Showing posts with label Jillian Balow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jillian Balow. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
The 2026 Election, 18th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does, part two.
August 2, 2026
I wasn't going to do this, but the last thread just became too darned long and was creating havoc in the blog accordingly.
So, here we have our 18th edition for this season. We'll abstain on predicting this one will run all the way until the primary, but the primary is only a little over two weeks away.
Here we note a very interesting item:
Joan Barron: Is A GOP Sea Change On The Way?
Phil Roberts, the legally trained University of Wyoming professor predicts that Harriet Hageman will lose. That amounts to a prediction, without him saying so, that Sam Mead will win.
I sure hope he's right.
Hageman has been characterized by being nasty in public, while in the background she behaves more like a conventional Congressman. Be that as it may, up until just a week ago or so she was a diehard Trump fan and in the category of enemies of public lands. When concerned Wyomingites wrote to her about their concerns on public land she basically called the stupid.
She needs to go.
A prediction if she does. Wyoming "ranch girl" or no, she'll never come back. She owned a house in D.C. before she was even elected.
The author here notes that he voted last week. And, we voted for:
Governor: Barlow.
Senate: Mead
House of Representatives: Christensen.
Secretary of State: Short.
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Harshman
On people needing to go, Chuck Gray needs to depart politics, and preferably the state, as well. Based on early rumors, that might well happen, but if it does, it looks like it may be Steve Friess who gains the state's seat in Congress. Friess is seemingly really cutting into Gray's numbers.
At the same time, it's pretty clear that Kevin Christensen is also rising. Christensen is gaining the support of moderate Republicans and those concerned about public lands. Early on it was assumed these votes would go to Balow but Balow has really disappointed in this race to date, including making statements that would cut towards Trump when, as Barron has noted in her article, people even in Wyoming may be moving in the opposite direction. I expected Balow to lead this race early on and hoped for her to replace Gray, but now I'm in the camp that has gone to Christensen.
August 4, 2026
A variety of odds and ends.
First, the real Republicans placed an add with Real Republican candidates in the CST:
I don't know much about some of these candidates, but do about others, or their opponents.
Elissa Campbell is a one term incumbent who is being challenged by Pete Fox, a far right wing candidate who claims not be aligned with the Freedom Caucus but whom everyone pretty much is sure he is. Julie Jarvis is also a one term incumbent who is being challenged by Jeanette Ward, a Chicago carpetbagger who is one of the original, and most extreme, WFC members who held the same seat for one term.
Engbretson is seeking to unseat extreme WFC landlord Bob Ide. Ide obtained this seat several years ago by somehow unseating Drew Perkins. Ide has been a disaster in terms of his extreme views.
Rob Hendry is a long time Wyoming local politician who lost his seat and is now seeking to take Lien's. Hendry was a Natrona County Commissioner for several years before losing his seat. Lien defeated long time legislator Tom Walters to obtain her seat in the last election, which was one in which the WFC did relatively well.
The CST also ran a copy of the ballot.
This story was actually broken two years ago by The Laramie Reporter, who deserves credit for bringing it to light.
Somehow Rasner must have stumbled onto the story, but it's been out there all along and really should have been news as the underlying story is reprehensible Whether Saint holds racist views or not I don't know, but he was flirting with websites that raise the question. Some of the sites, moreover, are Francoist, which says a lot about the views the young man flirts with.
So does the fact that he recovered from being canned and brought Charlie Kirk to the University of Wyoming. I've never been able to make up my mind about Kirk and of course Kirk's assassination means the final variant of Kirk is unknown to the world. But Kirk had entered the public sphere as an adherent of the Seven Mountains movement which has a distinct weltanschauung that most Americans would not share. It's safe to assume, accordingly, that Saint is some sort of Christian Nationalist.
The fact that Saint survived being fired and went on to be Gray's campaign manager, while being a law student, says plenty about his drive, but it also says a lot about how a tiny independent news outlet really can't break a story nationwide. If the story had been broken by WyoFile or the CST, Saint would be done for, and he should be, or at least he should be on a long hiatus.
