April 20—CHEYENNE—The Wyoming Republican Party voted to censure Gov. Mark Gordon at its state convention Saturday and formally endorsed former President Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate.
More than 300 delegates from the Cowboy State Republican Party attended the final day of the three-day state convention. Trump campaign chief Pat Truman traveled to Wyoming for the Republican convention, calling President Joe Biden “weak” and criticizing the Democratic incumbent for his handling of the border crisis and domestic economy.
President Truman said, “He is too weak to lead and too weak to protect our country. His weakness has led to an invasion of our borders.” “It encourages our enemies to attack our allies and take the lives of our service members. Bidennomics will lead to inflation, making food and energy more expensive for American families.”
Rep. John Baer (R-Gillette), who is also chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, has been selected as honorary chairman of the Republican state convention. Baer, along with National Committee Chairs Corey Steinmetz and Nina Weber, and several other elected delegates, will represent Wyoming at the event, which will be held July 15-18 in Milwaukee. attend the Republican National Convention.
Steinmetz, the husband of State Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, called on the RNC to be more vocal in defending Republican values. He specifically mentioned former RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who resigned in late February following calls for her resignation, including public criticism from President Trump.
“Where's the RNC? When was the last time you heard the RNC taking a very public stance?” Cory Steinmetz said. “We can only save this country if the RNC becomes a very vocal and organized megaphone defending the rights of Republicans in Wyoming and Republicans across the country. We are not just a fundraising vehicle. It cannot continue.”
blame gordon
The Wyoming Republican Party unanimously passed several resolutions Saturday, including one introduced by Park County's delegation to censure Gordon. The resolution was agreed upon and there was no debate on it.
The censure is a symbolic rebuke by a political party and has no legal weight. Mr. Gordon is the only Wyoming Republican leader to receive this accusation from the party's far-right wing. Former Rep. Liz Cheney was censured by the Wyoming Republican Party in 2021, and Gordon's predecessor, Matt Meade, faced censure in 2014.
Mr. Gordon's accusations, particularly over his vetoes of a property tax bill that would provide relief to all Wyoming homeowners and another bill that would eliminate gun-free zones across the state, infuriated many Republicans. I let it happen.
Senate File 54 is one of five bills passed by Congress in the 2024 Budget session aimed at property tax relief. Over the next two years, SF 54 would provide all homeowners in Wyoming with a 25% tax break on the first $2 million of their residential property's assessed value, based on the home's fair market value.
But Gordon vetoed the bill, calling it the type of “Bidenomics” he had expected to see coming out of Washington, D.C., rather than the state's conservative legislature. The governor said in his veto letter of House Bill 125, which would have abolished gun-free zones, that it is a process that must be approached with great care.
Earlier this week, the governor directed the state Department of Buildings to begin drafting rules to eliminate gun-free zones in state-owned executive buildings.
But Republican delegates felt Mr. Gordon was “too moderate.” A passage from the resolution censuring the governor says, “While Mr. Gordon acts, spends, and achieves like a liberal, he misuses and weaponizes conservative language against his own people.'' ” was written.
Dozens of resolutions passed
National trends are making their way into local state government politics, and Wyoming is no exception. The state's Republican Resolutions Committee received 103 resolutions passed by county Republican committees, which were narrowed down to 90 resolutions.
The 90 resolutions were divided into nine categories: foreign policy and defense. Energy; Immigration and Immigration. employment and the economy. crime and law. government and budget. Agriculture; Health and Society. And education.
Most of these resolutions were passed with little or no discussion by party representatives. One is to count all of Wyoming's election ballots by hand. Another proposal called for the state to end funding for the University of Wyoming's Gender Studies and Social Justice Program and all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Several others called for redefining marriage as between a man and a woman, withdrawing from the United Nations, strengthening the southern border with Mexico, repealing the Affordable Care Act and reforming health care.
Only two resolutions failed to pass the full text. Some suggested allowing local governments the option of accepting illegal immigrants into their communities. Another opposed resettling refugees in the county without the consent of county commissioners.
Hannah Shields is a state government reporter for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Contact her at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her at X@happyfeet004.
