The leader of one of Wyoming’s most powerful lawmaking committees voiced frustration Tuesday about three attack campaign mailers his Republican primary election challenger sent to several Cheyenne residents.

Kathy Russell, challenger for Cheyenne’s state House District 7, distributed three mailers recently about her opponent, longtime Cheyenne Republican incumbent Rep. Bob Nicholas, who co-chairs the Wyoming Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.

Russell also is executive director for the Wyoming Republican Party.

The mailers claim that Nicholas wants young children reading early reader-level books that teach LGBTQ friendly themes, that he’s selling America’s future to China, and that he “stood with Democrats to allow gender transition surgeries on Wyoming children” and to make Wyoming taxpayers pay for them.

Nicholas countered in an angry Tuesday press release, calling the mailers a dishonest smear campaign and pointing to an incorrect citation on one that linked to a bill in Texas, not Wyoming.

“Honesty in thought and action are the first qualifications for state office,” reads Nicholas’ press release. “Unfortunately, Russell’s negative campaign is intended to misinform and spread falsehoods.

“It’s clear Ms. Russell believes she must misrepresent the facts and the truth to get elected,” it continues. “Hopefully she will not be rewarded for these patently false and outrageous lies.”

Unpack This

The mailer referencing library books says Nicholas wants kids reading such titles as “My Princess Boy” and “Not He Or She, I’m Me.” It cites its claim via a hyperlink to a Texas child abuse bill.

Nicholas has never been elected to the Texas Legislature, so could have never voted on that bill. His press release calls Russell’s mailer a “new lie the size of Texas.”

Russell told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday phone interview that the Texas bill reference was an unfortunate typo, stemming from a nationwide graphics consultant possibly cutting and pasting her design without taking out the inaccurate reference.

Nicholas had typos of his own in his counter-release, Russell noted.

His statement inaccurately calls the contested zone House District 8 instead of House District 7. Nicholas has served multiple terms in the state House, formerly in District 7 before boundary lines were redrawn.

The statement also says the Texas bill pertained to grade-school library books, when it instead targeted child abuse.

Speaking to the issue of potentially inappropriate books in schools, Nicholas told Cowboy State Daily that he tends to vote against state-law measures that would infringe the rule-making power of local school boards and other localized powers.

“It’s a local issue. It shouldn’t be a statewide issue,” Nicholas said. “We shouldn’t be looking down at (school boards), it should be the other way around. We’re going to help people and allow locals to do what they want to do.”

Sex Changes For Kids

Another of Russell’s mailers claims Nicholas fought to make Wyoming taxpayers pay for gender transition surgeries for Wyoming kids.

Nicholas’ press release says that’s not true and that he supports banning gender surgeries on minors.

Nicholas voted in favor this year of Senate File 99, a ban not only on gender surgeries for children, but the prescription of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. The bill became law July 1 after passing both legislative chambers with strong majorities.

It gives state officials the authority to penalize doctors for performing such treatments on kids.

Nicholas voted against introducing a similar but narrower bill, House Bill 63, which would only have banned sex-change surgeries for kids. He told Cowboy State Daily he expected a filibuster on that one and thought it might jeopardize lawmakers’ chances of passing a sound budget bill during the shortened budget session of the even-numbered year.

“You know they (Russell’s supporters) take one vote and they turn it into an extrapolation of my beliefs on issues, versus whether it’s a good bill or a bad bill,” said Nicholas.

He noted that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a coalition of state lawmakers with an emphasis on social-conservative state laws, also voted against introducing HB 63 because they preferred SF 99.

Russell conversely said Nicholas has displayed a pattern indicating he’s comfortable with child sex-change surgeries happening in Wyoming. For example, Nicholas advanced a “do not pass” vote on a 2023 version of SF 99, which sent the bill to the bottom of the legislative pile, where it ultimately died.

He said that bill had some issues. At the time, the Appropriations Committee worried it could kick Wyoming insurance recipients off the insurance marketplace by making local insurers noncompliant with national standards.

About China

Another of Russell’s fliers says Nicholas is “selling America’s future to China” and that he “voted to allow foreign communists and terrorists to buy Wyoming land.”

Nicholas voted against 2023 House Bill 116 and he voted against reassigning 2024 Senate File 102 out of a committee where it later died.

House Bill 116 would have required the registration of any foreign people, governments or companies buying land in Wyoming for purposes other than setting up a home, and could have divested those entities of their land if they failed to register.

Nicholas told Cowboy State Daily the bill may run afoul of a Wyoming Constitution provision promising “aliens” the right to buy land in the state.

That section says that, “no distinction shall ever be made by law between resident aliens and citizens as to the possession, taxation, enjoyment and descent of property.”

As for the more recent SF 102, Nicholas said it may violate the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars governments from taking people’s possessions without reimbursing them. That bill did not pass.

It would have given entities of foreign and adversarial nations that own land near Wyoming critical infrastructures, such as an Air Force base in Cheyenne, four months to sell their land or risk surrendering it to a state-run auction.

Bill sponsor Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, told Cowboy State Daily prior that she believes her bill is constitutional. The U.S. Constitution’s purpose is not to protect foreign adversaries like China, she said.