The fact that Saint ended up as Gray's campaign manager says something about Gray. Either he isn't paying attention to things at all, or he doesn't mind the association Saint has with movements that he's dabbled at looking at. Or he's satisfied that Saint doesn't really hold such views.
I'll note that I've heard Saint talk in an informal occasion where his guard was really down on one occasion. Given that, my impression is really unfair, but he came across as an arrogant asshole. On that occasion he was dissing the professors of the University of Wyoming as being wholly liberal and seemed to literally despise the education he was receiving. At the same time, however, I'll note that he was under the impression, inaccurately, of being the only one in the group, a rural crowd, to have ever attended university and arrogance amongst the young is pretty common.
One of Gray's competitors is Steve Friess, whom Republican insider Susan Stubson has an article about:
(OPINION) Plenty of Jack
Stubson is correct, Friess is basically flooding the zone with money and this is a test of whether, basically, a candidate in Wyoming can buy a seat in Congress. That well trod road is the same one that Gray managed to trod to his current position as Secretary of State, albeit barely.
Friess flyers who up in my mailbox constantly and the last one was really telling. It promised to pass the SAVE Act.
Any candidate promising to pass the SAVE Act shouldn't be voted on for anything ever as its wholly anti democratic. It also promises to "Buck mail-in voter fraud" which it claims will help prevent liberals from stealing the election.
There's no threat liberals are going to steal an election, but the MAGA GOP is trying to steal the 2026 election right now.
Freiss was the target of a black money mailer by some group styling itself the Hometown Action Network. It's shows Friess being bucked off a horse and notes he's not local. It doesn't come out for anyone, however. We'd have to presume it's pro Gray, who nobody has ever seen with a horse.
Indeed, of those running for this position who are the top contenders, Gray, Friess, Christensen, Rasner, and Balow, we know by far the least about Gray. Indeed, hardly anything at all is known about him personally.
Neither Gray nor Friess deserve a vote.
Rasner, of course, will receive very few. His candidacy is doomed and he's sort of faded from view. I did see one large Rasner sign the other day, but it's safe to say at this point his political career in Wyoming is over. What he's serving to do right now is to carve votes away from Gray, and that is a public service. The question is whether those votes carved away end up going to Friess or a better candidate.
Going back to Albany County, a former Democratic candidate for the US House is running for a seat as an Albany County Commissioner.
Ben-David promises a scientific approach in bid for Albany County Commission seat
A climate change activist and former researcher, Merav Ben-David said water security is her top priority. She is one of four Democrats competing to be one of the party’s two nominees.
August 5, 2026
This notes an interesting feature of this election, that being politicians taking more credit for something than their entitled to, or backing something that isn't controversial at all.
First the backing:
This is the flipside of the false accusation:
Barlow Says Attack Ads On Sex Changes And Illegal Immigrants Aren't True
And then there's the bold position on a non issue. Every single candidate claims to support the 2nd Amendment. From Wyoming? D'uh.
The campaign propaganda is therefore really not helpful. Some PAC is pointing out that Friess is a rich carpetbagger. Well, so is Gray. So was Chapman.
Still, some things are revealing. Friess notes he'd back the SAVE Act. That means he's in favor of reducing democracy. Friess, Gray and Degenfelder would all propose marriage to Trump.
People are looking beyond these. Yesterday a really conservative Republican I know, and a thoughtful one, told me he was supporting Giralt I'm not, I'm going for Christensen, as are two other people I personally know.
August 6, 2026
Rep. Jayme Lien called WYDOT to complain about the placement of Rob Hendry sign. Rob noted it with bemusement and posted a photo of a questionable Lien sign in terms of placement.
Chuck Gray was apparently his recently spastic self in a debate for the House. He posted thereafter a peppy owning the libs post, but he's coming across as an ass, as he is one. His interview by a Cowboy State Daily female reporter, which is on video, is really a prime example. That alone would preclude his election in a decent society.
