Tag: Wyoming politics

CIVPAC Endorses Lisa Kinney in Wyoming’s Democratic House Primary

Outline map of Wyoming used to illustrate Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 election endorsements.

Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Lisa Kinney in Wyoming’s August 18 Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kinney served ten years in the Wyoming Senate, including two years as minority leader. What most distinguishes her for us is her record of working across party lines and her explicit interest in finding a small group of moderate members of Congress who can cooperate and exercise meaningful influence.

We do not agree with Kinney on everything. We have reservations about some of her tax proposals, and we have not found a clear statement from her on continued American assistance to Ukraine. Her explicit support for NATO is reassuring, but voters should watch for further clarification on Ukraine and related foreign-policy questions before the primary.

Those reservations do not outweigh her experience, independence and demonstrated willingness to work with Republicans. In a Congress increasingly organized around partisan loyalty, those qualities deserve support.

Wyoming voters now have CIVPAC-endorsed candidates in both House primaries: Lisa Kinney in the Democratic primary and Kevin Christensen in the Republican primary.

Read our full endorsement of Lisa Kinney.

See all of Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 candidate endorsements.

Centrist Independent Voter Endorses Sam Mead for U.S. Senate

Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Sam Mead in Wyoming’s August 18 Republican primary for the United States Senate.

Mead is challenging Representative Harriet Hageman, who entered Congress after defeating Liz Cheney in 2022. There is a certain symmetry to the race: Cheney delivered her concession speech that year from the Mead family ranch.

But our endorsement is not about relitigating that election.

It is about whether Republican senators should exercise independent judgment or regard loyalty to Donald Trump as part of their job description.

Mead has said senators should judge presidential nominees on competence, character and ethics rather than partisan loyalty. He has defended Congress’s constitutional authority over war, criticized deficit spending, supported secure borders combined with legal immigration reform, and opposed wholesale disposal of Wyoming’s public lands.

We have reservations. Mead needs to provide much more detail on Ukraine, NATO, China and federal fiscal policy.

But he offers something increasingly scarce in Republican politics: a willingness to tell a president of his own party no.

Four years after Hageman defeated Cheney, Wyoming Republicans have an opportunity to send a different kind of conservative to Washington.

Read our full endorsement of Sam Mead.

See all Centrist Independent Voter 2026 endorsements.

Centrist Independent Voter Endorses Eric Barlow for Wyoming Governor

Wyoming landscape featuring mountains, open plains and ranch coun

Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Eric Barlow in Wyoming’s August 18 Republican primary for governor.

Barlow is a conservative Republican, and we disagree with him on important issues, particularly abortion. He supported Wyoming’s near-total abortion prohibition and its ban on medication abortion in 2023.

But primary elections require voters to choose among the candidates actually running. In this field, Barlow offers the strongest combination of governing experience, institutional temperament and practical conservatism.

A veterinarian, rancher, Marine veteran and former speaker of the Wyoming House, Barlow has emphasized health care, water, public lands, education, economic opportunity and the future of Wyoming’s smaller communities. His energy policy is notably pragmatic: he supports the state’s traditional industries while remaining open to nuclear power and other sources, arguing that growing electricity demand means “every electron matters.”

Barlow has also resisted the factional politics that increasingly dominate the Wyoming Republican Party. His principal opponent, state Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, has built much of her campaign around President Trump’s endorsement and alignment with his political movement.

We still have unanswered questions about Barlow’s views on the 2020 election, Trump’s efforts to overturn it and the proper limits of presidential power. Voters should continue looking for clear answers before casting their ballots.

On balance, however, Barlow offers Wyoming Republicans the better choice: experienced, serious and more interested in governing than ideological performance.

Read our full endorsement of Eric Barlow.

See all Centrist Independent Voter 2026 endorsements.