Wyoming will soon recognize the Constitution Party as the state’s third major party. Constitution Party candidate for governor Rebecca Bextel captured roughly 16% of the vote in Tuesday’s general election, surpassing the 10% threshold required for a minor party to be elevated to major‑party status.
What the law requires
State law permits a minor party to become a major party when one of its candidates for governor, secretary of state or U.S. House receives at least ten percent of the total vote for that office in the general election. Once that benchmark is met, the party gains the right to nominate candidates through the primary election process rather than through party conventions.
Bextel’s performance and reaction
According to the secretary of state’s unofficial results, Bextel’s 16% share comfortably clears the ten‑percent mark. In a statement to WyoFile, Bextel thanked voters and warned that many “misinformed voters” still blindly supported the Republican ticket, a strategy she says Democrats hoped would help their own candidate.
“Thank you to everyone who cast their vote for me yesterday,” Bextel said. “Nine weeks ago, I entered this race to fulfill a promise I made to the people of Wyoming: to give them a choice in this gubernatorial election. While the results were not what I had hoped for, it is clear that there are many misinformed voters still out there who blindly voted for an R, which is what the Democrats were counting on to get their guy in there!”
Historical context
This is not the first time a Wyoming minor party has reached the major‑party threshold. In 2014, Constitution and Libertarian candidates for secretary of state each earned enough votes to qualify. However, both parties fell back to minor status after the 2016 election cycle.
In the current cycle, Libertarian Shawn Johnson of Casper ran for U.S. House, while three Constitution Party candidates pursued higher office: Bextel for governor, Tamara Trujillo of Cheyenne for secretary of state, and Jeff Haggit of Mountain View for the U.S. House. Only Bextel met the ten‑percent requirement.
Party backgrounds
Bextel and Trujillo were formerly members of the Republican Party. Johnson and Haggit have also run under their current party banners in prior elections. Haggit currently serves as vice chairman of the Wyoming Constitution Party, and Bextel has been a prominent figure in the party’s recent growth.
Earlier this year, Bextel announced she would run as a third‑party candidate for governor if Republican voters selected Sen. Eric Barlow of Gillette in the primary. She previously sought the chairmanship of the Wyoming Republican Party and was involved in the controversial “Checkgate” episode, where she distributed campaign checks to lawmakers on the House floor.
Financial disclosures and complaints
The Constitution Party’s chairman, Josh Shimkus, said he recruited Bextel after seeing her potential as an ally. Shimkus admitted he was interested in obtaining “Bextel bucks,” a phrase the press used to describe her fundraising appeal.
Wyoming law does not require parties to file campaign‑finance reports until November 13. Bextel amended her filings on Oct. 29 to show more than $362,000 in donations from the Constitution Party, up from an earlier reported total of about $89,000. Jackson Democratic Representative Mike Yin has filed a complaint alleging that contributions to several gubernatorial campaigns may have exceeded the legal limit for individual donors. The secretary of state’s office is reviewing the allegations.
What comes next
The election results remain unofficial until the state canvassing board certifies them next week. Once certified, the Constitution Party will be listed alongside the Republican and Democratic parties as a major party, granting it primary ballot access and other privileges under Wyoming law.
Wyoming voters now have a genuine third‑party option on the ballot, a development that could reshape future elections and give citizens more choice at the polls.
Original reporting: Buckrail (Jackson WY) — read the source article.