All indications are that Christensen is really moving up.
Bob Ide called Lisa Engebretsen's supporters "Camo Clad Leftists"
Ide runs around dressing like a cowboy, and apparently has some ranching background and some cattle, but he's landlord. The Camo Clad Engebretsen supporters are local outdoorsmen who are awake to Ide's grab the Federal land stand.
Ide needs to leave the legislature. Better yet, he can give up on being a landlord and head out into the sticks and punch cows full time. He already has the clothes and everything.
This is the first time, by the way, I've seen a politician accuse sportsmen of being "leftists".
August 7, 2026
One to close the week out on:
Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 7. The jackass in a tin barn edition.
We weren't really ready to start a new one of these, but Chuck Gray has been in such rare form recently as it starts to look like he's going to lose in ten days and his dreams of a carpetbagging political career be crushed, that it mandates it.
Gray, as Secretary of State, sits on a variety of state boards and has been using that position to attempt to advance his campaign for higher office, any higher office, all along. Generally in the global warming is a fib camp, he at one time was okay with development projects of all types but now is anti "woke wind". Lots of people don't like the viewscape and land use aspect of wind and solar farms, and he's hoping to tap into that dislike, but he's such a disagreeable pissant he can't seem to say it that way. Nor can he explain his prior positions.
The real gem in this is that he almost voted to preclude use of an access road to a power substation that provides power to farmers on the basis that it might receive electrical power from solar farms or wind farms or provide power to data centers.
When the State treasurer noted that this meant, he changed his vote, but had to blame the whole thing on somebody else.
Data centers are now big in the news around here, and for good reason. Gray is opposing them as he figures it's good politics. Put a gigantic strip mine in over the same area, and he'd be all for it. It's difficult to tell from one moment to the next if Republican candidates this year are members of the Flat Earth Society or Greenpeace.
Gray is particularly disgusting. He's consistently rude and nasty. It's difficult to understand why anyone would vote for him, unless they're really duped.
On Chuck, columnist Tom Lubnau came out with a column belatedly endorsing Steve Friess. The column is a good one.
I like Lubnau but there's no way on earth I'm voting for Steve Friess. Friess is higher grade of carpetbagger Trump suck up than Chuck Gray, who is simply vile, but they're cut essentially from the same cloth. Friess, granted, isn't a jackass, but that's the main difference between the two of them.
Lubnau admits he had another favorite but started to be swayed by the big mass endorsement of Friess last week by a collection of Republican figures. He'd earlier criticized Friess campaign which he criticized as "anyone but Chuck", and there is some of that view going around. Quite frankly, I can say that anyone would be better than Gray. But that means he abandoned a better candidate at least in part because he through Friess is the second in line contender.
We're not so sure of that. It appears that Christensen has been coming up like crazy. He's the only Republican whose views actually alight with most of the state's voters and the only one who has a background common to Wyomingites.
He might be able to pull it off.
August 8, 2026
Trump backed U.S. Rep Andy Ogles, Tennessee, went down in defeat to Charlie Hatcher, the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture from 2018-2025.
Trump backed Navy Veteran Amir Hassan lost his primary bid Michigan's 8th Congressional District to Thomas Smith, who had actually earlier dropped out of the race.
Hmm. . . .
News reports have shown that Friess, Rasner and Gray have spent massive amounts in their bid for the House. Friess has now spent more than Rasner, who has spent a huge amount.
Frankly, the expenditures here justify not voting for any of these people in no small part because, in relative terms, very little of the money comes from inside of Wyoming and quite a bit of it is self funding. A person who would spend $1M or more in family money for an office that pays what these do, isn't acting prudently and won't once they take office, if they do.
August 9, 2026
The Oil City News published some letters to the paper today, which in their case almost amount to small op-eds in some circumstances.
Some are really worth reading.
(LETTERS) Chuck Gray’s data handling and ‘election integrity,’ Sen. Ide’s voting record
The first letter's points are so well delivered that they're impossible to counter. Had Joe Biden's administration asked for Wyoming's voter registration information Chuck Gray would have refused to deliver it. Indeed, it'd be a major plank of his current bid for office.
