One of the nine Republicans running for the GOP nomination to U.S. House voiced strong criticism Tuesday of the state-level Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
Reid Rasner also said he supports a slate of non-Freedom Caucus state legislative candidates.
“The Freedom Caucus has brought division, dysfunction, and political games to our state,” said Rasner in a Tuesday statement. “Wyoming deserves strong conservatives who will fight for our energy industry, protect our freedoms, keep taxes low, and actually get things done.”
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a controversial group of Republicans in the state House of Representatives who are linked with a national network of similar groups.
Proponents praise the caucus for proposing bold reductions to the state budget and efforts to pass socially conservative policies into law.
Opponents accuse it of over-relying on its national network and advancing sloppy or generic legislation.
The Freedom Caucus has endorsed Secretary of State Chuck Gray in the U.S. House of Representatives race.
At a July 23 candidate forum, Gray pivoted from a question about whether he’d join any caucuses in the House, saying, “at the end of the day, I’m going to be focused on representing the people of Wyoming. That’s who I align with.”
Gray did not respond by publication to a Tuesday-afternoon request for comment on Rasner’s remarks and the Freedom Caucus generally.
‘Plenty Of Noise’
Rasner is not the only Republican U.S. House candidate with strong words for the caucus.
State Senate President Bo Biteman in a Tuesday text message responded to Cowboy State Daily’s inquiry with, “I’ve always believed the best way to deal with political noise is to turn it down and get the work done.”
“The Freedom Caucus brings plenty of noise,” Biteman continued. “I’ve ignored them when they’ve attacked me, I’ve ignored them when they’ve taken credit for work I helped lead, and I’m going to keep ignoring the distractions.”
Biteman has had a complicated relationship with the caucus over the years. He aligns often with its goals, but is outspoken about not being part of it.
He said Tuesday that he’s focused on winning the election by discussing issues that matter to Wyoming families like lowering the cost of living, protecting public lands, strengthening the Socal Security program “and making government work for the people again.”
“Wyoming voters are tired of political theater,” said Biteman. “They want results.”
Caucus Responds
State House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, responded to both Rasner and Biteman in a Tuesday text message on the Freedom Caucus’ behalf.
Bear is a former chair and prominent member of the caucus.
“Reid Rasner is a failed career candidate who has brought division, dysfunction and political games to our state,” he said. “Wyoming deserves (a) strong conservative, like Chuck Gray.”
Bear said Gray would fight for Wyoming’s energy industry, “protect our freedoms, keep taxes low, and actually get things done.”
Bear also rephrased Biteman’s statement as the caucus’ own, and turned the barbs back onto the Biteman-led Senate.
“The Wyoming Senate and Cheyenne establishment bring plenty of noise,” said Bear. “We’ve ignored them when they attacked us, we’ve ignored them when they’ve taken credit for work we helped lead, and we’re going to keep ignoring the distractions.”
Bear said the caucus is focused on real issues that matter to Wyomingites.
What They’re Saying Out There
Steve Friess, a philanthropist and House candidate, told a Riverton-based coffee group on July 29 that the national-level, congressional Freedom Caucus contained “great people” and helped hold the Republican Party to a conservative line.
The state entity is something different, he said.
“I don’t think too many of their policies have really been out of the mainstream of conservative thought, and all of them have been worthy of a dialogue,” said Friess. “But it just feels to me like brought in a different tone. They’ve brought in an argumentative tone; they’ve excluded people, calling everybody a RINO (Republican in name only).”
“I’m hoping this is kind of a thing that passes,” he added. “And folks that want to call people names and bully people will understand that’s not the way things should be done in Wyoming.”
The candidate and combat veteran Kevin Christensen said his campaign tours have revealed a growing anti-Freedom Caucus movement. He said most people attribute that to the boisterous 2026 lawmaking session.
The caucus touted control of the state House of Representatives. It sought to eliminate the Wyoming Business Council, which budget hawks have long targeted, and to cut $40 million from the University of Wyoming.
Hampered in part by a check-passing controversy, the caucus achieved neither goal but did broker a temporary cut for WBC and an understanding that lawmakers will reform it starting this year.
“(The session) was largely ideologically driven,” said Christensen. “And a lot of really important legislation seemed to fall to the wayside in favor of mostly ideologically driven efforts.”
Former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, the only Wyoming native in this race who’s also held an elected statewide position, said she was more diplomatic about the caucus in the race’s early phases than now.
She agrees with their platform of limited government, pro-energy, pro-life, pro Second Amendment ideals, she said.
“It’s the tactics, and the exclusiveness of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, that I don’t ascribe to,” she said.
Freedom Caucus 'Very Aggressive'
Candidate David Giralt, who worked in Congress as an aide to multiple delegates, said he hasn’t seen Gray explicitly running on the caucus’ support, “but that might just be a consequence of him trying to attract more people.”
As for Giralt, he said he sees both the national Freedom Caucus and Wyoming’s version as using “very aggressive culture war tactics that, at the end of the day I think, just work against what the legislative process should be: holding true to your political ideological convictions and then working to get things done.”
Two more candidates, Richard Dodson and Keith Goodenough, did not respond by publication to Tuesday-afternoon voicemail requests for comment.
Confronted with the caucus’s comment, through Bear, calling him a “failed career candidate,” Rasner volleyed by calling Bear a “joke” and saying “Wyoming is done with these so-called Freedom Caucus losers.”
Rasner pointed to a 2023 bill to set Wyoming’s minimum marriage age at 16, which many Freedom Caucus members and Bear had opposed. Some pointed to Amish and Mennonite populations and other unique groups living in Wyoming, as well as teen pregnancy situations.
Rasner also derided Gray and asserted, “his political career is finished.”
A Little Analysis
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has been vocal on social issues like keeping males out of girls school sports, helping the state fight illegal immigration, and abortion.
Its strategies to fight abortion have been unsuccessful so far, however: every pro-life bill Wyoming has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 overturn of Roe vs. Wade has been blocked in court.
The caucus and other Republicans missed, or dodged, the chance this year to put the question of abortion to the voters and overcome the courts’ injunctions. The Legislature won’t have another chance until the 2028 election.
People have blamed the caucus for lapses and other controversies associated with the state’s new school-funding package. But that was a bipartisan bill that, despite extensive debate, won overwhelming support upon passage.
The caucus often takes credit for passing a 25% property tax cut in 2025. The conjecture may be fair: the bill sprang from a caucus-led Revenue Committee and passed with the caucus unanimously in support.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
