Wyoming
Opinion | The Wyoming Republican Party is a big RINO
The Wyoming Republican Party platform contradicts what traditional Republicans stand for. I say this as a registered Wyoming Republican voter.
The platform has 23 “timeless truths that will always inform and direct our party and our country…” Meanwhile, unlimited guns threaten life, its anti-abortion fixation drives the government to enforce specific religious interpretations and many of these “timeless” principles emerged in the last century.
The first and highest principle listed, Life (No. 1 in the platform), declares the government’s “only purpose” is protecting individual rights. But then the platform immediately begins a series of demands for government control and violations of those same rights.
Real Republicans believe in limited government, defend individual liberty and respect religious freedom. Yet Wyoming’s GOP thinks it knows better than everyone and forces one narrow interpretation of Christianity. They want you and your doctor to follow their interpretation of their religion.
Many Christians, Jews and others differ on when a fetus becomes its own life. (See Genesis 2:7, Job 33:4, etc.). Ancient religious law treated miscarriage as property damage, not murder (Exodus 21:22). But Wyoming’s GOP encodes a specific Christian view. Their theology “trumps” everyone’s law. Consider: Even 60% of Catholics believe abortion should be legal in most cases.
Real Republicans defend property rights. The government can’t touch your land, business or money without due process. But according to the Wyoming GOP, you don’t own your own body. That’s government property now. A rancher’s cattle have more bodily autonomy than Wyoming women under this “Republican” platform.
Here’s the kicker: After claiming their highest value is life, they abandon every policy that helps children survive and thrive — health care, education, childcare, nutrition programs. They chain women to pregnancy and then abandon the children. The contradictions multiply from there.
The second platform principle, Equality, is then violated through many of the rest of the principles. The largest political party in the Equality State, right after declaring equality for all under the law as a principle, goes about carving out special treatment for gun owners, Christians and businesses.
Consider principle No. 3: Second Amendment. First, the GOP platform omits the first half of the actual amendment’s wording, “a well regulated militia,” and then declares there will be no restrictions on arms or ammunition. This undermines their first principle, Life, by exposing schools, churches and public forums to needless gun violence. How can our militia be “well regulated” when driving a car has more restrictions and training requirements than the Wyoming Republicans’ Second Amendment interpretation? No insurance, licensing or background checks required, or even able to be considered.
Equality again is denied in the platform’s sixth plank: Religious Freedom, which gives privilege to Judeo-Christian viewpoints. Thomas Jefferson, who coined the phrase “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, was also the author of the foundational idea of separation of church and state. The First Amendment says “no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Instead, the platform elevates Christian beliefs and pushes specific versions of those beliefs on women and others. Women may have first gained the right to vote in Wyoming, but the Republican party platform denies them religious equality now.
Another notable example, Right to Work (plank No. 20) effectively discriminates against workers attempting to engage in collective action while ignoring that employers engage in what amounts to collective action through PACs, lobbyists and other means on a regular basis. Their wealth advantage, unbound from living paycheck-to-paycheck, enables them to generate governmental and business pressures on employees that need unions or similar structures to achieve equal consideration.
The history of these so-called “timeless truths” is mind-boggling. Gun control was considered common sense by the NRA and most Americans until the 1970s. Now, school violence is a multibillion dollar industry.
Then there are the changes over time in the beliefs on unborn children. In 1968, Christianity Today issued the following statement regarding abortion: “Whether the performance of an induced abortion is sinful we are not agreed, but about the necessity of it and permissibility for it under certain circumstances we are in accord.” It wasn’t until the 1980s that abortion became the wedge issue that it is today.
Right to Work laws originated in the 1940s as a strategy to weaken labor unions and was encoded in the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Timeless? Not even close. Michigan repealed right-to-work in 2023, showing that it is not a settled question. Judeo-Christian principles? Christians, including Martin Luther King Jr., have decried right-to-work as “a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.”
Limited government — except when controlling women. Individual liberty — except for medical decisions. Religious freedom — except for other religions. Constitutional government — except when the Constitution is inconvenient.
Ask yourself who benefits from these principles, and who they harm. A platform with these biases removed would be attractive and defendable by all Wyoming Republicans, not just the most extreme activists.
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man was hospitalized with critical injuries after he was reportedly shot by a deputy responding to reports of a disturbance.
Deputies with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Rock Springs Police Department responded to the Sweetwater Heights apartment complex in the 2100 block of Century Boulevard just after 4 a.m. on Monday to investigate reports of a disturbance involving an armed individual.
Information that dispatch received indicated that the individual had shot himself. When officials arrived, they found the individual on the balcony of an upstairs apartment “who appeared to have a gunshot wound consistent with the initial report,” a press release states.
MORE | Officer-Involved Shooting
During the encounter, a deputy discharged their weapon and struck the individual.
Emergency medical personnel rendered aid, and the individual was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
No law enforcement officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an independent investigation.
The deputy who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave per standard protocol.
_____
by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile
Albert Sommers, former Wyoming Speaker of the House, announced Thursday he will attempt to reclaim a seat he formerly held for more than a decade in the statehouse.
“Leadership matters,” Sommers, a lifelong cattle rancher, wrote in a press release. “Right now, the Wyoming House is too often focused on division instead of solutions. We need steady, effective leadership that solves problems—not rhetoric and political theater.”