But as Trump asked for it, well, that's okay with him.
The administration's efforts have been knocked down now by over twenty courts. But as Wyoming is sitting like a bump on a log on this, there's no chance of Wyoming retrieving its confidential information or of Gray being tried.
This really should go to Court. What a judge should do is order Chuck to retrieve the data within 24 hours of an injunction to that effect being ordered or to go to jail for contempt for every day he can't get it done.
The fact that Gray sprinted to deliver confidential information to the Federal Government is simply appalling. And it also provide plenty of evidence of what think intellectual greul the Freedom Caucus, which Gray helped bring to Wyoming, is serving. They really aren't interested in Freedom.
August 10, 2026
Well, we're in the last full week of campaigning.
Expect this week to feature a mailer blitz, and as candidate Barlow notes, a lot of it is going to be pure shit.
August 11, 2026
It really doesn't need saying, but a collection of utter fools around here are still focused on this complete and utter non issue.
As I figured it would, the flyers are as thick as flies at a picnic right now. Yesterday one for Hageman, one for Short, and one for Friess showed up, along with a letter from Scott Smith, who is running for treasurer.
A walker showed up as well, with a joint flyer for Hageman and Bien, the second time they've showed up. He politely left with his flyers when informed his mission was pointless.
Apparently attack flyers are being circulated in favor of Pete Fox, implicitly, by attacking Elissa Campbell. They claim she voted in favor of abortion when in fact she voted against the clearly unconstitutional laws that have in fact been ruled unconstitutional by the Wyoming Supreme Court.
On that issue, I'm as opposed to abortion as any living human being, but the WFC really shows the lack of courage of its convictions here. It was the proto WFC folks who amended the state's constitution to protect us from the Obama death panels. . . a product of their fevered imagination. This could all be fixed by repealing the health decisions amendment but they won't attempt it as they know that most Wyomingites aren't die hard anti abortion. So they need to try to force their view through the courts, something they supposedly hate happening. It didn't work and now they're attacking the courts and also using the topic to try to preserve if not expand their place in the legislature.
This sort of cowardly behavior is really a hallmark of the current GOP. The lockstep votes in Congress really show it.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Senatorial candidate from Michigan, showed up on Face the Nation last weekend.
Dr. El-Sayed is freaking the Democrats out nationally as he's yet another Democrat whose branded as a Democratic Socialist. The Democrats are in fear that the primaries are going to ruin their chances of taking back Congress through the choice of "extreme" candidates.
I don't think so.
I think that the Democratic party is misreading a national shift in young voters views, but I'll deal with that in a separate thread. Anyhow, Dr. El-Sayed, in his interview, didn't come across as a Socialist at all, but rather as . . . a Distributist. Indeed, he nearly used the classic line of Chesterton about the problem with capitalism being too few capitalists, and he declared himself to be a capitalist, making a distinction between capitalism and corporatism, which we've often made here. He also spoke extensively about health care for all, which frankly isn't that scary of idea for most people under 65 years of age anymore.
Soon thereafter Donald Trump posted this:
He's also very isolated and I fear kept that way. This actually illustrates a good p oint I don't think he meant to.
On the left we see Trump, wearing a tuxedo, which most American men do not own, and Melanija Knavs, a Slovenian former model whose fame, had it not been for marrying Trump, would be the fading memory of her nude body in an add for something. This was apparently taken at the last inaugural ball.
Frankly, in any more decent age Trump's marriage to a woman who had openly engaged in what is a pornographic image would have precluded him from being President. But then also, Trump was a playboy serial polygamist and that would have precluded it as well. Knavs is dressed in a Herve Pierre designed dress. The price of the dress has not been publicly revealed, but Pierre's dresses start in the low $1,000s and run up to the mid $4,000s, which is not unreasonable for such things.
So, on the left, basically, we have the carefless class of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or Trump's case, perhaps more accurately, the imperial class of pre revolutionary Russia. There's actually nothing to admire about Trump professionally or politically at all, but he loves himself and you are supposed to love him.
On the right, we have Dr. El-Sayed and his wife Dr. Sarah Jukaku, a practicing psychiatrist, two accomplished individuals. They met as students and have two children. In speaking of their marriage, El-Sayed sounds like a traditionalist Catholic.
But he's Muslim, and in this photo, that's why you are supposed to hate him.
And that says a lot about the mindset of those still supporting Trump, and who assume you support Trump. You are supposed to love a wealthy vapid playboy who is a serial polygamist and has no personal or demonstrable religious beliefs at all, and who is making the rich richer and the poor poorer, because, well, he's white and people like El-Sayed are darker. And you are supposed to hate Elissa Campbell because the Freedom Caucus is too cowardly to try to take on a constitutional amendment they now know was the product of paranoia. And you are supposed to support Degenfelder and Hageman as Trump endorsed them, even if that means, implicitly, supporting what we've noted above as well as a losing war in the Middle East.
And for some people, that will be enough.
FWIW, El-Sayed was actually asked about the photo and really reacted to it, saying:
He’s right. One in which your overlords are two people who don’t like each other but joined in the interest in making billions of dollars off of you, or two people who genuinely love each other enjoying some pancakes together who want to come together to build the kind of America where we can raise a family and that family has goes things.
You’ve got two different visions of America: Donald Trump’s vision is the one you’re living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they’re going to have a better future than you did?
El-Sayed is a very quick thinker and an excellent speaker. That's a really pointed reaction. I frankly don't know what Knavs' reason for being with Trump is, but it's hard not to feel a bit sorry for her at this point and when they're both together, it's a little creepy.
El-Sayed went on and stated; "Sarah and I like each other. I don’t know about the first lady and the president, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a bit of a rocky road."
That's a pretty good defense.
On a somewhat different note, following up what I've noted above, I pass a place every day which is sprouting an ever growing crop of WFC candidate signs. All the main ones are there, Bien, Hageman, etc., but also people like Jeske. The funny thing is, I know that the premises owner is a felon whose son is the pen for a felony.
Their criminal problems aside, it's pathetic. By all appearances these people aren't doing well but there they are, supporting a group of people who would screw them completely. Why?
I'm sure there's a whole boatload of speculation on that very topic, but this year, it's oddly common.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 17th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does.*
2026 Election, Carpetbaggers, Cynthia Lummis, Donald Trump, Enemies of Public Lands, Liz Cheney, Politics, Public Land, Republican Party, Richard Dodson, Wyoming, Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Doug Burgum, Elon Musk, Frank Chapman, J. R. Riggins, Jim Geringer, Kevin Christensen, National Conservatism, Neil Jeske, Reid Rasner, Tom Lubnau,Bo Biteman, Brent BienChuck Gray, Eric Barlow, Francoism, Harriet Hageman, James Byrd, Jillian Balow, Megan Degenfelder, Predictions, Samuel Mead, Steve Friess, Steve Harshman, Yeoman's Thirty-first law of behavior
The 2026 Election, 18th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does, part two. More labels.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
The 2026 Election, 12th Edition. The late on ramp edition.
May 29, 2026 is the last day to declare a candidacy in one of the two "major parties".
We will, therefore, likely be learning of some new candidates in the upcoming days for the first time.
And we might be surprised that some who stated they were running, but who haven't filed, don't.
May 21, 2026
Two Democrats, Ana Cordova and Sergio Maldonado Sr. have entered the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. It seems that a third, Libertarian Ryan Shollenberger, will. They join existing GOP candidates Tom Kelly, Chad Auer and Steve Harshman.
Shollenberger doesn't have to file by May 29, as Libertarians are not a "major party". It's worth noting here that a Libertarian candidate for this office makes darned near no sense whatsoever.
Democratic candidates do, however, and both of the declared Democrats have experience in education. Maldonado ran against Degenfelder last time, and given here throwing roses to MAGA, which she sort of did and sort of didn't, while in that position, he frankly would have been a saner choice.
