Wyoming GOP could censure Gordon over contentious vetoes

CHEYENNE—The Wyoming GOP Resolutions Committee voted Friday in support of censuring Gov. Mark Gordon “in the strongest possible terms for his lack of performance, his behavior and his treatment of Wyoming citizens.” The resolution sets the stage for a Saturday censure vote before the full body at the State Republican Convention. 

The resolution to censure the governor takes aim in particular at Gordon’s veto of a property tax relief bill and a measure that would have repealed gun-free zones in Wyoming. 

The governor’s office declined to comment on the resolution until the full body votes on the censure.

The censure passed by a narrow 11-10 vote in committee. But this is only a recommendation, and the full body still has to take a final vote on the resolution Saturday before the censure becomes official. Censures carry no practical effect but serve as symbolic rebukes.

Friday’s vote is the latest outcry from members of the Wyoming GOP against the governor, whom some believe to be too moderate. Converse County GOP Vice Chairman Jim Creaser, who brought the resolution to the state convention, went as far as calling Gordon a “Democrat disguised as a Republican” — an accusation that has been frequently hurled among Republicans in recent years. 

Creaser’s harsh words for the governor didn’t stop there. 

“He’s a lame-duck governor. I think he needs to be made an example of,” he told WyoFile. Though Gordon is on the tail-end of his second term, the censure would serve as a message to future gubernatorial candidates running for office under a Republican banner, Creaser said. 

The censure would follow the Wyoming GOP’s November vote of no confidence against Gordon in response to a speech he gave at Harvard University during which he touted his “carbon negative” approach to energy policy. 

The resolution, which originated in Park County but was brought to the state convention by Creaser, cites Gordon’s veto of a property tax relief bill that passed the Legislature during this year’s short legislative session. Property tax relief was a priority for lawmakers during the budget session. A slate of relief bills cleared the Legislature, and Gordon signed most, but not all, of those measures into law. 

One of the bills that Gordon vetoed, and that the resolution cites, was Senate File 54 – Homeowner tax exemption, which would have applied a 25% exemption to the first $2 million of a home’s fair market value. Gordon argued in his veto letter that the exemption “would have only provided a temporary and very expensive tax exemption to all Wyoming homeowners at the expense of other taxpayers in our energy industries, retail and manufacturing sectors.” 

The resolution continues that Gordon “added insult to injury” when he described this legislation as “a socialistic-type of wealth transfer,” “a Bidenomic-type of ‘tax relief’” and an example of “electioneering exuberance” in the legislative session. It later accuses Gordon of “falsely [using and weaponizing] conservative language against his own citizens while behaving, spending and delivering outcomes like a liberal.” 

The resolution also took aim at Gordon’s veto of House Bill 125 – Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments — which would have repealed most gun-free zones in Wyoming and allowed people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms into most public spaces overseen by the state.

Gordon argued in his veto letter that HB 125 “erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right.” He signed into law this year four other measures that he described as “Second-Amendment friendly.” Last week, Gordon also directed the State Building Commission — which includes himself, the secretary of state, the state auditor, the state treasurer and the superintendent of public instruction — to reconsider its rules to “allow concealed carry permit holders to exercise their rights within the Capitol and other appropriate state facilities.”

The original draft of the resolution describes Gordon as having “no empathy for the average Wyoming citizen and homeowner” and encouraged Wyoming citizens “to provide no honor or respect” to the governor. But the committee voted to strip that language from the resolution. 

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Gordon isn’t the only elected official whom the Wyoming GOP has attempted to censure in recent years. Last year, a number of county GOPs tried — and failed — to censure Wyoming’s Sen. Cynthia Lummis for her vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. In 2021, the Wyoming GOP censured former congressional Rep. Liz Cheney and later voted to no longer recognize her as a Republican for her criticism of Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol (The Republican National Committee followed suit the following year and censured Cheney). 

The Wyoming GOP has also censured several state lawmakers and Republican Party leaders, most recently including Rep. Cyrus Western (R-Big Horn) and Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander).