There is no room for deception in democracy

This year’s election is unlike any Wyoming has ever seen before. There are more contests this year than at any time in recent years, and these elections are largely being fought along ideological lines. Although the action is mostly focused on the Republican primary, Wyoming voters have real choices about what the future of our government will look like.

Furthermore, Wyoming is home to the worst parts of national political campaigns. This is especially true of the coordinated attack emails that many of us have received. The emails targeted legislators who are not part of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. They are untrue, personal, and poorly crafted. The people behind these emails should be ashamed of themselves – both for their character and their competence.

One particular group in Virginia has been particularly bad at sending out identical emails during multiple legislative elections that are almost entirely fake. Simply put, they are lying to the people of Wyoming. They are making false claims about votes that did not take place, they are making personal and spiteful attacks, and they are trying to get Wyoming voters to believe things about these legislators that are obviously false.

The only bright spot in these emails is that they are so poorly done that they are less effective. In one mailing sent in early July, the card misidentified the incumbent, provided incorrect early voting dates, and even did not show the candidate’s picture correctly. Instead of the actual candidate, the mailing showed a picture of a U.S. Senate staffer with the same name. The sloppiness of this group would be downright comical if the misinformation were not so widespread.

Unfortunately, there is not just one bad actor in this year’s election. Wyoming has its own homegrown groups behaving similarly badly. The Wyoming Freedom PAC, which is affiliated with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, recently sent out emails containing outright lies – accusing several lawmakers of voting to remove former President Trump from the ballot. No such vote ever took place. Rather, these lawmakers voted for a footnote in the budget that prevents the Wyoming Secretary of State from spending state funds on litigation based on other states’ election laws. These are very different things, and trying to claim they are the same thing is a lie. Those who sent these emails, and those who continue to spread the false claims contained therein, are lying to the people of Wyoming.

These emails reveal the character of those who support them. When confronted with the lie, both Freedom Caucus Chairman John Bear (R-Gillette) and Secretary of State Chuck Gray embraced it. Not only were these officials willing to lie, but they showed no remorse when caught. It shows their willingness to seek power at any cost. They do not care about the truth or about maintaining their moral standards as long as the result is power in their own hands. They have betrayed the trust the public has placed in them, and we should not reward their willingness to deceive their constituents.

While people from other states can be dealt with by simply ignoring them, more vigilance is needed with those closer to home. They have shown that they are willing to lie outright if it serves their goals of increasing their own influence. We must be careful and decide what kind of place we want Wyoming to be. Are we just another battleground in the culture wars where national interests control our state? Are we willing to surrender our state to those who lie and cheat to govern it? Or are we willing to fight back and reject those who use unethical and immoral tactics to deceive us?

Wyoming must hold accountable those who seek power at the expense of truth. We deserve more and better from our public officials. Those candidates who refuse to recant the lies they told their constituents have betrayed the public trust. They are damaging our state and our social fabric with their betrayal. We must not reward their denigration of our political system. We now have a choice about how we respond to attempts to lie, cheat and deceive. It is up to us to decide what kind of state we are. Choose wisely.