Harshman is highly likely to win against the two carpetbagging competitors he faces and is a really solid choice. This race might actually feature two really good candidates and a throwaway.
Columnist Rod Miller wrote in Wyofile to advance an idea that I've been backing here for quite some time, that being getting rid of party identification and affiliation in the state's elections.
Open letter to the Joint Corporations Committee
He points out that our state constitution is silent on party affiliation, and I frankly feel our current primary system is unconstitutional. I wish somebody would file a lawsuit over the issue.
May 23, 2026
The more I've read on this, the more it seems clear this fellow is not eligible:
This will be a test for Chuck, who hasn't been very good at passing tests so far.
Chuck also met with some discontent outside a legislative committee meeting:
Of course, Chuck tagged the protest as hoard of radical leftist, as he does, a hoard apparently meaning any group of people exceeding one person and a leftist being anyone who disagrees with him.
May 24, 2026
Updates as we reach the filing deadline.
U.S. Senate:
Republican Party.
Harriet Hageman. On our no go list.
Jill M Edwards. A new name, no idea who she is.
Jimmy Skovgard
John Allan Holtz. Perennial GOP candidate who was apparently a judge at some point and just can't get the message that no one wants him as an office holder.
"Okay, Boomer".
Sam Mead. Best GOP candidate so far.
Democrats.
Billy Benavidez. A new name. No idea who he is.
James Byrd.
On this race, State Rep. Campbell, running for reelection, came out and boldly branded Hageman a threat to public lands, which she is. That took guts.
May 27, 2026
Lisa Engebretsen, a Casper real estate agent, has announced a bid for Senate District 29, which is currently held be uber extreme Wyoming Freedom Caucus commando Bob Ide. She's running as a conservative candidate.
The more power to her. Ide was even in Washington D.C. on January 6, although he wasn't a rioter. He need to be voted out.
Another menace to the state, Chuck Gray, is getting no love from the legislature:
Wyoming lawmakers unmoved by Gray’s calls to reexamine electoral maps
In Texas, which has the stupidest politics in the country, Ken Paxton defeated John Cornyn in the Texas Republican runoff and boisterous GOP annoyance Chip Roy was defeated in his bid to replace Paxton as attorney general.
In at least the first race, the nomination of Paxton gives the Democrats, whose fortunes are overall reviving in Texas, a chance of taking Cornyn's seat and gives Cornyn the chance to go whole hog on the Senate on seeking revenge against Trump. Trump's recent actions in the 2026 race are not only boosting Democrats, they're freeing up current office holders to act against him.
May 28, 2026
Occasional Casper Mayor Ray Pacheco has announced for Natrona County commissioner, which would mean that two former mayors are running for positions on the commission.
Balow has commenced running her ads.
It's notable that the three candidates who have really been spending money in the House race, Gray, Friess and Rasner, all have wealth or family wealth. It raises the obvious comment that if they're conservatives as they claim, or populists as they really are, they can afford to hold their positions, which is something to consider.
The median income in Wyoming is $76,000/year.
May 29, 2026
Freedom Caucus member Scott Smith announced to challenge Treasurer Curt Meier, who is seeking reelection to the office.
He was mysteriously endorsed by the Make Liberty Win group of far right wingnuts before he announced.
Jillian Balow ads have started running. An example of them is:
Today is the last day to announce to run for the 2026 elections.
May 30, 2026
And now all the names are in.
Governor:
The Democrats have completely thrown in the towel on this race as Casner, who is so old that he attended the Lincoln Douglas debates, has no support and probably is in the category of having negative support. They gave up on this race completely. Casner ought to do everyone a favor and drop out.
A new name appears in the form of Curt Blake. I have no idea who he is.
This is a race between Barlow, Bien, and Degenfelder, with Bien and Degenfelder both vying for the far right. Bien isn't really even trying for the middle, but he'll draw votes away from Degenfelder. Barlow is by far the best candidate and the primary will determine the election due to the Democratic tragedy of not having a real candidate for this office.
