Every morning of the legislative session, Wyoming lawmakers receive a flood of emails, texts, and hallway ambushes from lobbyists, associations, and interest groups offering their “vote recommendations.”
This is a routine part of legislating.
Yet, when conservative legislators in the Wyoming Freedom Caucus coordinate successfully on policy and receive support aligned with our principles, suddenly, the pearl-clutching begins.
The accusation that members of the WYFC are “told how to vote every morning” is not just wrong — it’s a smokescreen.
Vote recommendations are everywhere in the Capitol. The liberal County Commissioners Association regularly sends out its preferred positions — including opposition to property tax relief and opposition to a bill that would require government meetings to be streamed online.
Wyoming AARP has aggressively lobbied against common-sense election integrity reforms, such as Voter ID requirements.
The Education Association begged lawmakers to vote against school choice. Every day during the session, lobbyists line the hallway outside the House chambers, ready to pounce on lawmakers from all sides of the political spectrum with talking points and pressure tactics.
No one seems bothered by these daily attempts to influence policy — unless, of course, those recommendations come from a conservative source. That’s the double standard.
No one complains when a lobbying group on the Left hands out voting guides, tracks scores, or testifies in committee meetings. No one bats an eye when progressive organizations coordinate efforts across the state.
But when a group of conservative lawmakers stands up, says “we’re organized,” and follows through with a consistent commitment to limited government, individual liberty, and fiscal responsibility — suddenly it’s a scandal.
This criticism is intentional deception. Those who rail against the WYFC aren’t truly upset about vote recommendations — they’re upset about the votes themselves.
They’re angry that conservatives are gaining traction in Wyoming, exposing government overreach, and pushing back on policies that tax too much, spend too freely, and trample on citizens’ rights.
So instead of engaging on the actual issues, our critics resort to tired attacks and manufactured outrage.
The bottom line is this: vote recommendations only became a problem when conservatives got organized and successful.
Like all the other parroting attacks on the Freedom Caucus, this latest round of complaints is just another tactic from the Left, and Republicans that collaborate with them, to hide their deep and unpopular disdain for the policies and freedom we stand for.
We won’t be distracted.
We’ll keep fighting for the people of Wyoming — and those who elected each of our members will tell us how to do it.
Representative Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, House District 50, is the Chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus
