Every election season, we hear someone say, “This is the most important election ever.”
There is a sense in which that is true.
Every election matters because every election determines which ideas will gain ground in our culture and our government.
In Wyoming, every eight years brings an especially important decision as we elect a governor who will shape the direction of state government for years to come.
The governor appoints state agency directors and members of dozens of boards and commissions, participates in the selection of judges, and oversees an administration that touches nearly every part of life in Wyoming.
Those decisions ultimately affect our families, churches, schools, businesses, and the kind of Wyoming our children will inherit.
That is why this year I am supporting Megan Degenfelder for governor.
I am supporting her for three primary reasons: knowledge, courage, and wisdom.
First, Megan has the knowledge and experience to do the job well. She has executive experience leading one of Wyoming’s major state agencies as Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Across Wyoming, I have watched her speak with conviction about what she believes. She stands for life, for protecting girls’ sports, and for empowering parents to have a greater voice in their children’s education.
Second, Megan has demonstrated courage. It is one thing to know what is right. It is another thing to stand for it when doing so becomes difficult.
As State Superintendent, Megan has repeatedly demonstrated that she is willing to take a stand, even when powerful voices within the education establishment line up against her.
Wyoming does not need leaders who identify their position based on polls. We need leaders who know what they believe before the pressure comes and have enough backbone to remain standing when it does.
Third, Megan has demonstrated wisdom.
In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word chokmah, often translated “wisdom,” carries the idea of practical skillfulness. Wisdom is more than knowing what is true; it is knowing how to apply truth effectively in the real world.
We have seen that kind of practical leadership in Megan’s work to develop a plan addressing sexually explicit material in school libraries and to strengthen transparency so that parents know what their children are being taught.
Knowledge tells you what is right. Courage gives you the willingness to stand for it. Wisdom gives you the skill to accomplish something with that conviction. Wyoming desperately needs leaders who possess all three. Megan Degenfelder has shown all three in spades.
There is also a political reality conservatives should consider.
I have been thinking a great deal about the gubernatorial races in 2010 and 2018.
In 2010, Matt Mead received 30,308 votes, Rita Meyer received 29,605, and Ron Micheli received 27,630. The top three candidates were separated by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Eight years later, another crowded Republican primary produced a similar result. Mark Gordon won with 38,951 votes, followed by Foster Friess with 29,842 and Harriet Hageman with 25,052.
In both elections, the eventual Republican nominee won a crowded primary with far less than a majority of the vote. We cannot know with certainty what would have happened had either election been reduced to two candidates.
But the lesson should still be obvious: when voters who largely agree with one another divide among several candidates, they can produce an outcome that none of them intended.
Wyoming conservatives face that danger again. This election should not become a contest in which conservatives divide themselves among multiple candidates while someone who represents a smaller portion of Republican voters walks through the opening.
It is not enough for the candidate to exercise wisdom. Those of us choosing the candidate must exercise wisdom as well.
That is why I am proud to support Megan Degenfelder for governor.
Nathan Winters can be reached at: nw.wyoming@gmail.com
