Megan Degenfelder’s campaign for Wyoming governor released a video early Thursday of President Donald Trump doubling down on his endorsement of her.
The president endorsed Degenfelder in January, before she declared she was running for the seat.
She now faces three other contenders for the GOP nomination: Marine Col. Brent Bien, state Sen. Eric Barlow, and Curt Blake. The primary election is Aug. 18.
So with about a month before the party nomination standoff hits the polls, the president is issuing a rally cry — which Degenfelder’s team has posted to its YouTube channel and dispatched publicly.
“There’s a very important election coming up in your state, Tuesday Aug. 18, and I’m asking all of you to get out and vote for Megan Degenfelder to be the next governor of Wyoming,” says Trump in the video.
He touts Degenfelder’s work as superintendent of Public Instruction, says she’ll help protect public lands and the Second Amendment, and says she’s served Wyoming “with courage and pride.”
Trump has not endorsed anyone in the hotly-contested U.S. House race, where 10 Republicans vie for the nomination. He also hasn’t endorsed in Wyoming’s Secretary of State race or for other top state executive-branch seats.
He reiterates his support for Degenfelder amid claims by some, including Constitution Party Chair Joshua Shimkus, that Degenfelder and Bien will split the further-right vote and Barlow, who casts himself as a pragmatist and whose foes call him a moderate or leftist, will win the nomination.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican who is also cast as a moderate, won his first primary election bid against now-Rep. Harriet Hageman and Teton County philanthropist Foster Friess in 2018.
Friess had the Trump endorsement at that time, but in contrast, Trump didn’t endorse Friess until election day.
Gordon has reached his two-term limit. That’s a provision of law that prior court rulings suggest he could have overturned. But he’s chosen not to do that.
Bien's campaign outreach coordinator Cheryl Aguiar said in an email, "One thing that’s been overlooked is that she earned her Master’s degree from a CCP-affiliated university in China. That matters, and voters deserve to know it. I doubt Trump even knows it."
Degenfelder has pointed to her time in China as a contrast that makes her value American capitalism, while her detractors have cast suspicion on it.
"At the end of the day, it’s clear who is aligned with Washington, D.C. interests and who isn’t. Brent Bien is focused on Wyoming—its people, its resources, and its future—not political agendas coming out of D.C.," said Aguiar.
Barlow also reflected on the video, saying, “As Governor of Wyoming I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to advance Wyoming and our country.”
“I am running for Wyoming, not against anyone,” he said in a Thursday email.
He pointed to his extensive travels through all 23 Wyoming counties and said he’s “listening to the people who want a governor with a proven record of showing up, doing the work and getting results.”
Barlow said his campaign has momentum “because we are earning it” and pledged to “keep earning the votes of the people of Wyoming."
This story has been updated to reflect comments by Barlow, and Bien's team, and corrected to reflect that it was Constitution Party Chair Joshua Shimkus who feared Bien and Degenfelder would split the vote, not Rebecca Bextel.
