Usually when there’s a feud in politics, a long backstory is involved as to what started it all.
Appearing on Cowboy State Daily’s Morning Show With Jake on Thursday, Secretary of State Chuck Gray said his ongoing feud with Gov. Mark Gordon isn’t personal, but about policy.
He said the root of his long-held criticism of the governor comes from Gordon’s veto of a bill Gray brought in 2019 when he was in the state House that would have allowed the Legislature to sue the state of Washington over the denial of permits for a coal export terminal. The veto was one of Gordon’s first.
What Happened?
Washington had referenced a provision of the Clean Air Act in its 2017 rejection of permitting for the coal facility that would have exported coal from Wyoming and other states to foreign markets.
Gray argued that the Interstate Commerce Clause trumps this provision and protects Wyoming’s right to export coal in Washington.
In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Wyoming and Montana’s lawsuit against Washington over its refusal to license the proposed coal export terminal.
By the time the solicitor general commented on the case, she mentioned how the company building the coal project had already declared bankruptcy about four months prior, so it should be dismissed. This was the same fate that happened to other coal export terminals in California and Oregon around that same time.
In a letter sent to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus in May, Gordon said he didn’t delay filing Wyoming’s case, mentioning his vow to take action in the lawsuit during his first State of the State speech in 2019 and his actual filing of a motion before the U.S. Supreme court in early 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently requested the U.S. solicitor general weigh in, but this did not happen until after there was a change in presidential administrations.
“Thus, the statement made in your inaccurate and misleading letter that the timing of Wyoming’s entrance in this case was the cause of the final unfavorable ruling is categorically false,” Gordon wrote at the time.
But the governor could have theoretically taken action earlier than he did. In 2019, he vetoed Gray’s legislation that would have provided $250,000 to pursue the lawsuit.
The Freedom Caucus letter to which Gordon was responding also mentioned how the governor vetoed legislation earlier this year that would have carved out $75 million for Wyoming to fight federal overreach, specifically the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan.
In his letter, Gordon responded that this would have amounted to a “$75 million legislative legal slush fund” that would have done nothing to help fight the new BLM rule. In May, he released $300,000 from the Coal Litigation Fund to the Wyoming Energy Authority to assist with the state’s litigation efforts.
Dealing With The Feds
Gray also sparred with Gordon earlier this year on tighter voter residency rules. Gordon vetoed Gray’s proposed rules because he believed they exceeded Gray’s statutory authority.
On Thursday, Gray also criticized Gordon’s negotiating skills, saying the governor lacks toughness and timing.
By pushing President Joe Biden’s administration for a deal on the Kelly Parcel in Teton County, Gray argued that this encouraged the administration to finish up its record of decision (ROD) on the BLM’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan before it left office, as the two are now legally connected due to action of the Legislature.
State Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, said this isn’t true and that the ROD has been consistently moving through the procedural processes without any impact from the state’s decision to move forward with selling the Kelly Parcel to the federal government.
Gierau also said arguments like Gray are making about the sale are a “red herring” and that Gray has never asked about what the status on the Resource Management Plan is.
He also mentioned how the governor still gets final say on whether the ROD aligns with the stipulations that the Legislature put on the sale of the Kelly Parcel earlier this year.
Views On The Legislature
Gray also mentioned the recent vote count snafu in Weston County as an example of why he believes more checks and balances are needed as far as auditing the results of Wyoming’s elections.
A hand count examination of the votes in Weston County produced the final results that were certified by the state Canvassing Board of which Gray is a member Wednesday.
Gray lamented that the Wyoming Legislature failed to pass legislation in 2023 banning outside groups from providing money to help run elections in Wyoming. This stemmed from allegations that Facebook owner Mark Zuckerburg unfairly influenced the 2020 election with donations he gave to various get-out-the-vote efforts.
He said there are countless other examples of the Legislature failing to pass conservative legislation in the past, which he finds stunning when considering how red a state Wyoming is politically. But after this year’s election, the Legislature is making a noticeable shift to the right, and Gray is optimistic that this upcoming session could be one of change.
“The ’25 session, I think, is a chance for us to really advance the ball on these conservative priorities,” Gray said.
Who’s Gray?
Gray grew up in California and moved to Casper full time after graduating college on the East Coast around 2013, but had already spent significant chunks of his childhood visiting the Cowboy State while staying with his father.
He started his own conservative radio show in 2014 and ran for the Legislature that same year, losing by a small margin. He ran again in 2016 and was elected, a role he held until running for Secretary of State in 2022.
Gray mounted a short-lived campaign for U.S. House in 2021 after former congresswoman Liz Cheney voted to impeach President-elect Donald Trump.
Gray met with Trump during this campaign, but Trump still ended up endorsing U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman in the race. After that endorsement, Gray said dropping out was the right decision to unify conservatives.
The way these series of events played out, Gray said, proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed him to build statewide recognition and organizational contacts during the campaign. When he launched his campaign for Secretary of State the next summer in 2022, Gray said he was able to lean on those previous contacts.
“It bore a lot of fruit,” he said. “I’ve really learned to see that everything happens for a reason. God places these moments in our lives.”
Gray won his race after a campaign season that involved significant mudslinging with his opponent and misstating facts.
During his time as Secretary, Gray has caught attention for taking a much more aggressive role in supporting and bringing forth his own legislation than past secretaries.
Gray said he legitimately enjoys being Secretary of State as an opportunity he sees as “being part of something bigger than myself.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
