In 1986, Democrat Ed Herschler had occupied the governor’s office for an unprecedented three terms.
That created a 12 year backlog of Republican lust for Wyoming’s highest elected office and, when Herschler announced that he wouldn’t seek another term, the logjam burst.
The '86 GOP primary field was crowded with Republican heavy-hitters, all intent on reclaiming the governor’s chair for their party.
The primary ballot looked like a Who’s Who of GOP luminaries that had been waiting in the wings for more than a decade to assume power.
Candidates included Pete Simpson, Bill Budd, Dave Nicholas, Russ Donley, Fred Schroeder, John Johnson and Jim Bace.
This was a formidable line-up, including legislators, a former Speaker of the House, U.S Senator Al Simpson’s brother and a state GOP chairman. Heavy-hitters.
Anyone like me, with a few years under their belt, will remember these names, and the smart money said that one of them would be Wyoming’s next governor.
After all, what Democrat would stand a chance against this A-Team of Republicans?
Pete Simpson won the primary with a razor-thin margin over Bill Budd.
But the primary was a bruising donnybrook, as the GOP candidates tore into each other and tried to claw their way into the governor’s office.
I use “bruising” in the 20th century meaning of the term, certainly nothing like the scorched earth, take-no-prisoners politics practiced by today’s GOP.
Nevertheless, the primary left everyone exhausted – candidates, donors, volunteers, party apparatus, and most importantly the voting public. Everyone had a bellyful of partisan infighting.
A political newcomer, Casper lawyer Mike Sullivan, won the Democratic primary, and he beat Simpson in the general election. Sullivan went on to serve two terms of his own.
I remember watching coverage on network TV for the general election.
When the talking heads got to the Wyoming election, before all the votes were tallied, the pundit said, “In Wyoming, we have Republican Pete Simpson, brother of Sen. Al Simpson, son of former governor and U.S. Senator Milward Simpson running for governor against Mike Sullivan who has as much business in this race as a moose in a phone booth.”
Pretty much a direct quote.
Flash forward forty years to 2026, and today’s crowded and cantankerous GOP primary streetfight for the U.S. House reminds me a lot of 1986.
Make no mistake, the political landscape today is waaaay different than '86.
The advent of the internet, social media, Citizens United, a state GOP that has gone off its rocker. hyper partisanship, Super-PACs, Trump and many other factors make this election a different equation.
But one thing has not changed...voters’ fatigue.
The intervening years have not increased our tolerance for bullshit, or made us more welcoming to the Chinese water torture of modern political campaigns. The 2026 GOP House primary is testing that premise.
I’m sure the Republican candidates all have out-of-state media experts on staff who say, “More gnarly mailers, more social media vitriol, bigger doses of bullshit,” and expect Wyoming to buy it. So the candidates reject the genteel collegiality of yesteryear in favor of what we see from them today.
The shame is not on them for trying it, the shame is on us if we buy it. That is the stark line between politicians and voters.
With less than a month until the primary, four of the GOP contenders have each pushed a million of their own dollars into the post. Money like that was unheard of in '86.
Regardless who wins the GOP nod, we can expect the flash-flood of dough to continue, as the national GOP big pockets raise the ante.
That means we can predict the constant water torture to morph from an irritating drip of mailers, ads, Facebook posts etc. into a frog-strangler of a cloudburst, worthy of five-buckle overboots.
Our tolerance for political bullshit and our voters’ fatigue will be sorely tested until November, by folks who are masters of the game.
It will be interesting to see if the nastiness of the GOP primary couples with our frayed political nerves to drive voters toward the Democrat contestant in the U.S. House race.
If the goofiness continues all fall, Wyoming may just vote for the candidate who annoys us the least...like in “86. Deja vu, anyone?
(Author’s note: immediately prior to publication of this column. U.S. House candidate Frank Chapman withdrew from the race. To which news the author responds, “Well, there’s a million bucks pissed away.”)
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