U.S. Senator:
The only real change here was the addition of Billy Benavidez to the Democratic slate. That's unfortunate as Benavidez has less than 0 chance, but it does distract from the candidacy of James Byrd, who is a really good candidate.
Ideally Same Mead would take the GOP nomination and the race would be between Mead and Byrd. Mead would win. Hageman has the advantage, however, in spite of her far right anti public lands positions. Byrd will pull quite a few votes in the fall, assuming he's the nominee on the Democratic side, if Hageman is the Republican nominee, but Mead likely has a better chance than people might suppose. There's a fair amount of discontent with Hageman who was only elected to Congress on a visceral reaction to Liz Cheney thinking independently.
Jill Edwards is a complete unknown in this race. Holtz is an other antiquated baby boomer who just can't get over not being needed.
U.S. House of Representatives.
A real surprise here as longtime Natrona County politician Keith Goodenough reappears for the first time in quite awhile seeking the position of Congressman. It's really surprising as the race is pretty far along already, with Jillian Balow starting her campaign in earnest, and with Steve "my daddy was rich so I can afford to be a conservative" Friess, Chuck "everyone against me is a communist, fascist, Marxist, monarchist, podiatrist Gray, and Reid "I say abhorrent weird things" Rasner, violently throwing money at each other.
Rasner's campaign, we'd note, has been sufficiently weird that there's actually an article in the Cowboy State Daily in which WFC chief John Bear explains that its not a joke, no really it isn't, it's weird, sounds like a parody, but, um, it's not a joke.
A new Democrat has emerged as well, although I know nothing about her. She's taking on Lisa Kinney, who is once again in the old as dirt category and who should be staying out of the race.
Secretary of State
More new names on the Republican side here.
A lot of these candidates are completely unknown. Robert Short is likely the best candidate and Rachel Williams, who was in the legislature as Rachel Sanchez Williams (you have to wonder if she learned that the WFC, of which she is a member, doesn't approve really of brown people), a complete no go.
Other Statewide Races
The rest of these races we've already reported on.
In legislative races, Senate District 9 has only a Democrat as a registered candidate, incumbent Rothfuss. That's unusual. Senate District 17 also only has a registered Democrat.
In other news, Trump endorsed Pam Evette in South Carolina’s Republican primary for governor throwing Nancy Mace under the bus.
Mace voted to release the Epstein files. There's a real pattern here of Trump going after everyone who did.
In yet more news, we have this:
It probably will be dismissed, but at least in my view, our partisan primary system is in fact violative of the Wyoming Constitution It'll be interesting to see how it progresses. The case is filed in the State's 7th Judicial District in Natrona County.
June 2, 2026
In a story thick with irony, the Gray campaign released the result of a poll yesterday and by the end of the day, it was clear it was a push poll.
A poll at this point, with one major candidate having only started running within the last week, is pretty questionable, as some interviewed noted. Gray, however, is in a bad spot as there are three candidates who are thickly funded all running on the platform that they'll be Trump's political paramour, of which Gray is one.
The push poll asked really vile questions about the other two candidates, but they're highly ironic as well. The question on Freiss called him an "out of state" elitist who has never held a real job, which describes Chuck "I only worked in my daddy's radio station" Gray as well.
This can't be emphasized enough. Both Gray and Freiss are carpetbaggers with family wealth. Gray is tarring himself with the same brush he's tarring Freiss. The point is in fact valid, but it means that neither one of them should be elected.
The poll also attacked gadfly Reid Rasner. The attack on Rasner pointed out that he is a homosexual who has been married and divorced, and points out that apparently the divorce settlement contains some sort of confidentiality/non disclosure provision.
Rasner deserves the attack if for no other reason he's gone after transgenderism, which a lot of people with conventional sexual orientation or morality (they are not the same thing) think is a homosexual mental illness. I think it's a homosexual mental illness and for that matter, I regard homosexuality as disordered. I know of one person who won't vote for Rasner as he's a homosexual, and Gray is hoping that there are others of a similar mind.
