Online Poll: Is The Wyoming Freedom Caucus FInished As A Political Force?

Tuesday's Wyoming Primary Election was not a good night for the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

About 10 Freedom Caucus members survived the election and will be back in the Wyoming House in 2027. Roughly 14 were defeated, including founder Rep. John Bear and several other leading members.

In Laramie County, FC members Ann Lucas, Gary Brown, and Steve Johnson were defeated, and none of their vote totals were over 40 percent.

In Albany County, FC stalwart Ocean Andrew was defeated after three terms in the legislature.

In Natrona County, Rep. Julie Jarvis defeated former Freedom Caucus firebrand Jeanette Ward in a rematch of the 2024 race also won by Jarvis.

With only about 10 members in the 62-member Wyoming House, the FC will be a small minority for the next couple of years.

Does that mean they are finished politically?

Why They Might Bounce Back

You could argue that one major reason the caucus took such a beating was the ''Checkgate" scandal in which Teton County political activist Rebecca Bextel was photographed handing out checks to Freedom Caucus members on the floor of the Wyoming House. At the same time, no criminal charges have been filed in that case, but nine of the 10 members seen getting checks lost on Tuesday.

But is that a permanent stain? It could be argued that while it was a PR nightmare, people will forget about it and move on.

Wyoming is, after all, a conservative state, and the caucus is all about conservative values. Small government, low taxes. School choice. The FC on Facebook touts what it says were achievements in terms of 'historic tax relief,' school choice, and the protection of girls' sports.

Caucus supporters believe those issues and others will resonate with Wyoming voters going forward. They think most Wyoming residents are fundamentally in tune with the Freedom Caucus on most issues and say one bad election doesn't change that.

And after all, Chuck Gray was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, and he was elected to Congress on Tuesday.

Why They Might Not Bounce Back

It's easy to blame Tuesday's electoral debacle on Checkgate. But the Freedom Caucus has other issues, according to critics.

The caucus got a lot of its money from out of state. According to a Cowboy State Daily article, a Virginia-based political action committee spent almost $ 550,000 on the Wyoming Primary election.  The money went to Freedom Caucus candidates as well as congressional candidate Chuck Gray (who won) and Gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien (who lost).

That kind of money led some voters to ask if it's really the "Wyoming" Freedom Caucus at all.

A lot of FC opponents also accuse the organization of spending too much time on issues like transgender people in women's sports and in women's restrooms. Is that really something that helps state residents pay their bills and buy groceries?

Finally, critics say the organization takes a ham-handed approach to budget issues and seems to act and vote like a cult in the Wyoming House. The point to an attempt to cut funding to the University of Wyoming, the state's only four-year university, as one example.

So what do you think? Is the Freedom Caucus a spent force in Wyoming politics, or was Tuesday just a bump in the road