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 fourth candidate 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.
Giralt was deployed twice to Afghanistan, earning the Bronze Star medal for leadership.
He then 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.
In this role, he met his wife, Alexandra, during a legislative briefing about precursor chemicals from China being used in fentanyl.
After an honorable discharge from active duty, 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.
The other three candidates in the race so far are also all Republicans – former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, current Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Casper business owner Reid Rasner.
The article “U.S. Army veteran David Giralt announces bid for U.S. House” from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle incorrectly said Giralt was honorably discharged before becoming a Congressional fellow. He was still on active duty while in this role.
The article also incorrectly said Democrat James Byrd is running for U.S. House. Byrd is running for U.S. Senate.
He’ll just dilute the primary votes, if he stays in that long. For someone that hasn’t lived in Wyoming for the past i dont know how many years. Graduated 2009, attended college. 12 years active duty. You do the math. He appears to be just another east coast transplant that is here to save us from our small town, fly over country ways. Does he even have a real job?
Kinda boring; we now have 3 carbon-copy trump loyalists. We need a Wyoming constituent loyalist. Now that would be exciting!
As bad as Republicans/MAGA are, Democrats in no way offer an acceptable alternative.
Vote 3rd party or drop out and remove your consent to be governed by this corrupt incorrigible unreformable Govt.
The Govt only gets its authority from “the Consent of the Governed”. Look it up in the Declaration of Independence.
We’re at a point in our state’s history where someone actually believes that “Trump’s most reliable vote” would be a better election slogan than “Wyoming’s most reliable representative”. Allegiance to a NYC billionaire has more selling value to our population than doing right by our citizens. As a Wyoming native, it might actually be time to relocate, if these have become our collective values.
What a disappointment! I was hoping he would be an independent thinker. Someone willing to put his partisan agenda aside and work with others in Congress. He’s just like our current congressional cowards, Barrasso, Lummis and Hageman, a bootlicking Trump lackey!
Great. Another Trump butt kisser. I hope his parents don’t get thrown in a detention camp by ICE. I suppose the Senator would pull some strings if they did.
While his service is appreciated, his willingness to cut back on EPA protections for our air and water is not. Not supporting curbs to gun violence is especially troubling. Aligning with the trump circus is especially puzzling since trump has no understanding or respect for our troops, except to use them for personal vendettas and financial gains. Will he represent all Wyomingites or just the far right?
Well stated Diana.
LOL, you think anyone supporting Gun CONTROL has a snowballs chance in He11 running in Wyoming?
Maybe look at moving to the coasts if you want more gun violence and the laws to go with it.
Nope, nope, and never….. the sooner people realize this MAGA crap and Trump were a huge con job on the American people and move away from it the better.
Another populist backward thinking narrow minded idiot.
Just what we need, another ‘conservative’ that goose steps to the criminal in the White House. Although I appreciate his service, we need someone that’s different from what we have. He isn’t.
Interesting resume!
could have a republican nominee with 20 % of the vote in the primary .