Robert Short is ready to “Make The Secretary of State’s Office Boring Again.”
The three-term Converse County commissioner won election Tuesday to become Wyoming’s next secretary of state.
Short, 64, launched his boring-again slogan as a play on the controversial tone the Wyoming’s second-highest state-government office has taken in the last four years under Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who ran this year for U.S. House.
Short defeated three Republican challengers in the Aug. 18 primary election, including state Rep. Rachel Williams, the chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
On Tuesday, Short defeated two more opponents: Democratic nominee Bryan McCarty and Constitution Party nominee Tamara Trujillo, the latter a former state representative.
About Short
Short has lived in Wyoming most of his life — other than a stint when he had to leave amid the economic collapse of the mid-1980s.
He left for 20 years to gain education and skills “before coming back here, to the greatest state on the planet,” he told Cowboy State Daily when declaring for office.
He grew up in Glenrock, and was trained in electrical engineering and computer science.
His background is in technology, electrical distribution systems, general contracting, and building electrical systems, he said.
He’s worked in the retail and agricultural sectors across the state.
Short and his wife, Janella, have four children.
As a county commissioner, Short took a pro-business stance that did not foreclose data center development on private land.
He has promised to work cooperatively with the county clerks of Wyoming.
He’s also condemned false publications by “dark money” groups and called for just enough business regulations to keep fraudsters out of Wyoming without hampering business.
Besides running Wyoming’s business registration and elections, Short will hold a seat on multiple state executive boards, including the State Board of Land Commissioners, which decides the fate of state trust lands, and the State Loan and Investment Board, which allocates resources into various projects.
He’s pledged a pragmatic approach that doesn’t neglect local voices.
Wyoming does not have a lieutenant governor's position, rather, the secretary of state is next in line to lead if the governor cannot.
Spending
No other secretary of state candidate this year came close to Short’s monetary campaigning.
He raised $474,671 and spent $429,495, Wyoming campaign finance records show.
Williams, who spent second-most on this race, raised less than one-tenth of Short’s haul, at $44,590. She spent less than one-tenth of Short’s output, at $41,195.
Trujillo raised $5,350; McCarty raised $1,686.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
