Gov. Mark Gordon is trying to take a stand against out-of-state influences in Wyoming politics.
His Prosperity and Commerce political action committee (PAC PAC) has come online with a new website called Trust But Verify Wyoming, harkening on former President Ronald Reagan’s famous “trust but verify” slogan. Reagan, a conservative darling, is displayed prominently on the website in two photos of him displayed on the homepage.
Various blanket text messages were sent throughout Wyoming over the weekend promoting the website.
The purpose of the effort, according to the website, is to fight “half-truths and outright lies” being brought against Wyoming candidates Gordon is endorsing in the 2024 election.
Out-of-state special interests are commonly blamed for spreading misinformation and keen on “trying to hijack” the Wyoming Legislature, according to the website. PAC PAC accuses these groups of flooding Wyoming cellphones and mailboxes with an “unprecedented” amount of misinformation this election season.
Gordon’s group is also doling out money for candidates who have been victims of these political attacks.
The governor is “trying to level the playing ground and give money to legislators in Wyoming so they can defend their policy and their stance on issues in Wyoming, rather than having it be decided by out-of-state entities,” said Mark Macy, the PAC’s chairman. “It’s just time to arm these legislators with money so they can defend their stance and their policy.”
The out-of-state influences have been particularly busy during the 2024 primary election cycle in Wyoming, sending out a flood of campaign mailers and text messages targeting candidates for state Legislature races.
Although Macy, a Cheyenne attorney, said not all the claims on the mailers is misinformation, he believes the sheer volume of it is getting “out-of-hand.”
“It’s (Gordon’s) thought that things are getting to the point where people are believing this information,” Macy said.
‘Liz Cheney Revenge Tour’?
State Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, is chairman of the farther right Wyoming Freedom Caucus that has consistently criticized Gordon, a Republican, of not being conservative enough.
Bear pointed out to Cowboy State Daily that six of the 49 people Gordon has endorsed and listed on the website are members of former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney’s leadership team during her 2022 run for reelection against U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. Hageman was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in that campaign as well as her current one.
Gordon never endorsed or gave money to Cheney during her 2022 campaign.
Bear argues that the Trust But Verify website, a lawsuit against the Freedom Caucus PAC filed by two Rock Springs incumbents and efforts of the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) group are all coordinated efforts by former Cheney supporters.
“It’s desperation on part of the Liz Cheney revenge tour,” Bear said.
As such, Bear sees the difference between these candidates and those aligned with the Freedom Caucus as coming down to those who support and oppose Trump.
“A lot of them oppose the Freedom Caucus, which supports Trump,” he said.
Bear also said Gordon’s list doesn’t include any Freedom Caucus candidates he believes have been unfairly targeted by out-of-state groups like the Libertarian-leaning AFP that’s also been particularly active this election cycle.
Although AFP has a Wyoming state director that’s from Wyoming, the group is supported by a national organization in Washington, D.C.
This is a similar setup to the Freedom Caucus, except Bear argues that most of his group’s donors are from Wyoming. He said the Freedom Caucus hasn’t received any money from its parent group, the State Freedom Caucus Network, this election cycle, nor has he asked for any.
There are a couple noteworthy things about the candidates on Gordon’s list.
None are members of or philosophically aligned with the Freedom Caucus.
“According to the governor, there’s only one set of legislators being lied about, only one set of candidates being lied about,” Bear said. “I see that as reflective of the governor’s politics.”
Bear finds this telling and believes it’s proof that Gordon is particularly nervous about the upcoming election.
“It’s a sign of desperation,” he said.
Out-Of-State Cooking
Macy said misinformation has been rampantly spread against the 49 Wyoming Senate and House candidates listed on the Trust But Verify website. Although the website is political in nature, he said it’s not designed to stifle free speech.
One of the most prominent election efforts in Wyoming this year has been from Make Liberty Win, a dark money-funded, Virginia-based group that’s called for hunting out Republican state legislators across the country it does not believe are conservative enough.
Some of the biggest priorities Gordon is seeking this election season, Macy said, is protecting Wyoming’s legacy industries and its economy, issues he believes his endorsees are being attacked on.
“The folks that he is endorsing share the governor’s vision for Wyoming,” Macy said. “Protecting doing the right thing for Wyoming with Wyoming solutions. Not misguided things from Washington, D.C., or D.C. policies.”
Macy said the driving purpose of the website is to uphold transparency and honesty in Wyoming elections through a locally run campaign effort. The website directs users to identify any questionable or misleading campaign messaging they’ve seen, contact the candidate it was brought against and then verify facts with that candidate.
Bear said he views this tactic as akin to recent efforts made by big tech companies like Google and Facebook to fact check information being posted on their platforms.
He believes most Wyoming residents disagree with those types of moderation efforts that were prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic and recently resurfaced in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump.
“That’s the work of (Gordon’s) team of insiders that are out-of-touch with the regular Wyoming people,” Bear said.
Who Makes Gordon’s Cut?
Many of the candidates supported by Gordon’s PAC have been targeted by the Wyoming Freedom political action committee, the campaign arm of Wyoming Freedom Caucus. A lawsuit was filed last week against this group for accusing legislators of voting to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 election ballot, a claim they say is libelous and false.
Other questionable claims have been made this election season about certain legislators voting to allow boys to enter girls’ bathrooms and allow illegal immigrants to receive free housing and driver’s licenses.
“The governor felt it was time to take a stance on this and give the voters of Wyoming the true information,” Macy said.
Gordon is aligned with the Wyoming Caucus, a group of Republican legislators who have organized to oppose the Freedom Caucus. Some of the group's prominent members are on Gordon’s list.
One of the candidates listed is Sen. Jim Anderson, R-Casper. Taking on Anderson in the Republican primary is Casper resident Bryce Reece. Reece said he has no problem with Gordon creating the website and believes it accurately represents his politics.
What he does have a problem with is Gordon’s use of Reagan’s name and image for his cause, seeing Gordon as more similar politically to President Joe Biden than Reagan.
“But that's typical Wyoming Caucus politics: saying one thing while doing the exact opposite,” Reece wrote in an email.
History Of PAC PAC
The Prosperity and Commerce PAC was founded in 2018 by the governor.
The group has been active every election cycle since then, raising $50,250 and giving $9,250 to Legislature candidates in 2022. There were few surprises with the candidates Gordon gave to that election cycle as many had worked directly with him on past legislative efforts.
Gordon’s Truth But Verify website is an entirely new and heightened level of endorsement for the governor.
“We had to take on a larger campaign so the citizens of Wyoming get the right information from the right sources,” Macy said.
Macy said PAC PAC is also still giving money in addition to the website.
Bear pointed out that he finds it hypocritical that PAC PAC is criticizing out-of-state interests when it received donations from groups like the Virginia-based Sports Betting Alliance and pharmaceutical giants Merck and Pfizer in the past.
“I think they’ve been caught with their pants down,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