“I am still shocked that such important bills did not make it through the Legislature,” said Steinmetz. “I believe the citizens of Wyoming want us to take action on this critical issue of national security.”

Nicholas said he agrees with that latter claim, but wants to craft a bill that will lead to that result without violating either the Wyoming or U.S. constitutions.

He is now chairing a committee that’s on its third draft of a foreign-ownership restriction bill that references the concern of Steinmetz’s bill: protecting critical infrastructure from foreign adversaries’ encroachment.

Russell told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that she stands by her mailers and what they claim.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.

State Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, and Republican challenger Matt Malcolm represent a younger generation of voters that often feels overlooked in politics.

Singh and Malcolm, both 27, have been shaped by the 21st century and the policies enacted by two Republican and Democrat presidents.

They make up a group of Americans who vote at some of the lowest rates of any age group and are some of the least represented in public office.

But both Cheyenne Republicans running for House District 61 are bucking that trend in hopes of bringing a fresh perspective to the Wyoming Legislature.

“It’s my job to be that bridge,” Singh said. “To bridge the gap that nobody else wants to.”

Malcolm told Cowboy State Daily he sees Singh’s claim as being a bridge as a facade.

“He ran on the principle of being a bridge for Wyoming politics then decided to ally himself exclusively with the Freedom Caucus,” Malcolm said.

Who’s Singh?

Singh, 27, is running for his second term after beating Malcolm, 27, and another challenger in the 2022 Republican primary. Theirs is one of three rematch statewide.

During his first term in office, Singh staked a claim for expressing Libertarian and conservative views while identifying as a member of the farther right Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Many members of that group have been criticized for not working with others with the same political views, but Singh takes a different approach.

Singh said he’s running for reelection to help bring stability during a particularly tumultuous political time in Wyoming. He considers himself a unifying force in the Legislature, willing to work with everyone, a model he’s taken from the late former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, who preached focusing on the 80% that people agree on.

He believes political discourse has taken a dark turn and that all legislators need to remember their colleagues were fairly elected by voters to represent them.

“If we can’t get it done here in Wyoming, then we can’t get it done here in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “I’m excited to bring my strong values, but also my level head in my willingness to work with others to the table and get good work done.”

He considers his work with the Democrats some of his proudest moments in the Legislature, working on issues like a restoration of civil rights with Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, and making day care a residential use of property with Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson.

“When issues are not so clear-cut party line, the true humanity of the Legislature comes out,” he said. “You see they care very much about the issues because they care very much about the people of Wyoming.”

Despite being a freshman legislator, Singh said he didn’t back down in debating issues with some of the Legislature’s most veteran lawmakers like Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, and Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne.

“I’ve intentionally thrown myself into difficult situations to see if I can test my metal,” he said. “I want to bring that experience back to the Legislature.”

Singh is also passionate about blockchain, which he considers the most accountable bookkeeping ledger in the history of the world.

He’s a member of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology, an experience he considers the “most interesting and exhilarating” he’s ever worked on.

Wyoming has an intimate relationship with blockchain, with various high-profile bitcoin mines setting up in the state, and Wyoming-based Custodia Bank being blocked for a master account by the Federal Reserve.

“The Federal Reserve has political interests and it’s not afraid to levy that power against the state to achieve those goals,” he said. “That is the biggest danger we are facing as a society.”

In 2023, Singh passed his first legislation, prohibiting law enforcement for ticketing people for letting their vehicles idle while unattended.

Singh, also a Laramie County Republican Party precinct committeeman, said Malcolm has been noticeably absent from local Republican Party politics since the 2022 election. Although Singh stressed that he wants to keep the race civil with his opponent, he added that he won’t hold his Malcom’s “lack of experience against him.”

“I didn’t see Matthew at all, I haven’t seen Matthew for two years,” Singh said. “After the election, he dropped off the face of the Earth and I think if you’re going to run for a Republican spot you need to be involved in the Republican Party.”

Who’s Malcolm?

Malcolm has some experience in politics, previously serving as an aide to Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, at the Legislature.

He also served full-time in the Wyoming Air National Guard until recently, when he re-enlisted as part-time so that he could finish his education. Malcolm is slated to complete a bachelor’s at the University of Wyoming next May with a degree in political science and American history.

Malcolm said he’s running because he considers himself the best candidate in the race, with an understanding for the “real” problems Wyomingites face. He also said his time as an Eagle Scout and Boy Scout instilled him with the need to perform civic service.

Malcolm criticized Singh’s support for a bill that would have prohibited the release of the Wyoming National Guard into active duty in certain situations that Malcolm says would have eliminated full-time employment for Wyoming Army and Air National Guardsmen.

He also said Singh has limited access to health care “for all walks of life.”

Singh voted against a bill that passed into law expanding Medicaid coverage for new mothers up to one year. He also voted in support of a bill that prohibits doctors from providing transgender treatment to minors in Wyoming.

Expanding access to health care, Malcolm said, would be one of his biggest priorities if elected. Rural health care has been a major issue in Wyoming, with many hospitals struggling to find staff and serve their constituents who sometimes live many miles away.

