CHEYENNE — I am beginning to lose all faith in polls on primary elections, given the recent upsets nationwide.
The polls were wrong on some narrow wins in a couple of states, caused by the crush of last-minute previously undecided voters.
As a substitute for professional polls, I have been reading the letters to the editor in the Cheyenne Tribune-Eagle to get a sense of what voters are thinking.
In recent days the letters have been pretty much in favor of Eric Barlow as the Republican nominee for governor.
The letters include pleas to retain “Wyoming Values.”
Boiled down, I would say this means Wyoming voters may have remained very independent - tilting toward Libertarian - and unlikely to be swayed by slick campaign television ads that unfairly smear Barlow or any other candidate.
This is a turnaround from the last elections when they flocked to the MAGA and the Freedom Caucus gang.
There were very few letters recently in favor of Barlow’s closest rival, Megan Degenfelder, the current State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Degenfelder has been endorsed by Trump personally five or six times.
A very attractive woman, she has shown her ability through her performance as a member of high state office.
The question is whether she can get elected without the support of the Trump machine.
And that has implications for all women who seek high public office in Wyoming.
OK. I realize this is not a scientific poll.
But, it is all we have right now.
This may be a close race. And if so, all the professional polls will be off.
I think Barlow will win in the end.
As for the crowded contest for the U.S. House, I think an upset would be wonderful.
The underdog, Jillian Balow, would spurt from behind to wind up with the seat being vacated by Harriet Hageman.
Balow held state office before as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, so she has some experience in government peculiarities.
She would have to overcome both front runners for the U.S. House seat - Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Teton County millionaire Steve Friess.
Friess will win because he has the most money behind him.
He also has important ties to the Trump organization that could help Wyoming.
He does not seem to be an ideologue like Gray, or members of the Freedom Caucus, however.
Gray has self-inflicted wounds, primarily by his voluntary submission of private voter records to the Trump Administration.
Turning to the Secretary of State’s office, I favor Robert Short, a Converse County Republican.
He said his priority would be business regulation, particularly over the LLCs.
The election, he believes, is in good hands now, under control of the county clerks.
How refreshing. We would no longer have to hear Gray’s cries of how the 2020 presidential election was rigged, and how immigrants were struggling to infiltrate Wyoming elections .
There is, however, something seriously wrong with this election.
It is the ugly TV campaign ads against Eric Barlow that cost millions of dollars. The ads showed how opponents can take and distort a candidate’s legislative voting record.
There may have been other smear ads against other candidates that I did not see.
The sad thing was all the money invested in campaigns. Such a waste. Those millions could have been spent on programs that help poor people, for example.
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Contact Joan Barron at 307 632- 2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
