Extreme Right Caucus Poised to Take Over Wyoming State House

Far-right legislative obstructionists who are part of the State Freedom Caucus Network (SFCN) appear to be well on their way to taking over Wyoming’s state House next session.

Candidates backed by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus (WFC) won 11 House seats in Republican primaries on August 21. If these candidates go on to win their general elections and join state legislators who sponsored WFC bills last session, the Freedom Caucus would have a working majority in the House. Since all 11 seats in question are in safe Republican districts, the far-right candidates who won the primaries are expected to win in the November general election.

“In every state where they appear, Freedom caucuses cause headaches for the so-called establishment Republicans in charge,” according to a recent piece in Governing. SFCN lists 12 states with caucuses: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming — and until recently, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) tracked active caucuses in Mississippi and Nevada.

State Representative John Bear (R–31), who chairs the WFC, told Cowboy State Daily that the primary was “incredible” and he hopes to see 38 “solid conservatives” in the House after Election Day. Republicans currently hold a 57–5 majority in the House, but since 19 of them oppose the Freedom Caucus, these 11 primary wins were needed to make certain that WFC extremists will control the House in 2025.

Until this election, traditional conservatives enjoyed a trifecta in Wyoming, with both legislative chambers and the governor’s office in GOP hands. Republicans still hold firm control over state government, but in the House there is a party within a party.

WFC’s Wyoming Freedom PAC spent $168,000 in the primaries, with the largest donors, cattle ranchers Jeannie and William Haas, giving $30,000 each.

But $371,260 — the largest contribution on behalf of WFC candidates — came as an unaffiliated, independent gift from Make Liberty Win, a political action committee based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Make Liberty Win raised almost $8.8 million in the 2024 election cycle through June 30, 2024, with $7.9 million of that coming from the dark money group Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), which describes itself as a libertarian, classical liberal, and conservative student activism organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. According to its latest IRS filing, YAL raised $13.8 million in 2022.

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) spent more than $200,000 from his Prosperity and Commerce PAC to defend incumbents against the WFC assault, and the Wyoming Caucus, which also supported more traditional conservatives and allies of the governor, spent $104,000.

In other words, Wyoming’s state-based PACs backing traditional Republicans — who Freedom Caucus candidates accuse of being RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) — were heavily outspent by the WFC and a dark money group from out of state.

Make Liberty Win attacked the state’s more traditional Republican candidates for not supporting gun owners’ rights — even though most of these incumbents also campaigned on gun rights.

One mailer attacked House Republican Gary Crum, who successfully won a seat in the Senate. As a hunter, a member of the Laramie Rifle Range, and a concealed carry permit holder, Crum told WyoFile, ‘‘I’m not going to do anything in the state Legislature that would limit gun rights.” He added, “It’s very spelled out on my website.”

Nonetheless, Make Liberty Win blanketed his district with mailers claiming that its preferred WFC candidate was the only one in the race to support gun rights.

Current House Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman, a WFC member who became majority leader after serving only one term, intends to run for speaker of the House. If elected, Neiman would decide which members will serve as committee chairs, including of the House Appropriations Committee. No Freedom Caucus members currently serve on this committee, which decides how state money is spent. Four of the seven sitting members of the Appropriations Committee lost their reelection bids to WFC candidates.

In terms of policy, WFC aligns with Freedom caucuses in other states to oppose gender-affirming care, Medicaid expansion, most taxation, and allowing public schools to teach about the history of racism in the U.S.

In the 2024 legislative session, the WFC introduced legislation that would have nullified the authority of the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the state, prevented Wyoming from enforcing mask mandates during public health crises, and reduced regulations on homeschooling.

“If this session is any indication, the Freedom Caucus struggles to do any of the things we ask of them,” said Kale Lenhart, former chairman of the Laramie County Republican Party, in speaking to a reporter for WyoFile “They are not a serious group with serious solutions.”

Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, has been instrumental in establishing these state caucuses. As a congressman, he helped found the House Freedom Caucus in 2015, and as a senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), he has been providing advice and funding to the state groups.

Like the U.S. House Freedom Caucus, the WFC views itself as a third party. The group’s loyalty lies not with the Republican Party, but with a far-right ideology and the CPI, the dark money group led by former Trump insiders and insurrectionists who script, staff, and train caucus members.