Rasner is 41 years old, admits being homosexual, and we know has had a sexual relationship, given his marriage. We note that as Gray is 36 and Wyomingites know nothing whatsoever about his private life at all. Absolutely nothing. He's the least well known candidate, I'd wager, in Wyoming's history.
Both men are Catholic, which makes Rasner's earlier marriage invalid in the eyes of the Church and the conduct within it a mortal sin. He may have confessed and repented. We have no idea. Gray is Catholic as well and his lying and public conduct of this type crosses the line into what I'd regard as a mortal sin, but I'm not a moral arbiter. What I'd note, however, is that having brought this topic up, he should now answer the question as to why he's unmarried and has never been married at age 36.
There may be good reasons. I've known a few perfectly straight people, one my age, one quite a bit older, and one half my age, who have never married and never been in any long term relationships just because that's how life worked out, or is working out so far, for them. One just prefers ones own company. But Gray is obviously out and about and frankly age 36 and no relationship, if there is no relationship, is weird. Gray now owes us an explanation for why half his life is over and he's totally unattached, assuming that he is. Maybe women can't stand him. Maybe his standards are sky high. Maybe there's another story.
On this topic, there has been one Wyoming office holder who was a closeted homosexual for their entire term in office (and they were an excellent office holder). That person was often mentioned as a possible Governor and never ran. I have to wonder if that's the reason why. And there's another whom is consistently rumored to be homosexual and not only at the street level, but at the in the know level. If that person is (and I don't know), they've taken very active steps to conceal it.
The reason is pretty clear. The perception is that Wyomingites won't vote for them if they're homosexual, which is why 36 year old unmarried Gray is pointing fingers at 41 year old homosexual unmarred Reid and saying, "Look! He's gay". Funny thing is that at least at the local level things are often different. Casper's had an openly homosexual mayor and another openly homosexual councilman.
Who knows.
We do know that Gray wants to be Congressman so bad he's now throwing the pooh at his competitors even if he has to sit in it to do it.
Degenfelder and Bien engaged in a debate, which is amusing, as there are other candidates, and that's basically pointless.
June 3, 2026
California's open primary was too close to call. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican business executive Steve Hilton lead the contest.
This sort of open primary, in which the top two vote getters move on, makes a whole lost more sense than the Wyoming one which (probably illegally) is a party election.
June 5, 2026
Wyoming GOP sues state, challenges constitutionality of ban on pre-primary candidate endorsements
All they really have to do is to quit having state funded primaries.
On other news, sort of:
Laramie attorney aims for U.S. Senate for a fourth time
Holtz is the ancient lawyer who was apparently a judge whom nobody seems to have heard of in the law. I haven't done an exhaustive search, but usually we remember who the judges were. For that matter, my minor polling of Laramie attorneys hasn't turned up anyone who knows who the heck he is.
I've been dealing with this phenomena this week anyhow, but this entire "I'm an ancient boomer and here's what we need to do . . ." story is complete bull crap. Holtz keeps noting that he was one of the "youngest judges", something I'd question, in the state's history, but assuming that's true it doesn't mean that he should now be one of the oldest Senators.
June 10, 2026
There were a host of primary elections yesterday.
Lindsey Graham, Trump sycophant, took the GOP nomination in South Carolina. There was some doubt about this occurring. He will almost certainly be relected.
In the same state, Nancy Mace went down in defeat in her bid for the Governor's office.
These results are more than a bit odd. Graham is such a toady that he's at the disgusting level, and yet he won. Mace is weird, so maybe that's the difference. She came in fifth place.
The heavily watched Maine Senate Democratic race went to Platner, which seemed assured as his competition had basically dropped out. In order for him to lose his competitor, Maine's current governor, would have had to revive her race.
With this post, we'll go on to a new edition of this thread.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 11th Edition. The only good voting Indian is a disenfranchised voting Indian edition.
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