Malcolm wants to increase the number of medical providers in Wyoming by incentivizing health companies to locate here.

“By empowering health care providers to expand their capabilities to service our citizens, we reduce the strain on Wyomingites who need medical assistance,” he said. “By doing so, we help lessen the stress of emergency or chronic medical issues. No rancher deserves to lose a limb because the nearest doctor is two hundred miles away.”

Malcolm also opposed Singh’s votes in support of school choice bills, legislation that allows parents to utilize public money to send their children to private schools in Wyoming. He wants to improve access to Wyoming’s public school system, which Malcolm believes is working effectively.

He also accused Singh of undermining protections for domestic abuse victims by voting against bills expanding the definition of simple assault and extending the timeline for protective orders in Wyoming.

“This level of ineffectiveness is just not something that I feel I can let slide as a civic-minded member of my community,” Malcolm said.

On property taxes, Malcolm mentioned how Wyoming has some of the lowest rates in the country. He believes providing cuts and exemptions to property taxes would actually cause more harm for residents due to the likely cuts to public services that would also occur. He believes the real solution to rising property tax rates is to increase the state’s housing capacity.

Malcolm also wants to work with cities and municipalities on creating zoning for high-occupancy homes, while laying plans for continuing to improve access to single-family homes.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.

Wildlife management officials from Montana celebrated the translocation of two grizzly bears from northwest Montana to Wyoming, supplementing the genetic pool of the population around Yellowstone National Park and bolstering arguments for state management of the iconic species.

In an announcement on Aug. 2, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced that two bears had been successfully trapped near the Middle Fork Flathead River, part of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE), and released in Wyoming’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).

“Due to the work and sacrifice of Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and many Montanans over many decades, we’ve been successful in helping the grizzly bear recover,” Gianforte said during a Monday press conference in Helena. “Since Fish and Wildlife Service listed the grizzly bear under the Endangered Species Act, this milestone marks the first time we have a confirmed NCDE bear in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. The state of Montana has made genetic connectivity between these two ecosystems a priority and now we have acted on that priority.”

Grizzlies in the Lower 48 states are protected as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) with six defined recovery areas across the northwestern United States. In both the NCDE and GYE recovery areas the grizzly population is estimated around 1,100, with roughly 80 bears in the Selkirk recovery area that spans the Washington-Idaho-British Columbia border, around 40 bears in Montana’s Cabinet-Yaak recovery area. A handful of grizzlies have been documented in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, while there are currently no bears in Washington’s Northern Cascades.

Despite an increase in the number of animals and expanded ranges in the two largest populations, the animals remain isolated from each other with no documented grizzlies crossing between the NCDE and the GYE.

The physical separation prevents any genetic mixing between the two groups with potential long-term implications for the conservation of the species. The translocation of grizzlies from one population to the other supplements the existing gene pool and increases the sustainability of the population.

“We’ve done a lot to help improve the conditions of the Yellowstone and the NCDE grizzly bear population. Both of those populations have met their recovery goals or exceeded them, really,” FWP Research Biologist Cecily Costello said. “Natural movement between these two populations might happen in the future, but this basically gave a head start to that process.”

Costello said that the GYE bears have a lower genetic diversity than other grizzly populations in the Lower 48 with biologists estimating they have been isolated for roughly 100 years. While there is no immediate danger to the population’s genetics and no evidence of inbreeding, the addition of the two Montana bears will serve to bolster the population long term.

“It’s really trying to allow for this population to have enough diversity in their genetics to respond really well to any kind of changes in the future,” Costello said.

After spending two months trying to trap suitable bears to move to Wyoming, biologists with FWP captured the two grizzlies back-to-back within 48 hours along a remote section of the Middle Fork Flathead River.

The first bear, a sub-adult female, was captured near the headwaters of the Middle Fork Flathead River and was released in the Blackrock drainage approximately 35 miles northwest of Dubois, Wyoming on July 30.

The following day Yellowstone National park personnel released a sub-adult male south of Yellowstone Lake within the park boundaries.

Republican officials across the western states have long pushed for the delisting of grizzlies with management returned to the states. Montana officials petitioned FWS to remove the distinct NCDE grizzlies from the ESA back in 2021, citing the robust population and the state’s track record in conserving both the species and its habitat. Idaho and Wyoming officials have also submitted their own petitions for delisting — Wyoming for the GYE, and Idaho for all grizzlies in the Lower 48.

In late July, the FWS announced it would release a decision over delisting the species by the end of January of next year, according to a court filing related to the three state petitions. If either of the distinct populations, or the species as a whole, was delisted, management would be turned over to the states, a future Montana officials have already begun planning for.

“The bottom line is this: The Endangered Species Act was designed to keep species from going extinct, not manage a robust population that’s growing,” Gianforte said during his press conference. “Working with state of Wyoming and our partners, we achieved the goals set for us and we’ve shown the ability to manage bears, protect habitat and population numbers. It’s time for the state to take over management of these iconic animals. It’s time to have full authority for grizzly bears in Montana returned back to Montana.”

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