The attack ads against governor candidate Sen. Eric Barlow continue.
A federal PAC earlier this summer dispatched a TV commercial saying Barlow had voted to allow sex change procedures “to be done on kids” in 2023. The record, conversely, shows that Barlow voted in favor of a child sex-change ban that year.
The new attack ads say Barlow voted to send money to illegal immigrants. He denies making such a gesture, saying his nay votes on two immigration bills were due to the short, rushed nature of the budget-planning sessions that fall on even-numbered years.
“This is getting super wonky,” said Barlow in a Monday phone interview. “It truly is.”
He said the bills he's now being criticized for opposing were either poorly written or rushed - sometimes both.
"So look, good bills make strong laws that work for the state of Wyoming," said Barlow. "Hastily done things that are less than complete in both their policy approach and their consideration just need more time."
First, The Race
The race for the GOP nomination for governor pits Barlow against Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, retired Marine Corps Col. Brent Bien, and Curt Blake.
Barlow, Bien and Degenfelder each gained bragging points last month.
Bien won the Wyoming Republican Party’s endorsement, as about 50 members of the party’s state central committee broke tradition to endorse him and other statewide candidates.
For Degenfelder, President Donald Trump reiterated the endorsement he gave her in January.
And Barlow touted the results of a poll, which Cowboy State Daily has reviewed, showing him with a 42% support rating and well above the other candidates.
The primary election is Aug. 18.
Second, The Ads
A federally registered 501(c)4 issue group called Women For Responsible Government Action produced attack ads earlier this summer casting Barlow as liberal on social issues involving kids.
The group claimed Barlow voted to allow sexual orientation and gender identity to be taught to kindergarteners and to allow sex change procedures “to be done on kids.”
The record tells a different story.
Barlow voted against the 2023 Senate File 111, which would have applied a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison to anyone involved in medically transitioning a child from one gender to another, with exceptions for intersex and other unique situations.
Barlow criticized the bill’s definitions, calling it imprecise. But that same year he voted in favor of “Chloe’s Law” – which sought to strip medical professionals of their licenses for medically transitioning kids.
Barlow had, as the ad notes in a subtext, voted against the 2023 Senate File 117. The bill sought to ban teaching of gender ideology to public-school kids in grades kindergarten through third grade.
But Barlow voted in favor of that bill’s 2024 successor, Senate File 9, which became law.
The sequel legislation bans schools from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity without permission, and compels schools to notify parents if their children experience psychological changes, which may include a newly-voiced transgender identity.
He told Cowboy State Daily that the 2024 bill was simply written better.
The PAC Talking About Immigration
Barlow supporters voiced consternation on social media last week and over the weekend, in response to fliers and commercials characterizing him as liberal on immigration.
“Liberal Eric Barlow can’t be trusted with your money,” begins the TV commercial. “Barlow voted to spend Wyoming tax dollars on illegal immigrants.”
The ad cites two bills: the 2016 House Bill 135 and the 2018 House Bill 105.
“Eric Barlow keeps sending your money to illegals,” says the ad, after saying Barlow voted to fund sanctuary communities.
Barlow countered in a Monday interview.
“None of these votes were about sending money to anybody. They were about restricting how money could be spent,” he said. “I’ve never voted to send money to illegal immigrants. Period. I’ve never had that bill.”
The ad touts Degenfelder as fighting for Wyoming families and businesses.
About The PAC
Those ads are from a Wyoming-based group, Wyoming’s Turn PAC, which Cheyenne resident Joe Milczewski incorporated on Jan. 14.
Milczewski serves on the board of directors for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.
The association has endorsed Degenfelder but has nothing to do with this PAC, its spokesman Ryan McConnaughey told Cowboy State Daily in a Monday phone interview.
Barlow said he has had business dealings with Milczewski and thought those went well.
Milczewski did not respond by publication to phone messages placed with the number he listed as an incorporator, or another one listed to him online.
