Fremont County pols skeptical of push to reexamine electoral boundaries

Secretary of State Chuck Gray wants Gov. Mark Gordon and the Fremont County Commission to examine that community’s electoral boundaries in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on racial gerrymandering. But local elected officials who spoke with WyoFile sounded skeptical of Gray’s requests — especially this close to Wyoming’s primary election.

Sen. Cale Case chairs the Senate committee that examines electoral issues. The Lander Republican told WyoFile he didn’t see much enthusiasm — in Fremont County or in Cheyenne — to reexamine electoral maps.

“There is no urgency either among the commissioners or the Legislature to do anything,” Case said. “And in theory, we could, but it would be a heck of a mess.”

In April’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the ability of states to use race as a determining factor in creating election districts. The ruling quickly spurred several GOP-controlled southern states to seek new congressional maps that would add more Republican seats. Additional efforts are expected to follow the midterms, including those that would favor Democrats. 

Because Wyoming has a single at-large congressional district — meaning the entire state is represented by one person in the U.S. House — the Equality State appeared unlikely to be plunged into the chaos of redrawing electoral maps in the middle of an election. But that could change. 

In a Wednesday letter to Gordon, Gray pointed to the Wyoming Legislature’s House District 33, arguing that state lawmakers “gave consideration to race” in drawing its boundaries, and as such, those “need to be examined to ensure compliance” with the high court ruling in Callais. 

House District 33 stretches across Fremont County and encompasses the Wind River Indian Reservation towns of Fort Washakie, Ethete and Arapahoe, as well as the small non-tribal communities of Atlantic City, Crowheart and Hudson. Over the years, its representation has flipped back and forth between Democrats and Republicans, as well as enrolled tribal members and white ranchers. Most recently, Rep. Ivan Posey, a Democrat and Eastern Shoshone educator, ousted Freedom Caucus-backed incumbent Sarah Penn, a Republican. 

Posey did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment by publishing time. 

Like all of the Legislature’s House seats, House District 33 will be contested this year. The candidate filing period opened Thursday, marking the official start to Wyoming’s election season. Meanwhile, Gray, the state’s chief elections officer, urged the governor in his Wednesday letter “to provide a path of action to examine legislative districts to ensure our compliance with the United States Constitution in light of Callais.” 

WyoFile asked Gray’s office on Thursday if the secretary could elaborate on what he specifically wants the governor to do, and whether Gray was asking Gordon to call a special session of the Legislature to redraw the state’s maps. If the Legislature were to do so, WyoFile also asked the secretary to weigh in on how that might affect the 2026 election. 

Gray sent a statement that reiterated parts of his letter to Gordon and accused “insiders” and “the radical leftwing media” of making false statements.

“There are mechanisms in State law that put those procedures in his hands, just like they are in the hands of Governors of other states. Governors in other red states have shown leadership in ensuring that the Constitution is followed,” wrote Gray, who’s been a regular critic of the governor. “The difference is that Governor Gordon has done nothing to address this issue.”

Amy Edmonds, Gordon’s spokesperson, told WyoFile in a statement Thursday that the governor “has reviewed the letter and is seeking legal advice from the attorney general’s office.”

“He is still gathering information about this matter,” Edmonds wrote. 

GOP governors in other states have called for special legislative sessions, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, and Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee. Louisiana’s Gov. Jeff Landry took a more extreme measure, suspending the state’s primary elections for its six U.S. House races, even though more than 42,000 voters had already cast their absentee ballots. 

If Gordon took either of those actions — suspending primary elections, or calling for a special session to redraw House maps during an election in which those districts are on the ballots — Wyoming would be in uncharted territory. 

Gray’s letter to Gordon wasn’t the only one he sent this week. On Tuesday, he wrote the Fremont County Commission, suggesting the county revert to an at-large selection in light of the Supreme Court decision. Under an at-large system, commissioners represent the entire county rather than districts within it.

The commission has used a district system since a judge ruled in 2010 in favor of five Native American plaintiffs who sued on the grounds that its at-large electoral system violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act. 

One local official cheered Gray’s letters on Facebook under a post by the Fremont County Republican Party. 

“Thank you Mr Secretary! This is the reason we will keep you around,” Karen Wetzel, Fremont County Library Board member, wrote. 

Fremont County Commission Vice Chairman Michael Jones told WyoFile the board sent Gray’s letter to the Attorney General’s office for guidance. 

Asked what his first impression of the letter was, Jones said, “it’s an election year.”

“How’s that for cynical?” he said. 

As the District 1 Commissioner, Clarence Thomas serves as the liaison between the board and the tribal governments on the Wind River Indian Reservation, which is home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. 

Thomas, who descends from the Onk Akimel O’odham (Pima) tribal nation, pushed back on the assertions Gray made in his letter. 

Wind River, Thomas said, is “the most unique reservation in the nation.

“What I mean by that is no other reservation in the nation has so much deeded land and so many individuals who are not enrolled members of a tribe living on a reservation,” Thomas said. “So the representation has to be everybody within that district, and it’s not just tribal members. It’s everyone. Ranchers, farmers, middle-class workers, who all live within the boundaries of District 1. And so they all want a voice.”

Case, meanwhile, represents Fremont County’s Senate District 25, which encompasses the House District in question. 

Election season is already underway, Case said, and redistricting is a state-sized puzzle. 

“You can’t change one legislative district without changing others,” he said. 

Case served on the Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Committee in 2021, when the panel worked directly with stakeholders across the state to draft a redistricting map for the entire Legislature to consider in 2022. 

It was a grueling process that relied on census data as well as a set of lawmaker-adopted guiding principles, which included preserving communities of interest.

“House District 33 is really a community of interest,” Case said. “It reflects a tribal government — an area of tribal influence and control as opposed to race.”

“Just like we draw districts where Newcastle is in one district and other towns in another, or we don’t split the Big Horn mountains,” he said. 

Case now co-chairs the Joint Corporations Committee, which is scheduled to meet next week in Lander. He expects the topic to come up. 

“We are the election committee, I’d be derelict for not having a discussion,” Case said. “Although I hope it doesn’t hijack the whole agenda.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Karen Wetzel’s appointment to the Fremont County Library Board. —Ed.