A second Republican candidate touting MAGA principles has declared his run for Wyoming’s at-large U.S. House of Representatives seat.
The Casper-based financial advisor Reid Rasner’s declaration Wednesday morning via social media says he’s running for Congress “to help President Trump Make America Great Again.”
This follows his formation, and later dissolution of a Wyoming campaign finance account that had been filed under the auspices of a gubernatorial race. It also follows months of image-style advertising targeting no specific office.
“I am a proud and unapologetic America First conservative who will work with President Trump to deport criminal illegals, get fentanyl out of our communities, stop Democrat extremists and protect what makes Wyoming great,” he wrote Monday.
Nine days before Rasner’s announcement, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray delivered a similar announcement, touting himself as a Trump-style and “America first” candidate.
Gray also launched image ads ahead of his announcement.
The Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, told Cowboy State Daily last month that she’s running this year for U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis’ seat, for which Lummis has chosen not to run.
Rasner ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. John Barrasso in the 2024 primary election.
In response to a request for comment, Rasner's team sent a statement via email, saying he's committed $1 million to the campaign "to deliver his America First message to conservatives across Wyoming."
“For far too long the career politicians in Congress – from both parties – sold out our country, our workers, and our companies," the statement quotes Rasner as saying. "They looked the other way as our factories went overseas, our communities were overrun with drugs, and as our country was flooded with illegal immigrants. Why? Because it was never their livelihoods on the chopping block. So while everyday Americans suffered, the politicians wined and dined with lobbyists, collected a taxpayer-funded paycheck whether they did their job or not, and sent Americans’ tax dollars overseas to countries thousands of miles away."
The statement says, "Thankfully, President Trump has taken a sledgehammer to the status quo and ushered in a new way of doing things – one that starts with putting America First."
Trump "needs fighters who are willing to do the same thing in order to codify every piece of his agenda into law," the statement says.
The statement says Reid Rasner was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming and that he got his first job working at Wyoming Glass at age 13.
"A graduate of Natrona County High School and the University of Wyoming, Rasner has built his career as an entrepreneur helping everyday Wyoming families achieve financial independence and plan for retirement," the statement says, adding, "In Congress, Rasner will put Wyoming and America First, stand with President Trump, and stop the radical left."
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
