Cowboy State Politics

Tuesday brought a historic defeat of Republicans. They lost both houses of congress and several governorships. It was very similar to what happened in Wyoming in the Primary Election. The clean sweep was for reasons that the Republican Party should know well. Tuesday also brought with it the election of Eric Barlow as the 34th Governor of Wyoming. Proposition 1 was defeated in the same way conserv...

Just about everyone in government is warning of apocalypse-like results if we vote for Prop 1. But the October CREG Report shows that Wyoming now has over 1/3 of a billion dollars more than expected. And, there's over $300 Million left over in the school foundation account after the bills have been paid. But, not according to Bob Nicholas' recent piece of drivel in the Cow Pie. According to him, r...

Vote for Proposition 1 and we will impose an income tax!  That's what you're being told from all levels of government.  And, notice who it is that is against you getting a tax break--they're all entrenched in government positions.  While you're struggling to pay, Sheridan officials from THE ASSESSOR'S OFFICE, the people who tell you how much to pay, are dining on the most expensive things on the m...

In the latest installment of Eric Barlow isn't a conservative (or really a Republican), in 2019 he sponsored a state income tax. Titled the National Retail Fairness Act, HB220 would have created a corporate income tax in Wyoming. Not only did he sponsor it he and 43 other members of the House voted for it. Of course, the argument for it is it applies to big companies. 2 things: if you think that C...

Wyoming Republicans should be voting for the Republican Party Platform, not what our congressional delegation says. I've heard them campaign over and over on the principles in the platform. Now, you're being told to disregard it and fall in line. Historically, Republicans have lost elections not because their platform was rejected but because the two opposing parties have become indistinguishable....

Senator Ed Cooper introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution with a ban on "dark money." The irony is that Cooper's pals were themselves the recipients and beneficiaries of ALOT of actual dark money in the 2026 primary. His resolution would in effect overturn the Supreme Court decision Citizens United. It's a resolution Democrat Ken Chestek has been working on before he was elected. His gro...

You're being told that there is a massive "dark money" network that funded the 2026 Wyoming Primary Election. That's true. But it didn't fund the people you think. Western Futures Fund, the Way Back PAC, the George B. Storer Foundation and others dumped huge sums for the Wyoming left. Fred Harrison's recent piece calls Wyomings elections a national security warning. He exposes that there were mult...

Wyoming doesn't have a money problem. We're sitting on a boat load of cash that gets bigger every year. Our issue is where we put the money. Proposition 1 would only amount to a small amount of money that wouldn't really affect how counties run. We're also being told that if Prop 1 passes libraries will be hurt and we won't be able to fund schools, among other fantasies. State law mandates that li...

Nancy (Cale) Case doesn't want to waste time on election integrity bills that the new legislature won't hear. Nevermind that new legislators haven't been sworn in. Leadership hasn't been chosen and not a single vote has been taken in the 2027 legislative session. Evidently, we don't have any problems with elections. Nevermind that a recent column by Cheyenne Attorney Fred Harrison exposed that sev...

A Letter in the Turkey Vulture claims that the author can't vote for Chuck Gray because he gave information to the DOJ. Ummm, who issues that information in the first place? THE GOVERNMENT! There's a ton of information in that little barcode on the back of your driver's license. But no one bats an eye at letting the store clerk scan it. It's all really silly.  

There have been many times Republicans haven't supported the winner of their primary election. There's been lots of examples of Republican candidates who've lost the party's support because of scandal. In at least one case, a state GOP supported a Democrat over the Republican. It makes no sense that Republicans are supporting a guy who by just about every measure doesn't line up with the Wyoming R...

Steven Willeford stopped the gunman in the Southerland Springs, Texas church shooting. He lured the gunman out of the church and then engaged him.  He spoke at the Sheridan County Republican Party Reagan Day Dinner.  Armed with an AR-15 and only 8 rounds, he engaged the shooter and pursued him.  By the time police arrived 7 minutes had passed and the confrontation was basically over.  He has an am...

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live from October 7. Congratulations Teton County, you just added $3.5 Million to the cost of homes that were supposed to be affordable. The money is supposedly suppose to cover what you're already paying for. Boulder climate change lawsuit is an end-run around the left's inability to enact legislation.  Can't do things the right way? Use the courts! Don't believe t...

