The Wyoming Republican Party’s decision to buck tradition, and maybe state law, by endorsing its favorites before the primary election is sparking controversy and consternation for some.
The GOP state central committee voted Monday night to endorse Brent Bien for governor, Chuck Gray for U.S. House, and Harriet Hageman for U.S. Senate. Also: Tom Kelly for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Scott Smith for state Treasurer and Rachel Williams for Secretary of State – all over their respective Republican opponents.
That could alienate numerous candidates and their supporters, said Rodger McDaniel, a former legislator who had tried, in 1977, to stop the passage of the law the party is potentially flouting.
“This is the kind of thing that really tears a political party up,” said McDaniel, who served in the Legislature as a Democrat and now says he's a Republican-in-name-only. “To make those endorsements when you have other Republicans running, that’s not going to go easy.”
State Party Chair Bryan Miller has countered in both a press release and an email interview, saying the party respects the “fiercely independent, discerning” voter base.
"This process is not about party leadership picking winners and losers, nor is it about telling anyone how to vote,” Miller said in a Tuesday statement to Cowboy State Daily. “It is about transparency.”
Miller emphasized that the state party’s platform – 80% approval of which was the entry ticket to participate in the endorsement process – was written and passed “by grassroots delegates from all 23 counties.”
People elect their Republican neighbors to GOP precinct committee positions. Those officials then elect their state delegates.
“Our endorsement simply highlights candidates whose platform pledges and track records most closely align with those grassroot conservative principles,” added Miller.
‘You’re The Insider Now’
McDaniel’s prediction is manifesting, through recent statements by a few – though not all – of the non-endorsed candidates.
Senate President Bo Biteman, who’s running in a 10-candidate field against Gray for U.S. House, did not seek the party’s endorsement.
Though ranked conservative by many of its vetting committee’s metrics, Biteman didn’t return the party’s questionnaire, so he wasn’t eligible for endorsement.
He told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that party leadership and their favorites are coalescing into a group of insiders.
“Republicans have always stood against that kind of crap,” said Biteman. “We’ve always, you know, looked at the Democrats and laughed at them for doing what they’ve done … We’re becoming what we railed against.”
Biteman mixed Gray into his critique.
“Now we have a new establishment. Like Chuck Gray comes on your show and rails against the ‘woke wind,’ the ‘liberal media’ and the ‘insiders,’” said Biteman. “Well Chuckie-boy you’re the insider, buddy. I don’t know how else to tell it to you.”
Biteman has served in the state Legislature for a decade. He recalled being part of an anti-establishment conservative movement that gained momentum after 2014 to buck "party insiders."
"Things do have an equal and opposite reaction. So when you get into power you've got to use it wisely. You've got to use it fairly," he said. "Or else you won't have it for very long."
‘Insiders,’ And ‘Leftwing Media’
Gray in a Wednesday text message said the party’s endorsement of him reflects a “record of standing with Wyoming Republicans, advancing the conservative movement, and delivering real victories — not just talking about them," and said he’s put principles ahead of political convenience.
Gray pointed to his backing of numerous election-reform bills, and again derided an unspecified group of “insiders.”
“I took on the political insiders, the out of control leftwing media, and the special interests when they tried to destroy me because I refused to back down from conservative principles,” said Gray.
Gray asserted that he “made sure that President Trump remained on the ballot.”
Colorado litigants had tried to remove Trump from that state’s ballot in 2024. Gray filed amicus briefs to dispute that, including about one of 76 amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court case.
The move prompted a controversy on the House floor about whether Gray could use state money for out-of-state litigation, which then ballooned into an unsuccessful defamation suit, as Gray’s allies had claimed some lawmakers who voted to curb his spending power had “voted to keep Trump off the ballot.”
Gray asked Wednesday, “Where were the other candidates in this race when that fight was happening?”
“It's not surprising that some candidates are disappointed they didn't earn the party's endorsement,” said Gray, adding: “But I've never believed conservative leadership is measured by complaints after a vote — it's measured by the work you've done and track record. I've shown that I work hard to advance the priorities of the people of Wyoming.”
Gray is running for the nomination against Biteman, philanthropist Steve Friess, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, Teton County-based attorney Frank Chapman, military veterans Kevin Christensen and David Giralt, former legislator Keith Goodenough, former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and the self-described “pragmatic” Republican Richard Dodson.
The primary election is Aug. 18.
Christensen was vocally critical of the party’s process. The state central committee had approved its candidate vetting committee to consider candidates’ donations to the party.
Christensen worried aloud this lent the perception of “pay to play.”
Crook County GOP Chair Mark Koep disputed the assertion Monday, suggesting Cowboy State Daily retract Christensen’s statement.
Treasurer Curt Meier, who did not win endorsement, had scored higher in party donations than his opponent Rep. Scott Smith.
Koep pointed to that.
However, Cowboy State Daily learned by obtaining the vetting committee’s chart after the meeting, all the other endorsed candidates scored either equal to or better than their non-endorsed foes on the party donations metric.
That was just one of many metrics. The party also considered legislative record breakdowns, past political involvements and other factors.
The Call To Serve Our Country
The vetting committee recommended an endorsement for Giralt as well as Gray.
