The 2026 Election, 13th Edition. The choosing lanes edition.

June 19, 2026

The mere fact that somebody is running against Bear, one of the most notable of the WFC, is a good thing.  Here's hoping that Bear is solidly and permanently defeated.

John Bear, One Of The Freedom Caucus’ Most Powerful Members, Has A Challenger

And something that should be obvious, but for all the political theater:

Tom Lubnau: Our Leaders Today Need To Think Like The Leaders Of The 1970s

June 20, 2026

Ousted UW dean to challenge Freedom Caucus incumbent

Cam Wright seeks House 46’s Republican nomination. Known to many in Laramie as UW’s former engineering dean, Wright is involved in ongoing litigation against the university.

June 24, 2026

Three Democratic Socialist won primaries in New York City in Democratic Congressional primaries, causing pundits to somewhat freak out.

Frankly the fascist nature of the current GOP is making this inevitable. The WFC is, for example, every bit as radical as New York's Democratic Socialist and Trump is governing as a dictator to the extent that the courts don't prohibit him, so the rise of the left wing within the Democratic Party isn't too surprising.

While the right freaks out about New York City, here locally the GOP demands you swear your loyalty.

‘These are purity tests’: Driskill, Neiman talk platform allegiance in political heavyweight matchup

I've seen one candidate, a carpetbagging far right winger from Wisconsin, already put his "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" tag on his posters.

On a ballot initiative.

Coalition demands records on tax initiative; Gray’s office calls claims false

An interesting development in the statewide races:

35 Candidates, Including Two Wyo Gov Hopefuls, Sign Love Your Enemies Pledge

At this point, what's particularly interesting is who has signed, and who has not.

The entity it self has some every notable names behind it. According to their website:

Justice Keith Kautz (Retired Wyoming Supreme Court, Evangelical Leader Southeast Wyoming)

Diana Enzi (Long time Wyoming activist and advocate for Christ from Gilette Wyoming)

Jim Neiman (Business, civic and Christian leader from Hullett, Wyoming)

Michael Evers (Business Leader and Episcopal Priest from Sheridan Wyoming)

Evan Simpson (Business Leader and Religious Leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from Star Valley, Wyoming)

Frank Moore (Business Leader and active in the Catholic community in Douglas, Wyoming)

Diemer True (Business, civic and Christian leader from Casper Wyoming)

Ron Rabou (Farmer, author and motivational speaker and leader in Christian community and member of Converge Worldwide from Albin, Wyoming)

Patty Micheli (Rancher and Religious leader and teacher for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Fort Bridger, Wyoming).

Mike Leman (Legislative Liaison for the Dioceses of Cheyenne, Deacon at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Casper, Wyoming)

The text of the pledge is:

THE PEACEMAKER PLEDGE

I believe that as a follower of Jesus, I am called to be a peacemaker— not a partisan soldier, and not a voice of outrage. I recognize that our politics has become poisoned by hatred, tribalism, and fear, and I confess that I too have been tempted to replace grace with outrage, truth with slogans, and love with loyalty to a side.

Today, I pledge to be different.

I will love my enemies, not just my friends. I will stand faithfully upon my convictions without giving into cruelty. I will call out wrongdoing without canceling people. I will refuse to let the letters on someone’s hat or the hashtags in their bio mean more to me than the Gospel. I will not be swept up in the outrage cycle, but will instead step out of the chaos and boldly examine my own actions.

I commit to bringing the peace of Christ back into the public square—to show a divided world what it truly looks like to follow Him, not as a culture warrior but as a Kingdom person.

I take to heart the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” And I hold fast to the call of Luke 6: “Love your enemies, do good to them… Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

This is my pledge. By God’s grace, I will become a peacemaker.

