Showing posts with label Reid Rasner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reid Rasner. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 26, 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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Saturday, August 1, 2026
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Chance for Gray, Rasner, and even Degenfelder, to be a man among men.
Okay, this is a Rhodesian Army recruiting poster, but in this "right culture" super "high T" administration, it seems appropriate.
This will sound completely facetious, but I don't mean for it to be.
42 years of age is the maximum enlistment age for the Army and Air Force.
28 is the maximum enlistment age for the Marine Corps.
41 years of age is the maximum enlistment age for the Navy.
42 is also the maximum enlistment age for the Space Farce.
Chuck Gray, who loves all things Trump more than Trump does, and who loves Trump more than Trump loves Trump, is 36 years old.
Reid Rasner, who claims to love Trump even more than Chuck loves Trump, is 40 years of age.
Megan Degenfelder is age 37, and the Armed Forces take girls now, at least for the time being. She proudly boast that she's endorsed by Trump in her race for the Governor, although the WFC has endorsed government tit suck Brent Bien.
Bien, a Marine Corps veteran, is 58 years old. The general retirement age for Marine Corps officers is 62 years of age. He could get back in.
The good news for all of these red blooded Americans is that they can now sign up to fight Iran and show their support for their Commander In Chief.
After all, they wouldn't want the dead for Trump to be mostly New York African Americans, American Hispanics and American Central Asians, and 3/4's women, now would they.
That wouldn't be very High T.
And, and I'm serious, if these people think Trump can do no wrong, and is so great, they can show it by offering something serious that isn't just self promoting.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
The 2026 Election, 16th Edition. The skeptical eye edition.
July 11, 2026
As we head into the final days of the primary election, which for most offices is, unfortunately, the election, we here in Wyoming are being subjected to a daily bombardment of election propaganda crap, most of which assumes that if Donald Trump bent over and pulled his oversize trousers down, you'd gleefully kiss his big white ass.
And that's exactly what most of the candidates for Congress are doing.
Having said that, either election fatigue or the rise of local issues is baffling a few.
For the House, Chuck Gray is flopping around like a carp thrown out on the beach looking for something he thinks can outrage you into voting for the little rich carpetbagger whose never had to really work. Gadfly Reid Rasner, who doesn't stand a chance (and whose been mysteriously absent recently) actually seems to have hurt Chuck by calling him China Chuck. Chuck's most recently effort is to pretend to be horrified by birthright citizenship. Given as Trump sort of excused Graham Platner from rape accusations the other day, we can assume lil' Chuck is searching for a girlfriend to make accusations against him so that he can get a Trump accolade.
Foster Friess, another rich carpetbagger, has been running for the same position, Congressman, and has hit on the "I've never had to work a real job but you dumb fucks have to so I'm going to pretend that you want a job on the floor of an oil rig where you will get killed".
As noted, Rasner has just dropped off the screen.
And of course we have Florida cracker Frank Chapman on screen looking like his new cowboy boots hurt his feet and pretending to be one of us.
We can hope that Jillian Balow is getting some traction, as she seems by far the least objectionable Republican candidate for Congress. She also must be the least well funded of the good candidates as we don't see her campaign material nearly as often, unfortunately.
This isn't everyone running on the GOP ticket. Bo Biteman, of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Kevin Christensen, a vet who'd like to kiss Trump's big white ass, Richard Dodson, David Giralt and Keith Goodenough all are as well. Goodenough is the most interesting candidate in the race, having been a well know Natrona County candidate whose served in various offices, and who has served both as a Republican and Democrat.
If the primary election were today we would vote for, for Congress, Balow.
Democrats running for this office are Elena Del Real and Boomer Lisa Kinney. Kinney will win and then go down so badly in the general it'll leave a crater visible from space in her native Albany County.
If we were registered as Democrats and the primary was elected today, we'd just not vote either of these two obvious losers.
If the general election was held today, and we had our choice of candidates, we'd vote for Balow.
For the Senate seat, a propaganda flyer for Harriet Hageman came this week for the first time. That fact would suggest she doesn't figure she actually has to spend much money. Other candidates in that race are Jill Edwards, John Holtz, the gadfly Baby Boomer who just won't go away, Sam Mead and Jimmy Skovgard. Mead is by far the best candidate in this race but he faces an uphill battle against Hageman simply because she's in Congress.
