn't show up on his website and no announcement email was sent out.  At first, I thought the image I found on social media was a hoax.  After calling the Governor's Office, I confirmed that indeed he did sign it. I don't have a problem with any legal immigrant.  That's what this country was founded on.  I do, however, have an issue with artificially singling out individual groups based on race.  That's a big reason why we have such a problem in our country right now.  If the Gov wanted to make a splash, he should have proclaimed April "American Heritage Month" instead.

Earlier this week I made a screaming trip across the state to attend a Democrat sponsored legislative town-hall.  It was billed as "Come Hear the Full Story: Cheyenne, Checkgate and What's Next."  Granted, things would have turned out different had I not walked through the door; but, there was very little of the Democrats' "full story." What did happen though is Liz Storer encouraging the room to cross-over vote and a shockingly conservative argument from a Redcoat.

As it always does, the crowd at a political event tells the story.  At the Republican Convention this past weekend, one gubernatorial candidate didn't bother to step onto the stage.  He recorded a video WHILE AT THE CONVENTION and ask that it be played during his time-slot.  Another, gave a speech that was just as canned as if were given at a whistle stop. And, Brent Bien received a raucous response to his remarks.  No one at the event had to guess who the odds-on favorite was.

Chuck Gray joined me in the studio a couple of days ago.  He had just finished a town-hall in Sheridan that, at times, got a little feisty.  We had a wide ranging discussion of the race for the U.S. House and several other Wyoming centric issues.  

While Sommers was Wyoming Speaker of the House he sat on the board of the State Legislative Leadership Foundation--a group with longstanding ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Albert denied it and the Wyoming media tried to explain it away.   Now that Sommers is running for House District 20, it's important to bring it up again.

The Wyoming left continues to push the narrative that there were "cuts" to the budget in the 2026 Budget Session.  Really, there is almost a half a billion dollar increase.  Politicians like Chi-Comm Som are using the lie that there were as a campaign issue.  Was there money moved around?  Yes, but there wasn't a cut. Interestingly, after getting schooled on this point by Rep Pendergraft, Jake in the Cow Pie continues to insist that there were cuts. As is always the case, the truth is very different than the story the Redcoats are telling. Link to the Gov's budget book, Look at page 15 and 19: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CV-WakvtiWWolS2pI5VgKWGOK0JuiKb3/view 

Luke Reiner was the WYDOT Director.  Now he's running for the Wyoming House in District 8.  While at WYDOT, Reiner championed a plan to build EV charging stations every 50 miles of Wyoming's Interstate Highways.  He was told no.  A fawning puff piece in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle fails to bring up how Reiner spent months trying to convince Wyoming Citizens to go along with the EV push.

Legislators gathered for a town hall April 14 in Sheridan.  Most of the evening was a question and answer about what happened during the session.  There were, however, two exchanges in which senators were asked why a list of bills did not get heard.  The stories shifted the more the evening wore on.  First, they ran out of time; then, it was blamed on the Majority Floor Leader and finally, the bills wouldn't pass to begin with. Senators weren't the only people changing their stories.  Gail Symons is attempting to explain away her column that asked Democrats to cross over to the Republican party.

Before the filing period, no one really knows anything about the election--who's in, who's out or anything.  The only thing we can do is speculate.  However, there are a few candidates who do have voting records.  Those we can be critical of--and there's a stark difference.  In an election with a lot of candidates, they'll all be desperate for your attention.  The important part is to do your homework before you talk to them. Article on the Congressional Race: https://www.openrangerecord.com/news/227ae4e7-62be-4204-93f0-1c7f79800fef  Articles on Eric Barlow:     His environmentalism: https://www.openrangerecord.com/news/6726ce97-3f3b-472c-9220-318e56e2b605      His "Non-Profit:" https://www.openrangerecord.com/news/4edb1ff6-5f0b-47c7-a540-8963bbe48eaf  Article on Degenfelder: https://www.openrangerecord.com/news/992a97aa-447f-4085-9e4e-cab1df307676 

Sen Ed Cooper can't seem to keep his story straight.  Before the session, he told a newspaper the Freedom Caucus is given $30,000 donations if they vote right.  After I interviewed State Freedom Caucus President Andy Roth, he retracted it.  He then told our journalist that he made a mistake.  Now he's back claiming that what he said there's money spent on Freedom Caucus candidates.  During that same appearance, he couldn't keep his own voting record straight while accusing other people of lying.

