Daily Darwin

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://twitter.com/DarwinAwards_/status/1608937668670554113
</div></figure>

Darwin 1 1 23 scaled

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Darwin: Sunday, January 1, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Great way to start 2023...

Daily Darwin: Sunday, January 1, 2023

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Political action committees (PACs) attacking Republican candidates in Wyoming’s primary election are twisting some facts and misrepresenting others.

And they’re spending hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars to do it.

The half-million-dollar Wyoming Way Action PAC has been attacking Secretary of State Chuck Gray, a U.S. House candidate, for his record on the State Loan and Investment Board, alleging that fields of wind turbines are “taking over Wyoming because of Chuck Gray" - which is an exaggeration. 

The $1 million Protecting Wyoming Values PAC, funded exclusively Gray’s father, Jan Charles Gray, as of July 29, has been attacking Gray’s opponent Steve Friess by casting him as having a “never Trump” agenda. 

That claim falls out of the bigger context of the Friess family’s long alignment with the president.  

That PAC also asserted Friess was born, married, and raised his family in Connecticut, which Friess says is altogether false.

And the $1.4 million Wyoming’s Turn PAC produced a falsehood against Sen. Eric Barlow this week by asserting he sponsored a gas tax hike in 2020, when in fact he voted against the bill it references.

[{"type":"text","text":"First, Chuck Gray"}]

The claim that Gray is making wind farms take over Wyoming is an exaggeration.

As secretary of state, Gray voted in favor of leasing state lands for at least three wind-farm projects. Those three measure 640, 2,400 and 3,079 acres.

But amid a broader campaign against what Gray called “woke wind,” he later opposed around 37,128 acres of wind farms slated for state lands. Those pertained to two far more controversial wind leases, one of which has landed Wyoming in court.  

Wyoming measures about 62.34 million acres, and about 2.4 million of that is state land.

“Its (sic) just more dishonesty from the Jackson Friess group,” wrote Gray in a Friday text message.

“I was the only member on the State Board of Land Commissioners who voted against and stopped the woke wind leases in Converse and Niobrara Counties,” said Gray. “The first time Governor Gordon threatened to fight me in January was because of my work to stop the woke wind lease.” 

. In the seconds before the confrontation, however, Gray was speaking dourly of Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz, who’s also a former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice.

Just before Gordon asked Gray to step outside, the governor  warned him against casting “aspersions” against Kautz.

Gray has weathered attack ads from another opponent, Reid Rasner, who says Gray has registered Chinese-owned companies. The secretary pointed to 

, when he stripped North Korean businesses of their licenses.

“I've spent a much larger percentage of my life than Friess in Wyoming,” said Gray. 

He said his parents divorced and he was under a custody arrangement he couldn’t control as a boy, and split time between Wyoming and California.

“For Friess to attack that, when he spent none of his youth living here, is hypocritical and dishonest,” said Gray.

The PAC attacking Gray’s California roots is funded in part by Friess’s mother, Lynn, though not registered to Friess.

[{"type":"text","text":"Next, Steve Friess"}]

The ad against Friess asserts he “stiffed” President Donald Trump “while bankrolling never Trumpers like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney.”

Friess gave money to Cheney in 2013 during her U.S. Senate run, but not when she became a “never Trumper” starting in about 2021, Federal Election Commission filings show.

His donations to Cheney happened “before she went insane,” said Friess in a Friday phone interview.

Friess gave money to Romney during the latter’s presidential run in 2012 – another campaign that pre-dated the pro- and anti-Trump Republican divide.

The Friess family donated to now-Rep. Harriet Hageman in 2021, fueling her successful 2022 U.S. House run against Cheney.

As for Trump’s most recent election, “I might have forgotten to write a personal check, but we hosted a fundraiser that raised $6 million,” said Friess. “So I think I’m OK there.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The False Claim"}]

Wyoming’s Turn PAC launched a mailer this week accusing Barlow, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, of sponsoring legislation to hike gas and diesel taxes. It footnotes the 2020 House Bill 63.

The Revenue Committee sponsored House Bill 63, and Barlow was not then a member of it.

[{"type":"text","text":"Barlow voted against the bill, and it died on introduction."}]

The flier also indicates that Barlow opposed rolling back the gas tax hike in 2013. 