Degenfelder is not listed as an incorporator or director of the PAC.
Her campaign said prior that she is not affiliated with the federal issues group that had spoken to gender issues. Regarding the state-level PAC with the immigration ads, Degenfelder’s campaign manager Charlotte Jones said, “The campaign has not and is not permitted to communicate or coordinate with outside groups."
“Megan Degenfelder is the only candidate for governor with a proven record of delivering wins for conservatives,” added Jones.
Break Down The Bills
Both immigration votes the ad highlights happened on even-numbered years.
That means the legislative session was about 20 days long rather than 40. The Legislature’s top priority in even-numbered years is passing a two-year budget for the state.
Barlow said the rush of a budget session drove both his nay votes, which he cast on the introductory votes before either bill had entered the chamber for full debate.
The Legislature numbered 275 proposed bills in 2016, and 118 of those became law.
Then-Rep. Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, brought the 2016 bill seeking to ban public benefits for illegal immigrants.
Barack Obama was president.
Jennings told the House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 2016, that the bill was a response to other states acting to condition eligibility for public benefits on lawful presence in the U.S. The bill had carveouts for emergency medical conditions, disaster relief, public health, soup kitchens, crisis counseling, and short-term shelters.
Rep. Ken Esquibel, D-Cheyenne, asked why the bill didn’t exempt prenatal care as well, since women afraid of seeking prenatal care might end up in emergency birth situations that also cost the public more via Medicaid bills.
Jennings said he wanted to add that exemption.
The bill died on a 26-33 vote. It needed two-thirds approval to enter the chamber during the budget session. Only Republicans backed it. A mix of Democrats and Republicans opposed it.
That bill was numbered two days before its introduction vote, Barlow noted in his Monday interview.
“This is a significant issue that had implications for local governments,” said Barlow. “We got that bill literally two days before that vote was taken.”
Had it passed, the bill would have added to the duties of local governments by requiring them to verify the lawful presence of each person age 14 or older applying for state, local, or federal public benefits.
Barlow voted in favor this year of a bill, by Senate President Bo Biteman, restricting public welfare benefits across health and family services programs like food stamps, Medicaid and the Power program. He said Biteman worked this bill more carefully during the non-session months.
Biteman did not immediately return a voicemail request for comment.
Then Came 2018
In 2018, then-Rep. Chuck Gray, who is now secretary of state, brought a House Bill 105 seeking to ban sanctuary communities by withholding state money from local governments with any sanctuary-style policies.
“We’ve seen a disturbing trend where … cities and counties and states are refusing to follow immigration law and trying to use that as leverage to gain concessions,” said Gray on Feb. 14, 2018.
Two Democratic legislators pressed Gray on whether that was an issue in Wyoming.
Gray said he had seen it.
The bill fell short of the two-thirds threshold, 33-26.
“There were just big implications in both of these bills,” said Barlow, referencing again the short budget session and, for HB105, the eight-day window from its numbering to its introductory vote.
When Gray resurrected the bill in another budget session in 2020, Barlow voted nay again.
Barlow in the longer 2025 general session voted in favor of a bill to ban sanctuary cities. That bill became law.
The Bill The Sheriffs Hated
A Wyoming’s Turn PAC mail flier Cowboy State Daily received Monday also criticizes Barlow for his nay vote on the 2025 bill Senate File 124.
That was a huge immigration bill that would have required all Wyoming sheriffs to work with federal immigration authorities. Even sheriffs who work well with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) called the bill overreach.
Sheriffs said by requiring them to contract with ICE, the bill put them at a negotiating disadvantage. They also feared small-town sheriffs couldn’t afford ICE’s contracting requirements, which could involve mandatory jail housing.
The bill proved unpopular in the Senate: 10 Republican senators voted in its favor while 20 senators – 18 Republicans, including Barlow – voted to kill it.
Within days of his nay vote on SF 124, Barlow voted in favor of House Bill 133, banning sanctuary cities. He called the latter bill better-written.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