Giralt came narrowly within winning a statement of “support,” but it failed by one vote.
In a Tuesday statement he thanked the party for its consideration and said he’s “grateful for the support we’ve received from Republicans across Wyoming.”
The party’s considerations of political activity, giving, and legislative records might disadvantage military veterans, both Giralt and Christensen have noted.
“I respect the committee’s decision, but I don’t believe anyone should be penalized for answering the call to serve our country, and I won’t apologize for serving mine,” said Giralt. “If my time away from Wyoming was spent defending the freedoms we all cherish, that’s something I’m incredibly proud of.”
Balow told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday phone interview that she filled out the party’s questionnaire as a gesture of transparency for the voters.
But, Balow said, she had announced publicly that she wouldn’t accept the party’s endorsement, if given.
“The (Gray) endorsement comes as no surprise,” she said. “But honestly it’s not something that I think Wyoming will pay a great deal of attention to.”
Balow said she’s spoken with Republicans across the state who believe Wyoming GOP leadership isn’t representative of party generally.
“The heart of it is that the Wyoming people should choose their nominees – not the party,” she said. “And that’s the process that’s kept our state red and strong for years.”
If the state GOP decides at some point to take over nominating power from the voters, it will need a law change to do so.
Biteman called the endorsement maneuver a step in that direction.
“Thank God we can still vote,” Biteman said Tuesday.
Only Democrats Opposed This
It’s been at least 49 years since Wyoming let its major parties financially back their favorites in the primary election.
The late state Sen. Robert Frisby, a Park County Republican, sponsored a bill in 1977 creating numerous election restrictions.
One of them says: “No political party funds shall be expended directly or indirectly in the aid of the nomination of any one person as against another person of the same political party running in the primary election.”
Miller told state GOP convention attendees in April that the law has been interpreted as a ban on endorsements.
He asserted in a Wednesday email the law doesn’t work that way, however.
It’s a point of debate. McDaniel said he’s unsure if the law bans endorsements, though he acknowledged indirect expenses can be associated with vetting and announcing endorsements.
State GOP leadership is now suing Gray in his official capacity to get the law overturned. The party leaders say the law violates parties’ First Amendment rights.
McDaniel said he’s not sure how the court challenge will end.
Only Democrats, including McDaniel, voted against the bill in 1977.
It cleared the Senate with 18 in favor, 11 against and one excused; it passed the state House 42-19, one excused.
Then- state Rep. Al Simpson, a Park County Republican who went on to serve Wyoming in Congress, voted aye.
In McDaniel’s recollection, the party rule didn’t offend the Democrats, but another provision of the bill did. That was a ban on trade unions supporting campaigns, which remains in place today.
“Actually, the idea of parties not endorsing is a pretty good idea,” McDaniel reflected on Wednesday.
“What’s going to be more interesting though is the impact it has internally on the party,” he added. “When you endorse somebody you’ve made five or six others really unhappy. And they all have constituencies and they all have members of the party apparatus that will be unhappy. So it doesn’t seem to me to be a very prudent move.”
Blaming Others
Miller answered the candidates’ critiques in a Wednesday email to Cowboy State Daily.
“I understand why any candidate who is not endorsed or who self-eliminates by their refusal to participate in the vetting process set in place would want to find fault in our vetting and endorsement process or create doubt in the public's mind as to its validity,” wrote Miller.
“That line of thought is politics as we know it today,” said Miller, adding that candidates blame others for their shortfalls.
Miller sought to “remind all of these facts,” and pointed to the party leadership’s selection by precinct committee people at the “neighborhood level” – and more than 600 elected delegates to the state convention passed the bylaw calling for this endorsement process.
“The 74 elected state level members of the Wyoming State Republican Party Central Committee … are duty bound to execute said processes,” wrote Miller.
The April state convention in Douglas was fraught with controversy, however.
A motion to amend the floor rules descended into confusion as party leaders, the party’s attorney and delegates debated fine points of Robert’s Rules of Order that at one point had Miller asking rhetorically, “Is that clear as mud?”
“Because there’s lots of confusion here, let’s have our legal counsel explain things again,” Miller said as the nearly 300 delegates tried to finalize how to consider changes and amendments presented by the party’s Bylaws Committee.
At one point during debate, Miller expressed that much of the debate was over rules of order that had already been set.
“That’s the point, people are trying to modify the rules,” Miller said, later adding, “does everyone understand where we are?”
Wilkins informed the meeting that 30 minutes of the two hours slotted for bylaws debate had already passed with delegates still hashing out how to debate the proposed bylaws.
The Party Of Law And Order
The Goshen County Republican Party leadership dispatched a statement Thursday saying it asked Miller for answers about the endorsement authority and compliance with Wyoming law.
"To date, we have not received a response," says the statement.
Goshen County delegates didn't participate in Monday's endorsement meeting. They had a previously scheduled forum, the statement says.
"As Republicans, we are the party of law and order," the statement reads. "Until (the party's) legal questions are settled by the courts, we believe it is appropriate to refrain from participating in that process."
The statement says the Goshen County GOP leadership also believes the Republican primary election is a job interview conducted by Republican votes.
"That grassroots process has served Wyoming well for generations," the statement says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
