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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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“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.”
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(Cowboy State Daily Staff)
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.
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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. — The Casper City Council voted Tuesday to approve on first reading a zoning change for a vacant 2.4-acre parcel located at 1530 SE Wyoming Boulevard, transitioning the property from residential to commercial use.
The ordinance reclassifies Lot 4 of the Methodist Church Addition from Residential Estate to General Business. Located between East 15th and East 18th streets, the irregular-shaped property has remained undeveloped since it was first platted in 1984.
While original plans for the subdivision envisioned a church and an associated preschool, Community Development Director Liz Becher reported those projects never materialized.
According to Becher, the applicant sought the rezoning to facilitate the potential installation of a cell tower or an off-premises sign. Under the new C-2 designation, a cell tower up to 130 feet in height is considered a permitted use by right, though any off-premises sign would still require a conditional use permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The applicant also owns the adjacent lot to the north, which the city rezoned to general business in 2021.
Becher said the change aligns with the “Employment Mixed Use” classification in the Generation Casper comprehensive land use plan. This designation typically supports civic, institutional and employment spaces.
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Despite the new zoning, the property remains subject to a subdivision agreement that limits traffic access. Entry and exit are restricted to right turns onto or from East 15th Street, and no access is permitted from East 18th Street.
The council will vote on two more readings of the ordinance before it is officially ratified.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Two men were detained in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that killed one man.
Carlos Chee, 23, and Chino Aguilar, 21, were both wanted for first-degree felony murder after the victim, identified as Christian Lee, 32, was found dead in a room at the Springhill Suites near 600 South and 300 West.
According to warrants issued for their arrest, Chee and Aguilar met with Lee and another woman at the hotel to sell marijuana. During the alleged drug deal, Aguilar allegedly shot and killed Lee after he tried to grab at his gun.
MORE | Shootings
Investigators said they found Lee dead in the room upon arrival, as well as a single shell casing on the floor and a small amount of marijuana on the television stand.
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The woman told investigators she had met Chee on a dating app and that he agreed to come to the hotel to sell her marijuana. She had been hanging out with him in the room, which Lee rented for her to use, when Lee asked them to leave. Lee was then shot and killed following a brief confrontation.
Chee and Aguilar allegedly fled the scene in a 2013 Toyota Camry with a Texas license plate that was later found outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming just a few hours later.
The two men were taken into custody and detained at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
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.
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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.