In that year, rather, Barlow had tried to weaken a proposed fuel tax hike, House Bill 69, by cutting its proposed tax increases in half. The House rejected Barlow's amendment, and in the end he voted against the bill. It passed despite his nay. 

One of his three Republican opponents, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, 

 that had cherry-picked her former lobbying work and juxtaposed it with her employer's bankruptcy leaving Campbell County in the lurch for taxes. 

Now Gray appears to be attacking another of his opponents, Kevin Christensen, directly.

Citizens for Chuck Gray, which is a candidate committee directly linked to Gray, ran an attack ad accusing Christensen of being “too liberal for Wyoming,” according to a video of the ad Christensen sent Friday to Cowboy State Daily.

“Christensen trashed President Trump, and Christensen stands against conservatives, siding with RINOs like Liz Cheney, trying to squash Trump’s agenda,” says the ad.

[{"type":"text","text":"The ad plays Trump’s voice saying “Chuck Gray. Great job, Chuck.”"}]

Christensen, a U.S. Army veteran of Casper, said this is the first attack ad against him of which he’s aware.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I feel that Mr. Gray is nervous,” said Christensen."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He also said he’s never donated to, spent time with, or known Cheney."}]

Christensen did criticize the president in April after Trump posted an AI-generated image 

 with light streaming from both hands and other religious imagery surrounding him.

“I felt that as a person of faith, I couldn’t stand by and not provide comment on that,” said Christensen. “I felt that was inappropriate and wrong, and I stand by having made that post.”

He said he supports Trump and believes Americans should not want to see their president fail or wish him ill. But he also said no president is above critique.

Gray has been asserting for days that polling shows him in first place and Christensen in second. He announced it on the debate stage at a Wyoming Public Television Debate last week in Sheridan, and has posted at least two selfie-style videos to social media, repeating the claim.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray has not published the complete poll."}]

Christensen said he’s been gaining support, and his word-of-mouth endorsements statewide have been exponential.

Friess, meanwhile, has launched an advertising campaign asserting that the “two-man race” is between himself and Gray.

[{"type":"text","text":"Just Who’s In This Thing?"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming political strategist Bill Cubin weighed in Friday."}]

When Gray first claimed Christensen was in second place, “That didn’t’ make sense to me,” said Cubin.

“I think Chuck might have said that to kind of throw people off the scent of Steve Friess,” he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"But the recent attack ad lends the claim more credence, Cubin added"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“If they’re putting money behind it, it’s a real thing,” he said."}]

As for a two-man race, Cubin said it’s not that simple. Wyoming Republicans tend to galvanize into three groups, not two.

Those are the never-Trumpers, the semi-critical Trump supporters, and the people who “would walk on cut glass” to support the president, said Cubin.

If the attack ad against Christensen launched this week, however, “it feels really late in the game to be able to sink an ad like that,” he added.

Gray texted, “It's important for the truth to be told.  While the media has been repeating the lies of Jackson elitist Friess and his PACs funded by his billionaire friends, Kevin Christensen has actually been in second place in multiple polls.”

More than 21% of Gray’s donations came from Jackson residents as of July 29, FEC filings show.

Gray said he’d be happy to debate Christensen anytime, as long as Cowboy State Daily is not moderating.

[{"type":"text","text":"More About The PAC"}]

The Wyoming Way Action PAC, which attacks Gray, had raised $596,613 as of July 29 and spent $345,016.

Its sole contributor as of July 29 was the Outrider PAC, a $1.14 million outfit that runs on money from numerous donors including:

The Outrider PAC isn’t only helping Friess. It’s contributed to South Carolina congressional candidate Mark Smith, South Dakota gubernatorial candidate Dusty Johnson, and other Republicans.

Conservatives for American Excellence has been attacking Gray by pointing to his California roots. That’s a bigger PAC with a receipts tally this election season of $11.4 million. Not all of its spending goes toward Wyoming’s U.S. House race.

It has spent $7.4 million since January 2025. And as of June 30, all of that had gone toward races in other states.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Gray-Backing PAC"}]

The Hometown Freedom Action Network PAC that has been attacking Friess has been around since at least 2012 – long before this race took shape.

It’s raised $211,340 this election cycle. Its funding and spending are an estuary of out-of-state PACs, people and entities.

[{"type":"text","text":"Friess’s spokesman Tim Edson was much blunter than Friess."}]

He said Friess has run a positive campaign around an optimistic vision for Wyoming and is therefore “poised to beat Chuck Gray.”

