Kevin Christensen, who rocketed to a third-place finish in a nine-candidate field while spending less than 2% the expense figure of each top-two finisher, is looking at a 2028 run.
But he’s not waging a write-in campaign for this year’s Nov. 3 general election.
Christensen told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that a write-in campaign is too much of a long shot. Wyoming history confirms that.
“I have a lot of people who are asking me to do a write-in campaign for the general,” he said. “I’ve looked into it. I don’t think I will pursue that.”
One of multiple obstacles, he said, is the likelihood his surname to be misspelled.
“When you’re competing against people that have a name on the ballot, you have to be realistic,” he said.
Christensen said he’s “looking in (the) direction” of a 2028 run. That includes planning, considering the lessons he learned this year, and growing the network he’s already built, he said.
“I’m not, you know, like formally announcing,” said Christensen, who characterized his next steps as more of a gearing-up.
Christensen, from Casper, won three counties: Albany, Teton, and Weston.
He said his work for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management brought him into Weston County communities and he had a field office in Newcastle, so he gained early name recognition there even before the House run.
Looking To Endorse?
Christensen said he’s considering endorsing someone in that race in the general election.
The Republican primary winner, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, advanced to the general election after garnering 25% of the vote Aug. 18.
Steve Friess, the second-place candidate between Gray and Christensen, won 20.4% of the vote, and Christensen garnered 17.6%.
Gray faces Libertarian Party nominee Shawn Johnson, and Democratic Party nominee Lisa Kinney on Nov. 3.
No alternate Republican gained ballot status to run as an Independent by last week’s deadline.
Christensen said he had been watching to see if someone would.
He said he won’t endorse Gray.
Christensen launched his run in the first place due to a lack of confidence in Gray’s ability to represent Wyoming, he said.
“I don’t feel he has the ability to build relationships and build coalitions,” said Christensen. “Just looking at his time in the Legislature, his time in office as secretary of state, his ‘proven track record’ that he talks about – as Senator (Bo) Biteman correctly pointed out – is not one of building trust and building coalitions.”
Christensen noted that Wyoming is an overwhelmingly Republican state.
“And if you have difficulty building relationships even within your own party – and you think that Governor (Mark) Gordon is a liberal – you’re in for a shock when you get to Washington, D.C.,” said Christensen. “You have to be able to build those relationships. I feel that he would be a liability for Wyoming. If he’s in office, we won’t be represented.”
Gray, in a text message response to Cowboy State Daily, said he enjoyed getting to know Christensen during the campaign and looks forward to working with him.
“Kevin discussed important issues, and I look forward to working with him on these issues,” said Gray. “We must keep public lands in public hands. We must also address affordability and reduce the cost of living. And we must address rural health care.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
