Freedom Caucus candidates took a beating in Wyoming’s primary election. But MAGA Republicans found success in races for federal office. Plus, Democrats envision a new direction; details TBD.

Maggie Mullen: This is the Cheyenne Roundup: Decision 2026, a look at the candidates vying for Wyoming’s top elected positions, from Wyoming Public Radio and WyoFile.

Jordan Uplinger: I'm Jordan Uplinger with Wyoming Public Radio.

MM: And I'm Maggie Mullen with WyoFile.

JU: The primary was on Tuesday. We're recording this on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 20.

MM: We finally got to hear from voters about the tug-of-war happening within the Republican Party. More than a dozen incumbent Freedom Caucus members and allies lost to challengers, stripping the bloc of its majority in the state House and failing in its goal to grow its members in the Senate.

JU: In the governor’s race, Eric Barlow beat out Trump-endorsed Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien, who was backed by the Wyoming Republican Party in its first-ever round of endorsements.

MM: Voters swung the other way when we look at the federal races, where a founding member of the state Freedom Caucus took the GOP nomination for Congress, and Trump-backed Harriet Hageman found success in her bid to move from the House to the Senate.

JU: Let’s swan dive right into it.

MM: So, did the Freedom Caucus grow its power? Nope — much the opposite. It looks like the caucus will have about 10 reliable votes in the House. Some notable oustings include former caucus chairman John Bear of Gillette, founding member and Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner of Green River, Ann Lucas of Cheyenne and Ocean Andrew of Laramie. Plus, Jeanette Ward of Casper and Mark Jennings of Sheridan, who previously served in the Legislature and were part of the caucus, also lost their bids to return to the House.

JU: The caucus also failed to pick up any new seats in the House, and nine newcomers that would’ve likely carried the torch of their Freedom Caucus predecessors came up short.

MM: Bottom line is the caucus voting bloc is no longer big enough to thwart bills on introduction during budget sessions. That’s a tactic we’ve seen various voting blocs use to block legislation.

JU: As a little bit of framing, Tuesday’s results come after the Freedom Caucus held a press conference in the Capitol rotunda toward the end of this year’s legislative budget session. They made a call for reinforcements to adopt a statewide library book policy, prohibit touchscreen voting machines, strengthen legal recourse if parents feel their rights have been violated and better public access to court documents.

MM: Which all failed, even with the caucus’ majority.

JU: Looking at the state Senate, voters rejected several prominent Freedom Caucus members’ attempts to move up from the House. Chip Neiman, current House speaker, came up short against Sen. Ogden Driskill in a closely watched race in Northeast Wyoming. Ken Pendergraft and Paul Hoeft also failed to move up. And Sen. Bob Ide lost his reelection bid.

MM: This leaves five reliable Freedom Caucus votes in the upper chamber, well below the 16 needed for a majority. My colleague, Maya Shimizu Harris, talked to Gail Symons, a long-time Wyoming politico and Freedom Caucus critic. She likened this year’s results to the flip in the opposite direction that happened in 2024. But she said this is a way larger scale than that.

Gail Symons: I think what happened is they weren’t paying attention to whose ox was being gored.

JU: The team at Wyoming Public Radio and KHOL in Jackson were talking to voters all day and we kind of heard inklings of that from the polls.

Jeanene Esterholt: I'm not sure I completely agree with the Freedom Caucus. I'm glad they're conservative. On the other hand, I don't like the fact that there's out-of-state places that are swaying our state officials to vote one way or another.

Bob Woodall: In name only, that's all they are, that they're an out-of-state group that is trying to usurp Wyoming and bring their outside influence into our state. In the state Legislature, they're changing all the rules. That's why I had to vote, change my affiliation and make myself a RINO [Republican in name only] for the day.

Kendra Cross: We're losing young people. We are losing people having the ability to pay their bills, to have services. We absolutely need strong, stable, reasonable leadership and no more extremism.

JU: I was also bopping around a few watch parties in Cheyenne, and after some races were called, I made some calls myself. Jessica Crowder is a political newcomer with a career in ag. She beat out Freedom Caucus Rep. Ann Lucas with roughly 63% of the vote. Crowder told me a common question she heard on the campaign trail was, “Are you part of the Freedom Caucus?”

Jessica Crowder: So it's certainly on everyone's mind, and it looks like there's a shift across the state just based on the results of the night.

MM: For Wyoming’s top five statewide offices, again voters chose traditional Republicans.

JU: In the secretary of state’s race, current Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Williams lost by more than 10 points to Converse County Commissioner Robert Short. Where Williams campaigned as a successor to the current secretary’s approach to managing elections and business filings, Short said he wanted to “make the office boring again.”

MM: Rep. Steve Harshman took the Republican nomination for superintendent of public instruction. He had about 60% of the vote over caucus ally Rep. Tom Kelly’s 31%. Chad Auer, who previously worked as Gov. Mark Gordon’s senior policy advisor, came in third place.

JU: Worth mentioning: This race also saw a Democratic primary between political newcomer Ana Cordova and former Northern Arapaho Tribal Education Director Sergio Maldonado. Cordova took it with about 63%.

MM: For state treasurer, Curt Meier will have a third term after staving off a challenge from Lingle Rep. Scott Smith, who islisted as a member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and who earned the state GOP’s endorsement.

JU: The governor’s race was an interesting one. You may remember from the many political ads flooding our TV, phones and YouTube, President Trump backed current Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. While the state Republican Party put its weight behind retired civil engineer and military officer Brent Bien.

MM: They both garnered about a quarter of the vote, well behind rancher-slash-state Senator Barlow’s 45%. Barlow campaigned on protecting public lands, funding education and solving Wyoming’s healthcare access and affordability issues.

JU: The last two times the governor’s seat was open in Wyoming, the Republican nominee handily won the general election. But Barlow will have competition in November.

MM: That comes from Democrat Kenneth Casner of Casper and Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel of Jackson. You may remember earlier this year, Bextel hand-delivered campaign donation checks to lawmakers on the House floor after they’d adjourned for the day.

JU: Ah yes, I think that was called “Checkgate.”

MM: That’s right. To close that loop: Nine out of the 10 lawmakers who received the $1,500 checks from Teton County donor Don Grasso lost their seats.

JU: Moving on up to the federal races, where Wyomingites had a lot of choices, especially in the congressional race.

MM: Cur...

Latest Local Content

Message History

Delivery option(s)