“Chuck is losing, so he's lashing out with blatantly dishonest negative ads in a desperate effort to make Steve Friess as despised by the people of Wyoming as he is,” said Edson.

Though at least one of the PACs supporting Gray is backed with Gray’s father’s money, the PAC is not registered to Gray.

“It won't work because voters recognize that Chuck Gray is a self-promoting career politician and phony conservative who would backstab President Trump if he got to Congress,” said Edson.

Friess Christensen Gray 8 14 26

<title>False, Exaggerated, And Cherry-Picked Attack Ads Fly In Wyoming        | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Political groups spending millions of dollars on Wyoming's primary election are attacking U.S. House and gubernatorial candidates with fliers and commercials. Some of their claims are exaggerated; some are downright false.

False, Exaggerated, And Cherry-Picked Attack Ads Fly In Wyoming          

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

Hundreds of people gathered at the Christ Episcopal Church in Cody on Friday to mourn and celebrate Ann Simpson, who died on July 31.

Simpson, 94, was married to the late U.S. Sen. Al Simpson for 72 years. They had three children and a growing number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, in addition to a tight-knit extended family and a vast community of friends. 

The service was filled with love, humor, tears, and lots of clothing from The Bargain Box in Cody. Ann Simpson was known for keeping an eye out for any garments that might make her family and friends look their best.

“Mom loved thrift stores, estate sales, and bargains,” her daughter Sue Simpson Gallagher said during the service. “Could I have a show of hands of everyone here in both rooms who has purchased a piece of clothing from Encore or the Bargain Box that Ann Simpson convinced you to buy?”

[{"type":"text","text":"Dozens of hands shot up, amid echoes of laughter."}]

The nave of the church was filled to capacity. Many people sat or stood in an adjacent room, so Simpson Gallagher made a point of thanking everyone for honoring her mother in that way.

“Thank you for standing and bearing witness to this celebration of our mother's life,” she said. “This was Ann Simpson. Open to all. Inclusive. It wasn't about the details, and the enormity of projects didn't overwhelm her. It inspired her.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'A Head-Turning Event'"}]

After the traditional Episcopal funeral services, members of the Simpson family came to the front of the church to share their memories of Ann. The first to speak was Pete Simpson, Al’s brother.

“You people have filled this house with love and caring and wonderful presence in the faith you have in the Lord himself and in the love you had for Ann,” he said.

Pete Simpson set a precedent that all the speakers followed: emotions of loss mixed with witticism.

“I was asked to speak first,” he said. “It is because of my sterling qualities or my gift at telling long-than-ordinary stories. No, it’s because I’m the oldest.”

Pete went on to say he had known Ann longer than Al. They met 75 years ago at the Student Union at the University of Wyoming. He recalled college-aged Ann Fogel as “the tall, dignified, and absolutely gorgeous girl from Greybull.”

When she and her twin sister, Nan, appeared, “it was a head-turning event” for every man on campus, according to Pete, who likened Ann to the actress Hedy Lamarr.

Pete shared the moment when Al told him that he’d proposed to Ann, and she’d accepted.

“Al never really forgave me for my response (when he told me), which was ‘What?” But, boy, did he luck out. And so did the whole family,” he said. “One thing Ann fought for was everybody she loved (and) everybody who loved her. She put up the fight for them and for all of their friends.”

Pete concluded by paraphrasing the last line of an Irish folk song by Mary Delaney.

“It said, ‘Ah, sweet Annie, whatever shall we do without you?’” he said. “Well, I want to simply say we will carry on, because Ann will insist. God, how we loved her, and God, how grateful we are that she said ‘Yes.’”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"“That Vitality”"}]

After Pete, Al and Ann’s son Bill Simpson spoke. He somewhat lamented the speaking order.

“I said I want to speak at mom’s service, but I don’t want to go after Pete, because no one can beat Pete,” he said.

Bill said his mother had “an idyllic life” in the Bighorn Basin. She was born and raised in Greybull, married in Basin, and lived the rest of her life in Cody except for Al's 18 years in Washington, D.C., as a senator.

“She was strong, and she was resilient,” he said. “She was fearless, and she was brave. She would never back down, and as Dad would say, you’d always want her in your corner. You’d always want Ann Simpson fighting for you.”

