Wyoming GOP leaves its top governor pick without party backing

Wyoming Republican Central Committee Chairman Bryan Miller announced on Monday that the party will not endorse Eric Barlow, the candidate who secured 58,825 votes to become the Republican nominee for governor. The decision leaves the state’s top Republican candidate without the formal backing of the party body established by the Legislature to govern the party.

Miller stated that the committee’s refusal is rooted in a dispute over statutory authority and the primary process. Barlow bypassed the standard endorsement path, arguing that the choice belonged to the voters and that the process violated state law. The party leadership disagrees, maintaining that its 69 members, elected from 23 counties, have the right to determine the party’s standard-bearers.

The committee had previously endorsed Brent Bien for the governor’s race. Bien finished third in the primary with 30,850 votes. Barlow defeated Bien and Megan Degenfelder, who received 38,746 votes, while Curt Blake received 2,161 votes. Approximately 100,000 registered Republicans voted for a candidate other than the party’s endorsed choice.

Tension between the leadership and the nominee stems from events during the Republican convention. Bien received prime space on the convention floor, while Barlow and Degenfelder were positioned in the back. The party also charged Barlow and Degenfelder for the privilege of posting signs outside the venue, a cost not levied on the endorsed candidate.

The legal dispute centers on Wyoming Statute 22-25-104, which prohibits political party funds from being used to aid one nominee against another in a primary. The party argues it did not buy advertising for Bien, but critics point to the use of party resources such as the convention hall, staff time, and the party website. In June, state GOP leadership filed a federal lawsuit to overturn this specific statute.

The split has drawn attention from high-profile political figures. President Trump endorsed Degenfelder, while all three members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation backed Barlow. Miller expressed a desire for the 213,000 registered Republicans to determine their standard-bearers, a process the voters completed in the primary.

The committee’s decision creates a distinct separation between the party leadership and its elected nominee ahead of the November general election. Barlow enters the race as the official Republican candidate despite the lack of an endorsement from the body that nominally governs the party.