campbell county republican party

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Members of the Campbell County Republican Party executive committee are asking the Wyoming Republican Party to take some type of action against a Park County Republican who sent a threatening letter to a state senator from Cheyenne.

The six committee members sent a letter (below) to the state GOP Central Committee condemning its failure to censure Park County Republican Precinct Committeeman Troy Bray for an email he sent to Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne.

“We are firm believers that actions speak louder than words,” the letter said. “The actions of the State Central Committee show, at best, extreme indifference to involvement of women in Wyoming Republican Party politics. While political lip service and fancy word games seem to be the  Party’s stock in trade, actions tell the true intentions – and the tangible actions are concerning.”

In the email he sent in September, Bray criticized the Nethercott for how she handled a bill that would have banned the state from requiring its employees to get the coronavirus vaccine.

“If I were as despicable a person as you, I would kill myself to rid the world of myself,” said the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Casper Star-Tribune. “You sicken me. Thank you for ensuring that the people of Wyoming are subjected to tyranny once again. F— YOU C—.” 

Bray signed the email with his titles as a precinct committeeman and as secretary of Park County Republican Men’s Club, the latter of which he resigned from.

Campbell County Republican Party committee member Alison Gee told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that she felt the Wyoming Republican Party should censure Bray for his actions and call on him to step down from his position as committeeman.

“What he did…is terribly inappropriate and makes people scared for their safety and none of those things have a place in politics,” she said. “We’ve had some great representation like the Simpsons and the Enzis, people who tried to find things in common, work through the differences and be role models for our children.”

In the letter, the Campbell County Republicans pointed to the censure of JoAnn True, a state committeewoman from Natrona County, in 2020 for her role in funding a nonpartisan political action committee that gave some money to Democratic candidates across the state.

“Even though Mrs. True was a dedicated Republican from one of the most historically dedicated Republican families in Wyoming, you choose to cast her aside for wanting to elevate the status of women in Wyoming politics,” the letter to the Wyoming Republican Party said. “In so doing, you made it clear your position regarding women in politics.”

The committee members questioned whether the “misogynistic” actions of the state party were actually calculated moves to keep women out of politics.

“The State Party Executive Committee should be a role model for the Republican Cause,” the letter said. “Role models should not  look like ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand for all to see. Role models do what is  right, and remember some things, like integrity, are not for sale.”

The Wyoming Republican Party, during its executive committee meeting last week, did not address the letter from the Campbell County officials.

Both Gee and fellow Campbell County GOP executive committee member Charlene Camblin were disappointed, but not necessarily surprised, at the lack of response from the state party.

“I was raised with respect for one another. Does it mean you always agree with each other? No,” Camblin told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “But you’re respectful and civil to one another and you can disagree accordingly.”

Camblin said she thought better of Wyoming GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne and Vice President Dave Holland, due to them both being “Wyoming cowboys.”

She questioned whether Eathorne and Holland would respond to Bray’s comments if they had been directed at either the men’s wives, mothers or daughters.

While Camblin was a Trump supporter, she did note that he made it OK to be a bully in politics with no repercussion. “It’s getting harder and harder to find people, especially women, who want to run for public office because they just don’t want to put themselves out there for the nastiness and attacks that come from it,” she said.

At the conclusion of the letter, the Campbell County officials called on the Wyoming Republican Party to “do the right thing” and encourage women at all levels to participate in the political process, stand up for elected women who are verbally abused and “make it clear that asking for someone to commit suicide…is unacceptable and will be dealt with in the harshest possible manner.”

Eathorne did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.

This is not the first Wyoming Republican county party to call on the state office to reprimand Bray. Last month, the Laramie County Republican Party adopted a resolution calling for a censure.

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