Everything seems pretty normal even though there's technically a government shutdown.  I asked Rep Hageman if this is just evidence that the government is too big.  Harriet took a few minutes to address the criticism coming from the media about Iran.  We also briefly discussed her endorsement of Megan Degenfelder.

At a recent appearance in Cody, Eric Barlow said, "I was born Eric and I'll die Eric."  A truer thing could not be said.  Barlow is the same politician he has always been--one that votes with the Democrats over 80% of the time.  But he's also the same activist that he's always been. In a 2002 transcript from his testimony to Congress Barlow said that energy development is creating "destroyed soils, degraded water, and dried up aquifers."

Governor Gordon and Chuck Gray had another dust-up in the SLIB meeting.  This time The Gov told Secretary Gray to "Shut up!"  It was all over an amendment that would have mandated a citizenship check for taxpayer dollars--a reasonable proposal. The rest of the Republicans on the board tried to obfuscate the issue and kept bringing up reasons why the amendment wouldn't work.  What ensued was pretty predictable. 

The Freedom Caucus has unveiled a plan to bridge the political divide in Wyoming.  Unbeknownst to most political observers, it's been going on for a while.  They term it, "Radical Transparency."

Secretary of State Chuck Gray is running for the United States House of Representatives.  He's in a field with eight other candidates.  In a race like this, policy positions matter because that's about the only way a candidate can distinguish themselves from everyone else. We talked about what he's campaigning on and we had some time to talk some more Wyoming-centric issues.

Gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien sat down with me in the studio for the better part of an hour.  We dug into his lengthy military career.  Now, he's a retired "full-bird" colonel in the U.S. Marines.  We spoke at length about his plans should he be successful in his run.  Of course, we also discussed whether endorsements matter or not.  It's a great interview that gives you some rare insight into who he is.

David Giralt is one of the many candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives.  He's an Army Ranger, used to work at the Pentagon and spent time in U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis' office. Though it took us a few days to find a time to visit, he joined me on Tuesday's live program.  It's a great interview.

Sheridan County held its County Convention on Saturday.  WYGOP Chair Bryan Miller introduced a bylaw change that would bar any member of the press from holding any leadership position in the party.  As you can imagine, that didn't sit very well with me.  The measure was soundly defeated--so much so that the state version of it wasn't even brought up. Teton County tried a bylaw change that tried to limit what the press can do in one of their meetings.  The trend is clear, those in power don't want the public knowing what they are doing.  

Today, the Sheridan County Republican Party is holding its county convention.  There isn't anything too controversial being proposed (unlike some other counties).  But nonetheless it is a Republican event so you never know what's going to happen. Yesterday's live program ended up being a heck of a lot of fun.  Here's a replay of it.  

Agent 29 appeared on the Cowboy State Daily morning show this morning.  It was masterpiece theater.  There was a discussion about the budget, recalibration and a few others.  But the fireworks started when Jake tried to cast budget reductions as "drastic."  It just went down hill from there. Ken's response?  Words mean things.  

Rep Hageman held several town halls across the eastern half of Wyoming this past week.  I caught up with her in Wheatland. Wyoming is in the middle of a Winter drought.  Snow packs are down and most of the state has seen more of 60 degrees than 6.  This summer, there's going to be a huge problem with water--not just for Wyoming but the surrounding states.  I asked Harriet what we can expect. A big question on everyone's mind is the SAVE America Act that appears to be hung up in the Senate.  I got a few answers from our Representative on that.

Many journalists have a problem reporting facts accurately.  The biggest problem though is their own political activism in their reporting.  That often happens in Wyoming media.  There's no better example than how the media behaved this legislative session.  It didn't matter if they had verified their facts, often they just ran with it. In one example, the author decided to misquote me, take me out of context and not tell the truth about what actually happened.