The far-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus gained ground as it vies to potentially hold almost half of the votes in the Legislature’s lower chamber.
That’s according to results from The Associated Press late Tuesday night.
The Freedom Caucus was engaged in fierce competition with the more-traditional Wyoming Caucus in the run-up to the primary.
That competition has consisted of large amounts of cash spent by out-of-state and in-state political action committees, the widespread use of mailers, texts and phone calls to voters, and legal maneuvers.
To gain a majority in the House, the Freedom Caucus would need to pick up seven seats to add to the roughly 26 they already have.
It appears that overall, incumbent candidates – many of whom were not Freedom Caucus members – fared poorly at the polls. One surprising upset occurred in Sublette County, where Speaker of the House Albert Sommers (R-Pinedale) lost to newcomer Laura Pearson, who has been endorsed by the Freedom Caucus.
An exception to that trend lies in Sweetwater County, where Rep. J.T. Larson (R-Rock Springs) narrowly won his re-election bid against a Freedom Caucus-endorsed candidate.
At a watch party event in Green River, Larson told Wyoming Public Radio that despite the hostility of the last several months, he’ll do his best to work with the far-right faction.
“If there's common things that we can agree on that benefit the entire state, then that's where I think we need to figure out: Are we just arguing over a small little detail that we can, you know, come to an agreement on?” said Larson, “Rather than just [be] at each other's throats all the time?”
Larson will not face an opponent in the Nov. 5 general election. Three Freedom Caucus-endorsed primary winners will.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