Bill praised his mother’s penchant for giving advice on everything from fashion and personal relationships to gum-chewing, as well as her humor, empathy, warmth, and compassion.

[{"type":"text","text":"He also lauded the bond Ann shared with Al."}]

“Their bond was so strong and definitive,” he said. “I can only hope and pray all of us, with our life’s partner, have that kind of relationship.”

Ann also loved art, which is why she frequented museums whenever they traveled. Bill said she also had a penchant for “touching” the paintings.

“When she walked in a museum, there were signs everywhere,” he said. “Invariably, I would hear, ‘Ma’am, do not touch the painting.’ She said, ‘Bill, I didn’t touch it. I brushed up against it with my hand.’ That was not synonymous with touching. It was that fun side of Mom. That vitality.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Bill ended by encouraging people to remember the Friday service."}]

“I hope and pray you’ll remember this day and remember Ann Simpson,” he said. “If you do, she’ll always be part of our lives. Wherever she is, I know she is active and vibrant.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"“Grace Personified”"}]

Sue Simpson Gallager thanked everyone for attending the service, and all the community members and organizations that cared for Ann.

“I am so grateful to our mother for so many things,” she said. “One of those things is the gift of spontaneity. And in that spontaneity, she helped us be present (and) appreciate the moment. She really knew the power of now.”

She said her mother was “really good at living in this world fully,” recognizing opportunity, acknowledging good fortune, and “savored the joy of it all.”

“I know you would all agree that Mom was one of the most beautiful people you have ever known, inside and out,” she said. “She, like Dad, made us feel seen by her recognition, and not just because she remembered your name, but because she really paid attention. She was really interested in you. She was a marvelous friend. She was grace personified. She was just so real (and) unadulterated.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Sue concluded by saying her mom was “her hero.”"}]

“She was my best friend,” she said. “She was the most extraordinary woman I have ever known and will ever know. I will miss her every day for the rest of my life. Yet I will feel her presence everywhere, forever and always. Thank you, Mom, for everything. I couldn't love you any more than I do.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"“A Harmonizer”"}]

Colin Simpson, Al and Ann’s second son, praised his siblings for supporting their mother and bringing her love and joy until her last moments. He called Ann “a grace giver.”

“She could be a tough critic and brutally honest,” he said. “She understood that we’re all full of flaws, and that grace and forgiveness allow us to look beyond the trivial and small things, and grant grace as we would want grace granted to ourselves.”

Colin described Ann’s life as “substantial and meaningful,” rarely burdened by guilt, anger, hurt, or remorse.

“She was comfortable with who she was, and that allowed others around her to be comfortable too,” she said. “Mom had great compassion and was very nurturing, but she never suffered self-pity, in herself or others.”

According to Colin, the road of self-pity in the Simpson home was “very short.”

“She simply wouldn’t allow it, and she told you so,” he said. “If you didn’t like it, you could go to your room and come out when you can be nice.”

Ann also loved dancing. Colin said she and his sister “grew up dancing in Greybull.”

“She taught Dad how to dance, and they loved to dance and did it a lot,” he said. “Dad called her ‘The Greybull Flash,’ and boy was she.”

As Colin concluded, he described Ann as “a harmonizer” who could bring people together during difficult discussions “just by being their (with) a smile.”

“Mom devoted her life to her husband, children, grandchildren, family, and friends, and she deserved great love and attention,” he said. “Where do we go from here? That’s easy. We carry on the traditions, values, character, and love of a great mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, and fellow traveler. We must remain bonded as a family and honor her deepest wishes for us all."

Ann simpson church 8 14 26

<title>'Grace Personified': Hundreds Celebrate 'Idyllic Life' Of Ann Simpson In Cody | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Ann Simpson was remembered by family members Friday as a "grace giver" who lived a "an idyllic life" in the Bighorn Basin. Hundreds gathered at the Christ Episcopal Church in Cody to celebrate Simpson, wife of the late Sen. Al Simpson for 72 years.

'Grace Personified': Hundreds Celebrate 'Idyllic Life' Of Ann Simpson In Cody

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Business & Tourism

Business

Sam Husted and Sam Rollins have spent five years working together at the Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Rally, where they are known simply as "The Sams."

[{"type":"text","text":"They come from Wyoming for 14 days and work the entire 10 days."}]

The night YUNGBLUD played the Buffalo Chip, the line in front of them seemed like it would never end.

