Robert Short, a three-term county commissioner in Converse County, has announced he will run for Secretary of State.
Short is the first person to declare his intent formally to run for Wyoming's second-highest elected office. He describes himself as a Republican “through and through” and vies for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 18 primary election.
He told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday phone interview that he wants to listen to county clerks and work well with them, since they’re the elections officers closest to the action in each county. He’d “love” to see more transparency and safeguards in Wyoming business filings, he said.
“Obviously privacy laws in Wyoming are incredibly important to all of us,” said Short of Wyoming’s business-friendly environment, which also attracts shell companies and potential bad actors.
“Sometimes (those) seem to be utilized to obscure sometimes less-than-honorable folks in their filings, and give them an unfair protection perhaps,” he added.
At the same time, said Short, “I think the Secretary of State’s job is to enforce law, not make it.”
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who’s announced a run for the hotly-contested GOP nomination for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat, backed numerous election reform bills ahead of this year’s lawmaking session, and frequently asks lawmakers for election-reform measures.
County clerks opposed many of those, and on some occasions said the onslaught of changes in an election year could throw them off course.
Short’s response to that is, “I think that the county clerks are closest to elections, and understand what is necessary to ensure that our elections are conducted with fidelity, and that the results are trustworthy.”
CheckGate
Short addressed the Capitol controversy known as “CheckGate,” in which a conservative activist handed out checks to four state House representatives on the House floor after the body had adjourned the first day of session.
The woman who distributed the checks, Rebecca Bextel, said they were lawful campaign donations. Everyone involved who has spoken to the incident has denied bribery and wrongdoing.
On the one hand, Short noted, there was no rule against the act of handing out campaign donations there at the time. On the other hand, “the appearance is just untenable because of the lack of trust between the American people, the citizens of our great state and the folks who are supposed to be representing their interests.”
“A little bit of forethought” could have prevented that situation, and “this would not have ever become what it is now,” he said.
Weston County Clerk
One of the more high-profile pieces of Gray’s Secretary of State term has been his ongoing quest to have Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock removed from office, after she caused errors in two uncontested races in the 2024 general election by mixing faulty ballots into the correct ballots the machine could read.
Gray’s chief issue with that saga, he’s said repeatedly, has been Hadlock’s post election audit not showing errors, which he had said means she either lied in the report or didn’t conduct the audit.
Short said of Hadlock, “had she just followed the rules this situation would not have evolved into what it is right now.”
The situation has evolved into multiple things.
A legislative committee devoted a subcommittee to investigating the errors and circumstances around them. Because Hadlock did not appear for a legislative subpoena to that committee, she’s been criminally charged.
Gov. Mark Gordon has twice considered, and once agreed, to recommend she be removed from office.
The civil removal case is ongoing now in Weston County District Court.
“A good partner in the Secretary of State’s office will work with the county clerks to ensure these kinds of situations are not the norm,” said Short.
Odds And Ends
Short said he’s lived in Wyoming most of his life – other than a stint when he had to leave amid the economic collapse of the mid-1980s.
He left for 20 years to gain education and skills “before coming back here, to the greatest state on the planet,” he said.
He grew up in Glenrock, and was trained in electrical engineering and computer science.
His background is in technology, electrical distribution systems, general contracting, and building electrical systems, he said.
He’s worked in the retail and agricultural sectors across the state.
Short and his wife Janella have four children.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
