A Virginia man is demanding a political action committee stop using his photograph to promote a Wyoming legislative candidate of the same name — or face legal action.

Make Liberty Win, a Virginia-based PAC, has been sending text messages and mailers to Wyoming voters, and knocking on doors in support of various legislative candidates, but has failed to provide accurate information. Many of the candidates the PAC is supporting are either members of, or ideologically aligned with, the hard-line Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

The PAC’s mailers list the wrong dates for early voting and refer to several challengers as incumbents. In the race for Senate District 10 — which encompasses the outer limits of Laramie and the rural communities of Bosler, Rock River, Centennial and Jelm — the PAC used a photograph of Keith Kennedy of Virginia to portray Keith Kennedy of Wyoming. 

Kennedy of Virginia was not aware his photo was being used in such a way until a WyoFile reporter contacted him earlier this month. He sent a letter to the PAC on Saturday.

“I write to ask that you cease and desist in the use of a photograph of me in your advertisements supporting the candidacy of a Mr. Keith Kennedy for a seat in the Wyoming state legislature,” the letter states. 

“I was not consulted prior to your use of this photograph, and I did not and do not approve of your use of my image or likeness for any reason whatsoever.”

For 28 years, Kennedy of Virginia worked in the U.S. Senate, serving as majority staff director and deputy Senate sergeant at arms. The photograph that appears in the mailers is from the U.S. Senate archives. 

“If I do not receive a written response from you by August 16, 2024 agreeing to stop using images of me, legal action will be necessary,” the letter states. 

Make Liberty Win did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment. 

The PAC has raised about $8.7 million since early 2023. Most of those funds came from donors in Texas, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. 

Make Liberty Win’s goal, according to its website, is to “elect 250 liberty-defending state legislators, through ‘direct voter contact,’” which includes mailers, door knocking, phone calls and texting. 

Kennedy of Wyoming did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment. 

Defamation suit

If legal action is taken against Make Liberty Win, it won’t be the first lawsuit filed this election season regarding political mailers in Wyoming.

Last week, two Sweetwater County lawmakers seeking reelection filed a defamation suit against a political action committee affiliated with the hard-line Wyoming Freedom Caucus over mailers. 

The PAC told voters that several state lawmakers voted to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot, but the Wyoming Legislature has never in its history considered, debated, nor voted on any proposal to remove Trump from the ballot in any election, in any state. 

Maggie Mullen reports on state government and politics. Before joining WyoFile in 2022, she spent five years at Wyoming Public Radio.

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