Drinks flew across the bar as quickly as Husted and Rollins could make them, and after a few days they were out of body glitter.

Beneath the Engine Bar, bikers gathered under an enormous canopy while motorcycles rumbled in and out, making it difficult to hear.

[{"type":"text","text":"For the Sams, all that noise meant business."}]

On a good night, Husted said, the goal was to walk away with $1,500 or more.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's exhausting, but so much fun,\" Husted said."}]

They bought a camper, friends came along and the two-week money-making marathon doubled as a strange sort of working vacation.

For the Sams, that's part of what makes the arrangement work. They can make in a night what might otherwise take days or weeks, then step outside into one of the biggest parties in the world.

"It's a good time. It goes by quickly," Rollins said. "And then you have a lot of money to show for it."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Money Grows Everywhere"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For most of the year, Sturgis is impossibly wholesome. Charming, even."}]

The little South Dakota town is tucked against the Black Hills, where old houses sit behind tidy yards and white picket fences, hollyhocks grow along the sidewalks and church steeples poke above old trees.

[{"type":"text","text":"In the dead of winter, it's a quiet place."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then August comes."}]

Trucks and trailers begin appearing in driveways. Hand-painted parking signs sprout in front yards. Tents and temporary bars go up. Main Street disappears beneath motorcycles parked wheel to wheel, and the low rumble of engines becomes the background noise of daily life.

[{"type":"text","text":"While the bikers come to play, an army goes to work."}]

For 10 days, bartenders like Husted and Rollins sling drinks until their arms ache. Hotel owners turn rooms as fast as people can leave them. Shuttle drivers prowl the darkness looking for fares.

[{"type":"text","text":"August in Sturgis is harvest season."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And there is money growing everywhere."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Make Hay"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheraz Shah couldn't have picked a wilder week to become an innkeeper."}]

On Aug. 3, with the rally already in full swing, he officially took over the Sturgis Lodge and Suites.

[{"type":"text","text":"Almost immediately, he discovered he had a problem."}]

The motel appeared to be booked, but many of the reservations left behind by the previous management weren't valid, Shah said. Some lacked working phone numbers or credit cards, leaving rooms that had effectively been held for months without paying customers attached to them.

With one of the most lucrative weeks of the year already bearing down on him, Shah began canceling questionable reservations, dropping prices and trying to fill rooms.

The reservation mess left the new owner in an unusual position during a week when rooms around Sturgis can be hard to come by: He suddenly had vacancies to fill.

[{"type":"text","text":"So he got to work."}]

Shah was putting in days that started around 5 or 6 in the morning and stretched as late as 1 a.m., answering phones, fixing keys, checking in guests and trying to survive.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"God is helping me different ways,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"One thing Shah wasn't having trouble with was the bikers."}]

Movies tend to portray them as gangsters and troublemakers, he said, but the people actually sleeping in his rooms had been "very nice, very polite, very beautiful people."

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he hadn't had a bad interaction with a single guest."}]

For Shah, the madness is welcome because the economics of running a hotel in the Black Hills are brutally seasonal.

[{"type":"text","text":"Winter is \"almost dead.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We completely rely on summertime business to survive.\""}]

Despite the scramble behind the scenes, the rooms are clean, the pool is inviting and hot breakfast in the mornings comes with good, strong coffee.

[{"type":"text","text":"In Sturgis, you make hay while the Harleys roar."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Follow The Bikes"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Nearby, another little economy unfolds."}]

Women in bikinis polish motorcycles for tips while their customers lounge beneath the shade, watching chrome become even shinier.

Some of the women say they spend much of the summer following the motorcycle circuit from rally to rally.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sturgis is only one stop."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"There is Daytona. Laconia. Four Corners. The Ozarks."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Where the motorcycles go, the workers follow."}]

There is an entire wandering economy chasing the bikes: bartenders, vendors, gate workers, security crews and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sturgis is its Super Bowl."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Viking Shuttle"}]

This is the fifth year Sam Husted and Sam Rollins have gone to Sturgis to work at The Buffalo Chip. The Casper bartenders are known as 'The Sams' and they can make $1,500 per night. August is harvest season. And money is growing everywhere.

Daily Darwin: Sunday, January 1, 2023

More in Daily Darwin

Daily Darwin: Friday, August 14, 2026

Daily Darwin: Thursday, August 13, 2026

Daily Darwin: Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Daily Darwin: Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Most read