Gabe Green, a would-be Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Wyoming, has turned to federal court to challenge the state’s five-year residency requirement. Green, who was born in Casper, Wyoming, but spent 19 months in Arizona from August 2023 to March 2025, was disqualified from the Democratic primary ballot by the Secretary of State’s office.
Background
Green, a self-described ‘DINO’ (Democrat in name only), filed suit against Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray in U.S. District Court, asking the court to order his name placed on the Democratic primary ballot for the August 18 election. He also seeks a resolution on whether he could legally serve as governor if elected.
Green’s challenge is based on two constitutional claims: the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which protects the right to travel between states, and a First Amendment argument that restricting who can run burdens not only candidates but also voters, who have a right to a full slate of choices.
Residency Requirement
The Wyoming Constitution requires a gubernatorial candidate to have been a resident of the state for at least five years preceding the election. Green argues that the recency requirement and the recency qualification of the residency requirement violate the U.S. Constitution.
Green’s brief cites the 1970 Supreme Court case Dunn v. Blumstein, which held that durational residency laws ‘single out the class of bona fide state residents who have recently exercised this constitutionally protected right, and penalize such travelers directly.’ Green argues that tying eligibility to the most recent five years, rather than five years total, is what fails constitutional scrutiny.
The strongest precedent supporting gubernatorial residency requirements comes from Chimento v. Stark, a New Hampshire federal district court case. However, Green argues that this case only validated residency requirements in general, not recency-qualified ones.
Next Steps
A hearing date has not been set for Green’s lawsuit. If the court reinstates him on the primary ballot, the question of whether he could legally serve as governor remains unresolved. Green has built his campaign identity around the ‘DINO’ brand and plans to affect Wyoming policy and politics over the next four years, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
Original reporting: Oil City News (Casper WY) — read the source article.
