Jackson activist Rebecca Bextel, who made a name for herself across Wyoming after this winter’s Checkgate scandal, announced today she’d like to serve as the state’s top official.
Bextel joins the gubernatorial race hoping to be endorsed by the Constitution Party, meaning the further right Republican wouldn’t compete in the GOP primary, which currently has three candidates.
She is directly pitching her campaign as an antidote to Eric Barlow, a state senator and former house speaker considered a top candidate.
“I will campaign as hard as I can until November 2nd to prevent our state from having a radical Democratic candidate elected,” her website states in an apparent reference to Barlow.
Some expect the race to get ugly. Former Teton County Commissioner Paul Vogelheim, a Republican, said “she is going to make it personal with her attacks on Barlow.”
Others think her approach could be effective.
Teton County GOP Chair Kat Reuckert said in a text: “She has as good of a chance as anyone. But it sounds like this is more of a strategic move.”
Bextel and Barlow did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Bextel’s website states she supports Barlow’s opponents in the primary, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and veteran Brent Bien, who plans to campaign in Jackson this Saturday.
But her camping literature shows concern about their chances given what she references as Wyoming’s Republican primary tending to “favor the Democrat.”
That could be because some Wyoming Democrats switch parties to support more moderate Republicans in the primary. Republicans, however, still have a stronghold in the statehouse. In 2024, Wyomingites voted for Trump in a larger share than any other state.
House Minority Leader Mike Yin, D-Jackson, said Bextel appears to be positioning herself as the “just in case” candidate if her preferred picks don’t make it to the general election.
Bextel runs a small registered agent business in Jackson with her husband. She’s been a vocal opponent of Teton County’s affordable housing strategies, among other issues. She co-founded Teton County’s Save the Rodeo Grounds group in 2021.
She lost a bid to lead Wyoming’s state Republican party in 2024.
Joseph Kibler announced his race for governor in the Constitution Party earlier this year but has since dropped out. The Constitution Party will meet this summer to determine a gubernatorial endorsement.
