State Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, became the second person to file as a candidate for the secretary of state’s office on Wednesday.
Gray, a former candidate for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat, is one of the most conservative legislators in the state, being ranked by WyoVote as having the most conservative voting record in the Legislature.
“Serving the public as our next Secretary of State is the best way I can fight for election integrity and put the people of Wyoming first in our fight to reign in out of control government,” Gray said in a Wednesday press release. “We need more genuine, limited government, constitutional conservatives who don’t say one thing during an election then govern the opposite way. My proven record of conservative leadership shows I walk the walk.”
Gray, a representative since 2017, was the lead sponsor of a bill that would require voters to present identification when casting ballots. The bill was approved during the Legislature’s 2021 general session and is now the subject of a lawsuit questioning its constitutionality in Albany County District Court.
Gray last year announced he would challenge U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s House seat, but withdrew from the race when Harriet Hageman, backed with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, entered the race.
Gray has won a Conservative Political Action Conference award each year he has been in office.
In his press release, Gray accused President Joe Biden and the “radical left” of trying to steal elections and said he will “fight them tooth and nail” to protect elections and his voter ID law.
Gray said he will campaign across the state for the race.
Senate President Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, on Tuesday filed as a candidate for the secretary of state’s office.
Ed Buchanan, current secretary of state, announced on Tuesday he would not seek a second full term in the office and would instead apply to be a district court judge in Goshen County.