The candidates who have signed the pledge, which you can do on their website, are, so far:

GOVERNOR

Eric Barlow
Governor

Megan Degenfelder
Governor

U.S. SENATE

Jimmy Skovgard
U.S. Senate

U.S. HOUSE

Jillian Balow
U.S. House of Representatives

Bo Biteman
U.S. House of Representatives

Kevin Christensen
U.S. House of Representatives

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Steve Harshman
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

SENATE

Evie Brennan
Senate District 31

Ogden Driskill
Senate District 2

Ronald McCleary
Senate District 5

Marcia Neumiller
Senate District 27

Lauren Schoenfeld
Senate District 5

Wendy Schuler
Senate District 15

HOUSE

Dalton Banks
House District 26

Elizabeth Bingham
House District 17

Ronda Boller
House District 52

Peter Boyer
House District 58

Jessica Crowder
House District 43

Christopher Dresang
House District 35

Erin Edwards
House District 41

Justin Fornstrom
House District 10

David Hill
House District 50

Lloyd Larsen
House District 54

Martha Lawley
House District 27

Matthew Legler
House District 25

Jayme Lien
House District 38

Roland Luehne
House District 28

Myca Sturtevant
House District 29

Shane Swett
House District 13

Art Washut
House District 36

John Wetzel
House District 25

JD Williams
House District 2

Paul Wing
House District 11

Bill Winney
House District 20

COUNTY

Macey Moore
Converse County Commissioner

COUNTY PARTY

Michael Evers
Sheridan County GOP Precinct Person- Precinct 2-5

My guess is that after the article, some who haven't signed, or who aren't aware of it, will sign or will feel compelled to sign.

Notably, in the House, the big money candidates, Gray, Freiss and Rasner have not signed.  Gray's an entire political career has been based on being a lying asshole, so this puts him in a spot.  When he gets up at night and stubs his toes he blames it on left wing radical communist Marxist socialist fascist monarchist podiatrist, so that would take a major part of his repertoire out of play and actually make him live part of his faith.  Rasner has gone full comedic sideshow at this point, but it would take the extreme out of the candidate whose been the most extreme.  It probably wouldn't impact Freiss who hasn't attacked his opponents, but who is, in a very nice way, relying upon "I'll bring jobs to Wyoming of a type that I've worked at myself because I believe you dumb twits want to exist in the imaginary 1950s".

It's also interesting that only one Senatorial candidate, Skovogard, has signed it.

June 25, 2026

Interesting development.

Wyoming Congressional Candidate Reid Rasner Fired By Clearinghouse

Rasner didn't appear recently in Casper's weekly candidate forum when it invited the house contestants to speak.  That's odd as Casper is his home town.  Now this.

And this:

Postmaster General Confirms Plan to Hold Back Mail Ballots Under Proposed Rule

The postmaster general, David Steiner, said on Wednesday that under a proposed rule, his agency would not deliver mail ballots in states that decline to hand over voter data.

This is illegal.

Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 12th Edition. The late on ramp edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Drought, 2026 Election, Ana Cordova, Chad Auer, Chuck Gray, Curt Meier, Donald Trump, Eric Barlow, Jillian Balow, Reid Rasner, Rod Miller, Scott Smith, Sergio Maldonado, Steve Harshman, The wealthy, Tom Kelly

Tom Lubnau: Puppets, Phones, and Power — Inside Wyoming’s Shadow Legislature Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "We know money changed hands – on the house floor. And during floor debate, you can routinely watch legislators read directly from their phones. We do not know who is scripting the debate."

 

Tom Lubnau: Puppets, Phones, and Power — Inside Wyoming’s Shadow Legislature

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "We know money changed hands – on the house floor. And during floor debate, you can routinely watch legislators read directly from their phones. We do not know who is scripting the debate."

The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 2. Pre Legislative Committee Edition.

 

November 15, 2025

Wyoming ‘Tim Tebow’ Rule Heads To Lawmaking Session

I'm frankly not keen on this at all.  Playing sports and being in activities are vital parts of school.  They help socialization.  Parents who seek to avoid socialization are harming their children and there are nwo a lot of private school options that would be better choices for those seeking to evade the perceived dangers, often fictional, of public schools

A long time legislator has passed away.

John Eklund, Longtime Wyoming Lawmaker And Rancher, Dies At 74

Wyoming Rep. John Eklund dies: Legislators say they will remember Eklund for his mentorship, kind spirit and thoughtful approach to lawmaking.