We're at the point in the game where everything is conservative--doesn't really matter what it is: government healthcare, so-called affordable housing, millions in crony capitalism.  Evidently, if you have an "R," it's got to be a conservative policy. I miss the times when we could have an actual argument over the policy. Now, instead, we end up debating if the person who came up with the absurd i...

Now, more than at any other time, polls are showing a majority of Democrats have a favorable view of socialism.  There are candidates who openly admit they're socialists. Every single country that has set out to change their constitution has ended up with one that mirrors the political sentiment of the time.  Chile is good example. They decided to change theirs and ended up with communism.  This i...

Every where you look someone is trying to tell you that Proposition 1 is going to shut down government. That didn't happen after Senate File 69 when those same people made those same arguments. Fire departments didn't close and the Laramie County Sheriff didn't have to lay off 1/2 of his staff. But they're at it again. Their arguments are just as ridiculous as the Wyoming media riding a Vespa woul...

Last Sunday, Ogden Driskill met with Mary Throne of Prometheus Hyperscale and a Cheyenne lobbyist for lunch.  According to his comments on social media, after The Open Range Record reported on the meeting, the pair just happened to be 373 miles away from Cheyenne and invited Oggie to lunch.  Though we sent Oggie multiple requests for comment and gave him hours to respond, he chose not to. Now, he...

In 2026 the Cow Pie has published 31 articles about conservatives' ties to Jackson. They have published ZERO about Barlow's. There's 17 posts on Barlow's page about Jackson, none from the Cow Pie.  Why?  Monday Barlow was in Jackson and was asked about his climate activism. He claimed that any suggestion that he's anti-energy is just false. That doesn't explain why he told Congress we have to "mov...

The argument they always use is "if it saves just one life" then it's worth it.  Really that doesn't make any sense.  A whole bunch of people die from falling down the stairs every year.  No one is going to say we should outlaw them because of that. But that's the argument that's being used with Flock cameras. Oh, and, police can't do their job without them. The real question should be do these th...

Friday on the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show, Rod Miller claimed that I was responsible for a controversial post on the Sheridan County GOP Facebook page. He claimed to have read that in an article. Really, he was basing it on a social media post by Gail Symons in which she accused me of writing the post. Jake Nichols agreed with him. But, none of it is true. No one at the Cow Pie (CSD) bothered...

For most races in Wyoming, the Primary Election is it.  In years past, that's the case for Wyoming Governor's mansion also.  But not this year.  Rebecca Bextel is mounting a third-party challenge to Eric Barlow.  While she was in Sheridan for a few campaign events, I sat down with her during today's edition of Cowboy State Politics Live. It's been a while since I played an episode of the Live prog...

While we shouldn't ever forget September 11th and what happened to our country, in many ways, September 12 is just as important.  We did something that hadn't been done in a long time--we came together.  Don't let anyone tell you that right now we are more divided than we have ever been.  It's not true. 10 months before Sept 11, we didn't know who the President was going to be. That wasn't officia...

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live September 9.  Agent 29 is back! NOW, the Democrats are complaining about PAC's they can't control.  Liz Storer set up a PAC to defend liberal Teton County politicians.  Kangaroo Mike Gireau says it's "distortive." Whatever that means.  Are we now at AGI with AI?  That's a terrifying prospect. And lots more.

Eric Barlow has a history of supporting medicaid expansion.  He said so in the PBS debate before the election.  But he also argued for it on the floor of the House in 2021.  It's not "Flat-out false" as he claims. The 50% reduction in residential property taxes will be on the November ballot. There's a ton of misinformation about it.  When you look at the numbers, if county commissioners just stop...

Barlow's campaign spokeswoman, Rebekah Fitzgerald leads an organization, Wyoming FREE, that is backed by former Barack Obama Administration and campaign officials. Since 2023, Wyoming FREE has taken over $600,000 from an organization called Article IV.  That group is run by a list of former Obama officials.  That Barlow chose to Fitzgerald to speak on his behalf, it tells you everything you need t...