When the Wyoming Legislature convenes in January, they’ll likely be led by two Republicans known more for their traditionalist, pragmatic approach than the ideological conservatism of their predecessors.
Senate Republicans selected Cheyenne Sen. Tara Nethercott as the next president while House GOP members chose Lander Rep. Lloyd Larsen as incoming speaker, several legislators told WyoFile.
Leadership positions hold significant power in both chambers, particularly the speaker and the president. They decide the makeup and head of each committee as well as what legislation goes to which committees, and in what order. Leadership also has the tools to kill legislation before it’s even considered by the larger body.
While the GOP has controlled both chambers in the Wyoming Legislature for decades, its supermajority split in recent years between more traditional Republicans and those aligned with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. For the last two years, Freedom Caucus members have held all of the majority leadership positions in the House. During their tenure, the Legislature did away with most of the state’s gun-free zones, adopted a string of changes to the state’s election system and created a private-school waiver program with no income limits.
However, the caucus lost its House majority in this year’s primary election, and no longer has enough allies to form a voting bloc big enough to do much. Speaker of the House and Freedom Caucus member Chip Neiman, R-Hulette, lost his seat in the August primary, as did House Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner, R-Green River, and House Majority Whip Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie. The caucus’s allies also backslid in the Senate.
As a result, most legislative leadership races this weekend came down to contests between traditional Republicans with similar policy positions.
Nethercott, who is now majority floor leader in the Senate, ran unopposed for president while Larsen competed against Casper Rep. Art Washut for speaker.
Larsen, who voters first elected in 2013, has become one of the House’s healthcare policy wonks and has spent much of his tenure trying to improve public health services. He also has eight years worth of experience serving on the Joint Appropriations Committee — a powerful panel of lawmakers responsible for crafting the initial budget bill. Larsen was also a vocal opponent of many of the budget cuts called for by the Freedom Caucus in the most recent session.
Nethercott, an attorney, has largely focused her legislative career on economic development, higher education and judicial issues, including a term as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the most recent term, Nethercott worked as part of a coalition in the Senate to improve decorum and efficiency in the upper chamber.
“Wyoming deserves leadership that is steady in its principles, disciplined in its decisions, and focused on the future,” Nethercott said in a statement. “Our responsibility is to strengthen the foundations of our state, protect the opportunities that make Wyoming exceptional, and ensure the decisions we make today serve generations to come.”
Selections for some positions are only nominations at this point, since the entire body — Democrats included — must vote to affirm them. That includes the position of Senate president and vice president as well as House speaker and speaker pro tempore. However, with just two Democrats in the Senate and seven in the House, the nominations will likely win approval when the session begins in January in Cheyenne.
If the chamber backs her next year, Nethercott would be just the second woman in Wyoming history to serve as president of the Senate, according to Legislative Service Office records. The first was Sen. April Brimmer-Kunz, also a Laramie County Republican, who served as president from 2003 to 2004.
Lawmakers chose Evanston Sen. Wendy Schuler, who ran unopposed, to serve as Senate majority floor leader, a position that comes with the responsibility of deciding the order of bills lawmakers work through on the floor, among other things.
For Senate vice president, Ten Sleep Sen. Ed Cooper bested Lander Sen. Cale Case for the second-in-command post.
In the House, Lusk Rep. JD Williams won majority floor leader over Wheatland Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, one of the few Freedom Caucus members who won their reelection bid.
Jackson Rep. Andrew Byron beat Cheyenne Rep. Clarence Styvar for speaker pro tempore while Rock Springs Rep. Cody Wylie bested Worland Rep. Martha Lawley for majority whip.
The Legislature’s democratic members also met Saturday in Casper to decide leadership positions, such as minority floor leader and whip in each chamber. Their meeting had not concluded by publishing time.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