November 18, 2025

Governor Gordon Proposes $11.13 Billion Two-Year Budget

November 19, 2025

Gray 'Alarmed' Gordon Doesn't Back His Request For Extra Money

Curt Meier, however, praised it.

The Secretary of State received $200,000 less than it asked for.

Here’s what Gov. Mark Gordon is proposing for Wyoming’s next budget: The governor's $11.1 billion request would boost state worker pay, bolster wildfire-fighting capacity and renovate the veterans home in Buffalo, among other things.

Wyoming Lawmakers Advance Five Bills To Rein In Slot-Machine-Like Gaming

Wyoming Horse Racing Is Thriving, But Legislators Want More Regulation

November 22, 2025

This is flat out irresponsible and insane:

Wyoming Legislators Advance Plan To Kill All Residential Property Taxes

December 16, 2025

Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings: The Joint Appropriations Committee wrapped up its first round of hearings Friday.

December 19, 2025

 A Q&A with Pine Bluffs’ Justin Fornstrom, Wyoming’s newest state lawmaker: Laramie County commissioners selected Fornstrom to represent a House seat vacated by the late John Eklund.

January 8, 2026

We had this news posted here yesterday:

Abortion in Wyoming and the Law of Unintended Consequences.

 This is what happens when a dumb, paranoid,  amendment to the Constitution is made.

The amendment that brought down the state's abortion laws was passed due to right wing paranoia that the AHCA would create "death panels". That fear was frankly stupid, but it was adopted by far right Republicans who really believed it.  The prime architect of the amendment has gone on record that he'd feel awful if the amendment caused the abortion laws to fail, and in fact he should feel awful.

I'll confess that when I first posted this, I was harsher on the paranoia of the Wyoming Republican Party that gave us the dumbass head in the sand amendment to the Wyoming Constitution based on fear of the ACHA.  I'm obviously being less kind here.

Anyhow, the Tribune notes:

Wyoming Republicans seek to amend constitution

The flaming dipshits that passed the amendment that caused this to occur in the first place ought to just repeal that amendment.  Indeed, they ought to cal lit "B______ B_________was a dumbass paranoid moron amendment repeal".

They won't, as the best thing to do when somebody does something rampagingly stupid is to double down on the stupidity, apparently. After all, look at the ongoing Republican support for Donald Dipshit Trump.

Anyhow, they're going to address their failure with a proposed amendment to the Constitution. That amendment will fail to get support from the electorate, which they'll find basically likes the idea of killing babies as it means they can complain about gays and the transgendered while being sexually immoral themselves.

January 9, 2026

Rep. Elissa Campbell files resolution for Wyoming abortion amendment

That was fast.

Wyoming Democrats, I'd note, are making the classic blunder.  They should simply say nothing at all, and not go out to own a result that they don't really own.  The Wyoming Supreme Court's ruling came about as the far right of the Wyoming GOP went out and shot itself in the foot.  Now it's going to go to the voters.  A smart Democratic policy would be just to sit back and do nothing at all.  But, they  just can't help themselves:

Laramie lawmakers celebrate abortion ruling

The state supreme court ruled abortion is a fundamental constitutional right. Provenza, Chestek and Rothfuss say it’s a win for individual liberty and they’ll resist calls to change the constitution.

Chances are high that not enough Wyoming voters are going to vote for the proposed constitutional amendment for it to pass, and if there are, the Democrats are going to effect that anyhow.  Indeed, by making it an issue and embracing abortion, it'll drive GOP voters who likely would vote against the amendment or sit the election out, into voting as they'll want to vote against the Democrats.  Given the immorality of abortion, it's truly an example of errare humanum est perseverare diabolicum.

January 10, 2026

Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Prevent DUI Charges For Drunk Horseback Riding

January 13, 2026

Wyoming Freedom Caucus aims at state spending, voting machines and the judicial branch in 2026 priorities: The group of conservative Republicans has promised cuts since last spring, but won’t say where and how deep.

Lawmakers question Wyoming Public Media’s funding

The public radio station is headquartered on the UW campus and receives some state funding via UW’s block grant. WPM weathered a 10% cut when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was axed.

January 14, 2026

The freakishly dumb caucus votes to keep everyone else as dumb as possible.

