CHEYENNE—U.S. Army veteran David Giralt said he believes his experience being one of the final troops to return from deployment in Afghanistan, experience working under Sen. Cynthia Lummis in Washington, D.C., and Wyoming roots make him a worthy candidate for Wyoming’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I think that it stands to reason that a representative should know what they’re talking about,” he said in an interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in January.
Giralt announced by email news release Thursday that he is running as a conservative Republican who plans to be “Trump’s most reliable vote” after Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., announced a bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Lummis.
This makes Giralt the fifth candidate and fourth Republican to announce a bid for the House seat. While Giralt becomes the only candidate with no history of running for office in this race so far, he said he believes he can win votes through “credibility, competence and unique campaign organization.”
Wyoming roots
Giralt’s parents, who immigrated to the United States from Costa Rica and Cuba, brought him and his brothers to Casper from Florida at a young age. There, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (now Scouts BSA), played on the soccer team and graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 2009.
After graduation, Giralt attended college on a soccer scholarship while participating in ROTC. He went on to earn an MBA with a concentration in Energy Management from the University of Wyoming.
He was then commissioned as an Army officer and completed U.S. Army Ranger School. He served 12 years on active duty, including with the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division, according to a news release.
After an honorable discharge, Giralt applied as a U.S. Congressional Fellow and was assigned to work under Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala. Through “sheer dumb luck or the grace of God,” Giralt got a job working for Lummis, where he helped research issues like agriculture, trade, homeland security and defense.
Giralt was deployed twice to Afghanistan, earning the Bronze Star medal for leadership.
In this role, he met his wife, Alexandra, during a legislative briefing about precursor chemicals from China being used in fentanyl.
In October, Giralt returned to the Cowboy State. As things started to shift in Wyoming’s federal delegation in December, he began eyeing the prospect of putting together a bid for U.S. House.
Seeking the House seat
After Lummis announced she will retire from the U.S. Senate at the end of her term in 2027 and Hageman announced a bid to fill her seat, Giralt said he began considering a bid to fill Hageman’s soon-to-be vacant seat.
Giralt said he doesn’t come into the race with millions of dollars and is not an “establishment politician.” He acknowledges it will be a difficult battle, but not one he’s afraid of.
“I see politicians now who are already angling for their next job before they’ve finished the one voters entrusted to them. That’s not service, that’s just selfish ambition. My entire mentality is mission first, finish what you start, and deliver for the people counting on you,” he wrote in the news release.
He also sees his experience as a veteran as a vital one.
“As red of a state that is heavily populated by veterans, we haven’t had a veteran representing the state of Wyoming in a congressional delegation since Mike Enzi,” he said.
He said he believes this kind of representation is important for Wyoming because he has an intimate knowledge of American foreign policy.
“Whether that’s us looking at the Ukraine-Russia conflict, whether it’s Venezuela, whether it’s discussions currently about Greenland, I think for Wyoming to have an incredible voice when it comes to these sorts of issues, I think there’s credibility there in terms of experience,” he said.
Concerning fiscal responsibility, he said he believes his time in D.C. qualifies him for the role.
“I think that someone who understands that the Pentagon budget is currently sitting at $900 billion and the president has already signaled he wants that budget to increase to $1.5 trillion … if fiscal responsibility is important to people in Wyoming … it stands to reason that a representative should know what they’re talking about,” he said.
Key issues
In his news release, Giralt outlined several key policy issues he plans to prioritize if elected to office.
At the top of his list is energy. Giralt said he wants to fight federal overreach and support Wyoming’s legacy energy production industries.
Giralt also points to the U.S.-Mexico border as a key issue, saying undocumented people obtaining “questionable CDLs” make highways unsafe, and loose border policy opens the country up to an influx of drug and human trafficking.
“Every state is a border state now. Finish the wall. Deport illegals. Stop the drugs flowing into our communities. Secure our highways and protect Wyoming families,” he wrote.
Giralt positions himself as a defender of the Second Amendment, saying the nation must codify concealed carry reciprocity, dismantle ATF gun registry and prevent universal background checks.
Other top issues concern supporting Trump’s national security agenda, halting BLM and EPA overreach, supporting veterans and protecting online free speech.
“I thought I’d serve my country, come home, and maybe help out behind the scenes. But when I look at what’s at stake for Wyoming families and how chaotic the world has become, I realize sitting on the sidelines isn’t an option. Wyoming needs a doer, not a talker. Someone who knows what can be done and can deliver actual results,” he wrote in the release.
Other candidates in the race so far are Republicans former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, current Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Casper business owner Reid Rasner, along with former Cheyenne state lawmaker Democrat James Byrd.