Four takeaways from the Wyoming governor’s debate

Republican Eric Barlow, Democrat Kenneth Casner and Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel squared off Wednesday in the one televised debate scheduled ahead of November’s general election, when Wyoming voters will select their next governor. 

In August, Barlow, a state senator from Gillette, won the Republican nomination against two other candidates, while Casner, a small business owner in Elk Mountain, and Bextel, a Teton County conservative activist, sought and secured their respective parties’ nominations unopposed. 

The debate, hosted by Wyoming PBS, Wyoming Public Media and Cowboy State Daily, was held at Riverton High School auditorium. Candidates fielded a variety of topics including energy, education and the executive branch. 

Here are four takeaways from the 50 minute debate. 

Bextel went on the attack and stayed there.

While voters will have three candidates to choose from on the ballot, Bextel, a Teton County conservative activist, promptly told debate viewers she only considers one as her opponent. 

“When I refer to my opponent, it is not the precious Mr. Casner. He is as cute as he can be,” Bextel said. “I’m talking about somebody else.”

When Bextel announced her run in May, she said she would only stay in the race if Republican voters nominated Barlow over Trump-backed Megan Degenfelder, or GOP-endorsed Brent Bien. Members of Wyoming’s far right have criticized Barlow for not being conservative enough.

Bextel began and ended the night in attack mode, mentioning Barlow in nearly every one of her responses. She also took aim at several people separate from the governor’s race including Robert Short, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, Jackson Democratic Rep. Liz Storer, and a man she identified as both a University of Wyoming trustee and a Wyoming Business Council board member named “Bruce.” Bruce Pivic sits on the business council board, but there is no one named Bruce on UW’s board. 

Bextel used the word “scam” no fewer than a dozen times, and told voters four times the state is at risk of “becoming Colorado” — echoing a recent warning from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. 

“I might do nothing but veto legislation for the next two years to stop us from being Colorado,” Bextel said when candidates were asked whether the Freedom Caucus losing its statehouse grip in August’s primary election would make the governor’s job easier or more difficult.  

Barlow didn’t take the bait — mostly.

Overall, Barlow kept things positive on the debate stage. Only once Wednesday evening did he directly address Bextel’s blitz. 

“Like a lot of times, everything you believe, just because you say it louder or faster, doesn’t make it any more true,” Barlow said.

“I am faster,” Bextel said. 

At another point, Barlow pointed to legislation Bextel mentioned when the candidates were asked to weigh in on recruiting health insurance companies to Wyoming. 

“My husband and I actually get our health insurance through a co-op. It’s called Medi-Share,” she said. “There are certain conditions like you can’t abuse alcohol, you can’t take illegal drugs, and you can’t use tobacco. But it has saved our family a lot of money. I want to look at options like that.” 

Medi-Share is a Christian-based healthcare sharing ministry where paying members share each other’s medical expenses. In 2015, Barlow was the lead sponsor of a bill that exempted the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate for those who share medical expenses through a faith-based healthcare sharing ministry. 

“Healthcare is a challenge,” Barlow said in response to the prompt. “And I’m pleased that the Medi-Share is working out because that’s actually legislation that I sponsored to provide to Wyoming families.”

Half the debate was spent on a ‘lightning round’ of prompts.

Instead of questions, candidates at one point were given about two dozen broad subjects to quickly weigh in on, including “gun rights,” “grizzly bears,” “traditional energy,” and “crypto and blockchain technologies” — a format that frequently led to short answers lacking substance. 

At one point, the panelists appeared to run out of prompts with time left on the clock.

The day before the debate, candidates were given a ‘preview’ question regarding the property tax ballot measure.

In November, Wyoming voters will decide whether to create an additional tax exemption for certain residential properties. If passed, the exemption is officially estimated to result in a roughly $188 million revenue loss for local governments in its first two fiscal years. 

The candidates were asked to prepare a 60-second answer to: “Do you support Proposition 1, both from the perspective of the office you seek and as an individual voter? Why or why not?” 

All three candidates diverged. 

Barlow said he does not support the measure, pointing to the local services funded by property taxes, and the work the Wyoming Legislature has already done to decrease the cost of property taxes for homeowners. 

Casner did not specify whether he opposed or supported the proposition. 

“You have a bigger problem than referendum number one,” Casner said, appearing to point to a data center under construction near Fremont County’s unincorporated community of Lost Cabin. 

Bextel said she opposes property taxes altogether and cast doubt on the revenue loss the ballot measure would create. 

“I never trust official estimates, they’re always wrong,” she said. “Property tax is a scam. You’re renting your house.”

The general election is Nov. 3, and early voting is underway.