Watch your mailbox between now and the August Republican primary. You're going to see glossy mailers with bold claims about what your legislator "voted for" or "voted against." The accusation fits. The truth won't.
Here's the trick, before it hits your street.
Wyoming's Budget Session has a built-in gate. In an even-year Budget Session, the Legislature focuses on the budget. Non budget bills face a much higher bar at the start.
A non budget bill doesn't even get on the track unless two thirds of the chamber votes to introduce it. In the House, with 62 members, two thirds means 42 votes. Twenty one no votes stops the bill at the front door. An excused absence counts as a no.
Now add the power math. The Freedom Caucus has a disciplined voting bloc, but it doesn't reach 42 on its own.
So every high-profile non budget bill becomes a pressure point. Leadership needs members outside the bloc to hit 42. At the same time, members outside the bloc know a "yes" helps push through bills they may not support, while a "no" creates a recorded vote that a mailer writer can twist.
Here's the thing. This session's calendar tightens the vise.
The 2026 Budget Session convenes Monday, February 9. The deadline for bill drafts to be in final form at the Legislative Service Office hits at noon on Wednesday, February 11. Introduction votes happen those first five days, with a hard cutoff for introductions on Friday.
Translation: dozens of emotionally loaded bills force quick votes, before the public has time to read, call, and weigh in.
Those are the land mines. A land mine bill isn't filed to become law in a short budget session. It's filed to force a recorded vote that can be repackaged later as judgment on a legislator's character.
Look at how the framing works.
On elections, the attack line writes itself. Take HB0049, the ballot drop box prohibition bill, and HB0084, one of the election-crime style proposals. If a representative votes no on introduction, a mailer will say "voted against election integrity." The mailer won't mention budget session rules, county clerk workload, or the cost and access impacts that come with sweeping election changes.
On gun rights, HB0014 on self-defense reimbursement and amendments offers the same setup. A member concerned about legal exposure, enforcement, or unintended effects votes no on introduction, then gets branded as anti-gun.
The pattern is predictable.
This isn't theory. Wyoming has recent examples of a political machine taking a procedural vote and turning it into a false narrative.
Two sitting Wyoming representatives, J.T. Larson and Cody Wylie, sued Wyoming Freedom PAC for defamation over 2024 mailers. Those mailers accused them of voting to keep Donald Trump off the ballot.
No such vote occurred.
The allegation grew out of a budget footnote amendment about whether the Secretary of State would use state funds to join out-of-state litigation. The lawsuit exists because the mailers turned that procedural budget vote into a claim about ballot access. The case is scheduled for trial in April 2026.
You saw the same pattern in other attacks. Some lawmakers saw mailers claiming they voted against a four percent property tax cap. The truth involved a sequence of votes, including support for a five percent cap earlier, then support for a compromise at four percent.
February roll calls are raw material for August propaganda.
So here's what to do when the mailer hits your mailbox.
First, check whether the vote was an introduction vote during the Budget Session. If it was, the vote was about allowing debate in a session designed for budgeting, not a final judgment on the slogan.
Second, remember the 42-vote gate in the House. A member voting no may be making a process decision in a short session, not endorsing the opposite side of a culture-war headline.
Third, ask who implements the bill and who pays. County clerks, school districts, local governments, and courts absorb the churn when the Legislature dumps major policy changes into a short session.
Fourth, ask one simple urgency question: What deadline or real harm requires action before the 2027 General Session?
Now the call to action.
Contact your representative and your senator this week. Tell them to vote no on introducing non budget bills that don't meet a real urgency standard: compliance deadlines, court orders, or budget implementation needs. Tell them you expect them to protect the budget session from land mines designed for campaign mailers.
If the Freedom Caucus wants a policy fight, 2027 is the proper arena. If they want recorded votes to distort later, you don't owe them your attention, your trust, or your silence.
Gail Symons can be reached at: GailSymons@mac.com