Lawmakers vote to axe UW’s block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media: Wyoming Freedom Caucus members on a key budget committee take aim at the state’s lone four-year public university.

Wyoming Lawmakers Propose Cutting Governor's Budget To UW By $61 Million

My opinion, of course, is harsh, but frankly many of the Dukes of Hazzard crowd in the Freely Dumb Caucus don't trust education.  People who are educated don't believe the same dumb stuff they do, so they don't like it.

And they're going after the Wyoming Business Council.

Legislators Vote To Defund And Dismantle Wyoming Business Council

This one at its core is a completely unthinking objection to socialism.  We don't like socialism, because it's socialism.  Not much more thought behind it than that.

I'll often hear that the WBC picks "winners and losers" which might be right, but the state's economy otherwise is pretty much making all Wyomingites losers.

January 16, 2026

Gov's Office: "This Is Nuts" As Bill To Kill Wyo Biz Council Heads To Legislature

January 17, 2016

Sigh . . . 

Rep. John Bear Calls Sen. Ogden Driskill A ‘Doofus’ In Clash Over Budget

January 24, 2026

Going Feral: Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Sell Between 30,000 And 2...: Another moronic idea by a Wyoming Republican, a party which seems to draw from the endless well of bad ideas. Wasserburger is going right on...

Jacob Wasserburger came up with this bad idea, but it sounds a lot like he's been sitting around with Mike Lee, the Senator from Deseret.  He's signed on to the no prescription for Ivermectin act as well, these two things indicating that he's hanging out with, in not in, the Freedom Caucus.

January 27, 2026

Nuclear waste, state land use top Wyoming Legislature’s energy agenda: Recent controversies over sprawling energy development have triggered a slate of bills to empower voters and communities in state-level energy ambitions.

The assault on education in the legislature continues on:

After pushback, legislative committee scales back proposed cuts to public education: Lawmakers tweaked provisions that would have increased class size and omitted positions like school counselors from the funding model. This came after hours of testimony, much in opposition.

Noble act from the football coach.

Wyoming Football Coach Jay Sawvel Cuts Salary $125K To Boost Player Funding

When things are so bad that even UW football is cutting back, you know the "we don't need no education" crowd is way out of control.

The following should be a hard "no". 

Rep. Bill Allemand asks judge to rescind court-ordered alcohol testing during upcoming legislative session: The Midwest lawmaker is contesting his DUI charge following his arrest last month in Johnson County.

Tracking Shot Bears With Dogs Would Be Legal Under Hunting Bill

January 28, 2026

Wyoming Lawmakers Reverse Course, Will Not Deny $58 Million In Medicaid

Bill Would Force Wyoming Counties To Pay Self-Defense Legal Fees

January 29, 2026

Judge Orders Wyoming Rep. Allemand To Submit To Alcohol Testing During Session

February 6, 2026

Wyoming’s 2026 budget session starts Monday. Here’s what you need to know.: Lawmakers have a budget to pass this year. Major cuts to the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council are on the table.

Tom Lubnau: This Session, A Failed Budget Shuts Wyoming Down

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "Stop worrying about appeasement and start worrying about Wyoming. Vote against dumb bills. Vote against social engineering. Vote against unconstitutional stunts and time-wasters. Keep this session about the budget—and only the budget."

February 7, 2026

Wyoming lawmakers exempt two UW programs, one facility from proposed $40 million cut: Lawmakers had previously exempted the education and agriculture colleges from what would amount to an 11% reduction to the school’s block grant.

Wyoming Bill Could Let 18-Year-Olds Carry Concealed Guns On UW Campus

 And something to remember:

Tom Lubnau: This Session, A Failed Budget Shuts Wyoming Down

February 8, 2026

Proposed Bill Would Legalize Corner-Crossing On Wyoming Public Lands

And this closes out this edition.  On to the live nightmare tomorrow.

Last edition:

The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 1. The way too early edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2025, 2026, 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Agriculture, Court, Democratic Party, Gomers, Municipal Organizations, Municipalities, Nuclear power, police, Taxes, Wyoming Freedom Caucus