If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Mead.
On the Democratic side Billy Benavidez is running against James Byrd. Byrd is a very good candidate and may be the best candidate in the entire race from either party. A Byrd v. Mead race would really serve the state.
If the primary election was held today and we were registered as Democrats, we'd vote for Byrd.
If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, we're not sure what we'd do.
For Governor the race seems to have Eric Barlow, out in front. He's a very good candidate. Megan Degenfelder is running on having been Superintendent of Public Education and that Donald "Grab 'em by the Pussy" Trump has endorsed her. Brent Bien is running on the "I worked my entire life for the government (USMC) and hate the government ticket". A lot of WFC people like him as they're gullible and ignorant. The WFC has a flyer with Bien, Chuck and Hageman circling. A Curt Blake is also running.
If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Barlow.
On the Democratic side Ken Casner is running as the symbol of the dead Democratic Party in the state, as he's so old he may in fact have already passed on.
If the primary election was held today and we were registered as Democrats we'd scream in anger and refuse to fill out the ballot on this one.
If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, we'd vote for Balow.
For Wyoming Secretary of State the GOP candidates are Jason Fearneyhough, Qwenton Eagle Oviatt, Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, Robert Short and Charles Young. Of these candidates, right now, the only ones I know anything about are carpetbagger Rodriguez-Williams, an odd man off Hispanic in the Wyoming Fascist Caucus, and Robert Short, long time Converse County Commissioner.
If the primary was held today, we'd vote for Short, but we need to look into these candidates more.
For the Democrats, there's Bryan McCarty, whom we know nothing about.
If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, right now it'd be Short, but we're not wedded to that position. We'd never vote for Rodriguez-Williams.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction the GOP race features Chad Auer, Steve Harshman and Thomas Kelly. Harsham is a long time teacher and educator and is by far the best choice on the GOP side. On the Democratic side Ana Cordova and Sergio Maldonado are running, both of whom are educators.
If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Harshman.
If the general election was held today we're not sure what we would do.
The primary will decide the Treasurer's race as only Republicans Curt Meier and Scott Smith are running. Meier will win.
In other races, we'd like to see Bear, Allemand, and Ide retired to private life. I.e, lose and lose badly.
In news from elsewhere, Graham Platner officially pulled out of the race, but with the least apologetic message ever.
Platner was, of course, lately accused of rape and had some troubling aspects to him early on. The rape accusations, however, were a bridge too far for Democrats, thankfully.
One of the main aspects of the Platner saga has been the degree to which it really exposed the hypocrisy of the GOP, which started off by attempting to mount the high horse of morality which was bucking wildly. A party that has "Grab em by the Pussy" "I went to Epstein Island but didn't notice it was rapey" Trump and a host of other moral creeps can't really be complaining about morality When the Democrats in fact demanded that Platner drop out that left them in a bit of a pickle as they got what they were urging but, by extension, that means they have to clear out the bordello in order to have any moral credibility, which they aren't going to do.
Indeed, Donald Trump came to Platner's defense, noting that sometimes the accusatrixes are fibbers, which sometimes they indeed are. His point is, of course, that he's maintained all along he's not a moral creep and his female accusers are lying. It's pretty clear not all of them are lying about what they accuse Trump of, but at any rate he came to Platner's defense. It'd have been amusing if Trump had endorsed Platner, which I could actually see sort of happening. In a weird sort of way, Platner is what J. D. Vance once was, but with a side order of massively problematic personal issues.
July 12, 2026
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away yesterday at the age of 71. Once a staunch opponent of Donald Trump, during Trump's first administration he became a strong supporter. In recent years, almost pathetically so.
Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement. He has absolute discretion, but he's a Republican and will choose a Republican. He's also a strong Trump supporter.
Graham was facting Dr. Annie Andrews who stood a strong chance of defeating him. His death makes it likely that his successor will prevail in the fall.
It seems quite likely that Graham died of a heart attack. He was two years older than his father was when his father died the same way. That event left him raising his 13 year old sister, as his mother had already passed away.