Voters in 2013 first elected Sommers to House District 20, which encompasses Sublette County and an eastern section of Lincoln County. As a lawmaker, Sommers largely focused on health care, education and water issues. Over six terms, he rose through the ranks, serving in leadership positions and chairing committees focused on education funding and broadband.
In his announcement, Sommers highlighted his legislative work to establish funding for rural hospitals, prioritize “responsible property tax relief,” as well as the creation of the Wyoming Colorado River Advisory Committee within the State Engineer’s Office, “to ensure our water users have a voice in critical decisions affecting the Green River Valley,” he wrote.
As speaker, Sommers was a frequent target of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus as well as the DC-based State Freedom Caucus Network, even getting the attention of Fox News and other national, conservative news outlets. They often accused Sommers of not being conservative enough, and criticized him for keeping bills in “the drawer,” which has long been code for the unilateral power a speaker has to kill legislation by holding it back. (The practice of holding bills has been used to a much higher degree under Freedom Caucus leadership.)
In 2023, Sommers used the speaker’s powers to kill bills related to a school voucher program, banning instruction on gender and sexual orientation from some classrooms and criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors. At the time, Sommers defended his decision to hold back “bills that are unconstitutional, not well vetted, duplicate bills or debates, and bills that negate local control, restrict the rights of people or risk costly litigation financed by the people of Wyoming.”
He reiterated that philosophy and defended his record in his Thursday campaign announcement.
“I am a common-sense conservative who believes in getting things done. I support our core industries—oil and gas, ranching, and tourism—and I will continue to fight for the people and natural resources of Sublette County and LaBarge. I am pro-gun, pro-life, pro-family, and pro-education,” Sommers wrote. “I also take seriously my oath to uphold the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions, which means I didn’t support bills that violated those constitutions. I read bills carefully and I voted accordingly.”
Following his term as speaker, Sommers stepped away from the House to run for Senate District 14 in 2024. He lost in the primary election to political newcomer Laura Pearson, a Freedom Caucus-endorsed Republican from Kemmerer, who also won in the general election. Her Senate win coincided with the Freedom Caucus winning control of the House.
“That race didn’t go my way, and I respected the outcome,” Sommers said in a Thursday press release. But “the direction of the Wyoming House,” since then, he said, has “raised serious concerns.”
Sommers pointed to the Freedom Caucus and its budget proposal, which, despite a funding surplus, included major cuts and funding denials. Ahead of the session, the caucus said its sights were set on shrinking spending and limiting the growth of government.
In his Thursday press release, Sommers criticized “decisions that cut food assistance for vulnerable children, reduced business opportunities, slashed funding to the University of Wyoming, eliminated resources for cheatgrass control, denied raises for state employees, and removed positions critical to protecting Wyoming’s water rights.”
Most of those proposals did not make it into the final budget bill.
Sommers also pointed to a controversy that dominated the 2026 session after a Teton County conservative activist handed out campaign checks to lawmakers on the House floor. Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously voted to ban such behavior before a House Special Investigative Committee found that the exchange did not violate the Wyoming Constitution nor did it amount to legislative misconduct. A Laramie County Sheriff’s Office criminal investigation is still underway.
But “controversies like ‘Checkgate’ undermined public trust, and decorum in the House deteriorated,” Sommers said.
“Transparency and accessibility will remain central to how I serve,” Sommers said. “As I’ve done before, I will provide regular updates on legislation, seek your input, and clearly explain my votes.”
Incumbent bows out
Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, currently represents House District 20, but announced Thursday morning that he would not seek reelection.
“It has truly been an honor to serve as your State Representative for House District 20. When I first ran, I had hoped to serve up to three terms and continue building on what I learned during my first term,” Schmid wrote in a Facebook post. “But life can change your priorities. Over the past year, my family has gone through some difficult times. My wife is dealing with serious health issues, and the death of my brother, Jim, just a few short weeks ago have made it clear to me where I need to spend my time.”
In March, Bill Winney, a perennial candidate and former nuclear submarine commander, announced he would run for House District 20.
The official candidate filing period opens May 14.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Related
The following is a news release from the Wyoming’s Rock Springs Police Department:
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — The Rock Springs Police Department is investigating a fatal incident that occurred early this morning in the parking lot of the Flying J Travel Center.
At approximately 5:00 a.m., a Flying J employee was working to direct commercial vehicle traffic within the lot. Initial findings suggest that as one semitruck began to move, the employee was positioned between that vehicle and a second stationary vehicle. The employee was subsequently pinned between the two units.
Rock Springs Fire Department and Castle Rock Ambulance arrived on the scene and coordinated life-saving measures. Despite the rapid response and medical intervention, the employee was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The identity of the deceased is being withheld at this time pending the notification of family members.
The driver involved in the incident, a resident of Idaho, remained on-site and has been fully cooperative with investigators. Following an initial statement and questioning, the driver was released. While the investigation remains open, the incident currently appears to be a tragic accident.
We extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased and the staff at Flying J. We also want to commend the rapid response and professional life-saving efforts coordinated by Rock Springs Fire and Castle Rock Ambulance during this difficult call.
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