Wyoming
First Entirely Out-Of-State-Based Lobbying… | Cowboy State Daily
With six weeks to go before the Aug. 20 primary, political advertising campaigns are starting to hit overdrive around Wyoming.
Last week, the first entirely out-of-state-based lobbying effort of the 2024 season started reaching out to Wyoming cellphones and mailboxes.
It’s run by a conservative group called Make Liberty Win, which is a subsidiary of the Austin, Texas-based conservative Libertarian group Young Americans for Liberty.
Young Americans for Liberty considers itself “the most active and effective pro-liberty youth organization advancing liberty on campus,” according to its website.
Texts Start Rolling In
Make Liberty Win ran a series of text messages on the night of July 3, endorsing a number of Wyoming Legislature candidates like state Reps. Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, and Scott Smith, R-Lingle, Casper Senate candidate Rob Hendry and Kemmerer Senate Candidate Laura Taliaferro Pearson.
Aside from Hendry, all of the candidates share a very similar political ideology to members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
Although the group used a mailing address belonging to a downtown Cheyenne address, it has no known direct ties to Wyoming.
Multiple emails sent to Young Americans for Liberty were not returned.
Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, is one of 15 Wyoming state legislators Young Americans considers as part of its Hazlitt Coalition, a network of legislators throughout the country advocating for principled policies that free markets, protect civil liberties and promote peace.
Singh said the group is focused on getting liberty-minded legislation passed and was successful with its most recent campaign efforts in Idaho. The fact the group is not based in Wyoming shouldn’t be a reason used to discredit it, he said.
“Of course, Wyoming is unique with some of its problems, but a lot of the issues we’re dealing with are the same as they are seeing in other states,” Singh said.
‘Bunch Of Idiots’
Make Liberty Win also sent out mailers around the state that hit mailboxes late last week.
One of the most glaring inaccuracies in the mailers is they identify newcomer candidates like Rock Springs resident Darin McCann and Green River resident Marlene Brady as “State Rep.,” which can make voters think they’re incumbents and have more experience than they actually have.
Some of the mailers were also sent out to districts in the completely wrong part of the state for the race being advertised. For instance, a mailer endorsing Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, was sent to Rep. Tony Niemec, R-Green River, about 280 miles away.
“They’re a bunch of idiots,” Niemec said of Make Liberty Win.
Niemec is frustrated how the group described Brady, his opponent, as “the only 100% pro-gun candidate in the race” and a “gun rights champion.”
“If you look at my votes, I’m 100% pro-gun,” he said.
During the 2024 session, Niemec voted to support legislation banning gun-free zones, red flag gun seizures and notifications to credit card companies about firearms purchases.
He said it’s clear the group isn’t particularly knowledgeable about Wyoming.
“They obviously don’t know Wyoming issues,” he said. “They’re clueless about what’s going on in Wyoming.”
Niemec believes Make Liberty Win is directly aligned with Freedom Caucus candidates, of which he also considers Brady.
“It seems like they’re just endorsing the Freedom Caucus candidates or those who will become Freedom Caucus but don’t have the gonads to say they will,” he said.
Singh told Cowboy State Daily he hasn’t had any direct communications with Young Americans for Liberty, but said the group does engage in door knocking and phone drives.
Jennings said he doesn’t know much about Make Liberty Win besides it being a “a bit more Libertarian” and “pretty hardcore conservative.”
Background
Neither Make Liberty Win or Young Americans for Liberty are yet registered with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office. Although Make Liberty Win was involved in the 2022 elections in Wyoming, it didn’t register with the state.
Make Liberty Win was a major campaign force in the recent Idaho primary election, pouring $1.1 million into efforts there, according to a leaked audio recording first reported by InvestigateWest.
Taliaferro Pearson is the opponent of House Speaker Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale.
Sommers said although it’s a free country and groups like these are fully allowed to send out mailers, he believes people should consider them with caution. Unlike local groups like Wyoming Stock Growers and Right To Life Wyoming, it’s less clear who’s behind groups like Make Liberty Win.
“People should be careful the way they consider these dark money groups that don’t have a presence in Wyoming,” he said.
Sommers believes the more accurate way for people to get information about candidates is to call them up on the phone and ask them questions directly.
“Call the candidates, call both candidates,” he said. “Have a conversation with them. See who answers their phones. You can get better information off these calls than off those fliers.”
Niemec said he’s heard rumors Make Liberty Win has another series of mailers set to come out soon.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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