He attended university while raising his sister on an ROTC scholarship and served after law school in the USAF. After his active duty career he continued to serve in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. He was always a JAG officer. He was a government attorney for local municipalities briefly before entering Congress in 1994. In his first race, he was supported by Strom Thurmond.
Graham never married.
July 14, 2026
The Governor of South Carolina appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Senator, as his replacement for the balance of his term. She is unlikely to run for the seat, which is up this term.
Quite a few contenders are lining up to compete for it, with some Nancy Mace practically begging for the seat while pretending that she's being begged to take it.
Closer to home, Chuck Gray (who's never been married and for whom there's no known current or former known former love interest) is complaining about a something gadfly Reid Rasner (who has been married, and divorced, to a man) said in Rasner's doomed campaign.
According to the Cowboy State Daily:
That upset Chuck who likes to run around calling people names but doesn't like to be picked on. The Daily reached out to Chuck's father who replied, “Clearly I support my son, Chuck Gray, 100% - and he’s going to win, Reid Rasner is a very troubled individual. Chuck Gray for Congress.”
What seems to be the case is that the elder Gray liked some of Rasner's Facebook posts, which is a pretty good reason to question his political leanings, although they frankly are pretty similar to his son's.
The Gray v. Rasner fight is one that Gray, frankly, deserves. Rasner is a gadfly, with a campaign so wacky that some have questioned if its a comedy act, but his views aren't really very far from Gray's, which ought to be regarded as comedic.
cont:
Donald Trump is schedule for a television appearance this Thursday which appears to be part of his pathetic fable that he won the 2020 election he lost, and as part of his push for the Stop Americans from Voting Act.
The gullible will no doubt listen to whatever stream of lies he spouts.
July 15, 2026
Early and absentee voting for the primaries starts on July 21 and ends on Aug. 17.
Primary election day is Tuesday, Aug. 18.
I usually try to vote early since the county decided to consolidate a bunch of voting locations into one, at the Fairgrounds. I frankly don't appreciate that much.
It was for paranoid security concerns.
A Miller article:
Horses, hats and political propaganda as Wyoming prepares to vote
Miller is spot on. We are in the hats, boots and horses season, with politicians who don't normally wear Western togs, and probably fear horses, get photographed like they're appearing in Lonesome Dove.
July 16, 2026
Right up until now he was proclaiming his innocence and claiming policy abuse:
I don't hold the DUI against him. Lots of people end up having a one off conviction for this, although you surely should not drink and drive.
No, I do hold the diehard claim of innocence and police misconduct against him, and his lawyer.
And frankly his WFC views.
Don't vote for this guy, there's no reason to.
Nor should you vote for his diehard defender Rozmaring Czaban. Czaban has an Allemand apologist role the same way that Trump cabinet members have to Trump. I don't know what the deal is, but Czaban, a candidate for Natrona County Commissioner was defending Alleman as late as earlier this week.
There are a lot of good candidates for Natrona County Commissioner. She isn't one.
Tonight, unfortunately at the same time as the demented fascist seeks to justify stealing elections:
And also:
July 7, 2026
In an effort to steal the 2026 election and undermine democracy, Donald Trump, a demented narcissist whose occupancy of the White House is itself illegal and illegitimate, delivered a broadcast which attempted to show that, basically, China had tried to influence the news, but which instead showed that Russia had, and in his favor.
Trump is a traitor to the country and the 25th Amendment or an impeachment, or just a declaratory judgment action demonstrating that he's legally unqualified for the office, should be undertaken immediately.
Anyone claiming to be endorsed by him, or seeking office to support his efforts, is supporting a traitor and should not be voted for.
Republican Party Campaign Poster.
And while Der Fibber was seeking to create a fable, this was included in his release:
Oh my.
An example of somebody who should not be voted for:
Republicans with lots of self bucks:
Republicans who aren't Dixiecrats or Fascists:
July 18, 2026
This edition is only a week old, and it's already uncomfortably large, so we'll close it out and move on to the next one.
Related threads:
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 15th Edition. Trump will attempt to steal the election.
Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, 2027, Chuck Gray, Conspiracy Theories, Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman, John Barrasso, The Second Trump Administration
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