Riverton Republican Rep. Joel Guggenmos, the lawmaker at the center of the state’s latest legislative residency dispute, did not file for reelection to House District 55, citing his disqualification for temporarily living elsewhere. 

“As you may have heard, I did not file for re-election,” Guggenmos wrote Saturday in a Facebook post. “This was not because I did not want to.”

In September, Guggenmos moved into an RV parked outside his district after the cost of his family’s rental house abruptly increased, he told WyoFile in May. In late April, Guggenmos moved back to his district and into more permanent housing, ending what he said was always intended to be a temporary circumstance. 

The Wyoming Constitution does not require legislators to continue residing in their district following their election, but it does specify that a candidate “who has not, for at least twelve months next preceding his election resided within the county or district in which he was elected” is not qualified to run for the Legislature.

“It was always my intent to get back into [the] district as soon as we could find a place, and continue giving the people an option to have a conservative voice in Cheyenne,” Guggenmos wrote. “However, I did not realize, by doing so, I would no longer meet the requirement set in the oath I would have to sign which specifically pertains to Wyoming Statute 22-5-102, which says that I have lived in my district for 12 months prior to filing.” 

Wyoming’s candidate filing period closed Friday. Had Guggenmos filed to run for reelection, he would have needed to sign an oath that he was qualified — an attestation that he says would have opened him “up to legal action.”  

“As I look back, I realize this was my mistake,” Guggenmos wrote. “I apologize to those who supported and voted for me, for not doing my due diligence in this matter.”

In late March, Fremont County Democratic Chair Julie Twist filed a complaint with the Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese, spurring a law enforcement investigation. After the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation in May, finding that Guggenmos lived outside his district from September to April, Freese forwarded the findings to the Legislature’s Management Council. The Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming Supreme Court precedent have left the House to decide whether one of its members is no longer qualified to serve with that body. 

Freese also determined that Guggenmos was not qualified to run for reelection, but noted in a letter that candidate certification is the purview of Secretary of State Chuck Gray in his capacity as Wyoming’s chief elections officer 

Voters first elected Guggenmos in 2024 to represent House District 55, which encompasses a swath of Fremont County, including most of Riverton. His decision not to run for reelection leaves the seat open in a year where all 62 House districts will be on the ballot. 

According to the Secretary of State’s unofficial candidate roster, Carl Manning, a Republican and longtime school board member, filed to run for House District 55. He will run unopposed in August’s primary election.

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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