Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, August 19th. I'm Mac Watson.

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Sen. Eric Barlow won the GOP nomination for Wyoming governor Tuesday, over Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports the 14-year legislator will face Democratic nominee Kenneth Casner, and Constitution Party nominee Rebecca Bextel at the Nov. 3 general election.

"We actually called that one early, and I know it got a little tight there at the end because Senator Barlow was weathering a massive attack campaign, including falsehoods, and so I've wondered, you know, is is this going to get a little feisty at the end as people maybe pivot away from him based on some of this negative advertising. He basically said 'we weren't running against anyone; we were running for Wyoming.'"

Barlow was first elected to the Wyoming Legislature in 2012 and rose to the rank of House Speaker in 2021. Following a Wyoming tradition, not uniformly kept, of seeking higher office after his speaker term, Barlow was elected to the state Senate in 2022.

Read the full story HERE.

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Secretary of State Chuck Gray won the Republican nomination to the U.S. House Tuesday — over eight other GOP challengers. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports Gray will face Libertarian Shawn Johnson and Democratic nominee Lisa Kinney in the general election Nov. 3rd.

"It was a lot of public messaging where you had Steve Freeze saying, 'This is a two-man race. I'm the one who can beat Chuck Gray.' Chuck Gray turning around and telling everyone that Kevin Christensen was in second place. Lo and behold, Frees and Christensen did split that second place vote, giving Gray the win."

Gray declared his U.S. House run in late December after U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis touched off a round of musical chairs by announcing she would not run for another term.

Read the full story HERE.

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The major upset of Wyoming's primary election night wasn't about one particular candidate. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports nearly all of the Freedom Caucus members and Freedom Caucus-aligned candidates, fell.

"It was a massacre of the Freedom Caucus. So we did see a couple holdouts like Ben Hornock, Bill Alamon, hanging on there in their Republican primaries, but other than that, we saw Freedom Caucus heavies like John Bear, Ken Pentegraft, Chip Nyman fall to their non-Freedom Caucus or even anti-Freedom Caucus opponents."

In 2024, the Freedom Caucus gained control of the House.

Read the full story HERE.

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The White House is saying a last minute text blast claiming President Trump endorsed Reid Rasner for U.S. House is false. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that White House political director Matt Brasseaux says anyone suggesting an endorsement in that race, "is just incorrect and false."

"Around 1p.m. on election day, six hours before the polls were set to close, a lot of Wyomingites received a mass text saying paid for by Reid Rasner for Why Wyoming and that he had received Trump's endorsements. Now I have yet to confirm whether Rasner actually sent this text or whether he was spoofed somehow, but I instantly started reaching out to the White House and the White House instant, very quickly got on it, got in touch with me, and we were able to get the story out. President Trump did not e