There’s no place for deception in democracy

This year’s election is unlike any that Wyoming has seen before. More races are contested this year than at any other time in recent memory, and those races largely break down on ideological lines. Although the action is primarily focused on the Republican primary, Wyoming voters have genuine choices on what the future of our government will be.

Opinion

Along with this, Wyoming is seeing the intrusion of the worst parts of national political campaigns. This is especially true when it comes to the coordinated attack mailers that many of us have received. The mailers have targeted members of the Legislature who are not affiliated with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. They are untrue, personal and poorly done. The people behind these mailers should be ashamed of themselves — both on account of their character and their competence.

One specific Virginia-based group has engaged in particularly bad conduct.  They have sent out identical mailers in multiple legislative races that are almost entirely false. Simply put, they are lying to the people of Wyoming.  They make false claims about votes that did not happen, they attack in personal and spiteful ways and they try to trick Wyoming voters into believing things about these legislators that are patently false.

The one silver lining surrounding these mailers is that they are so poorly done that it undercuts their effectiveness. In one mailer sent in early July, the card misidentified which candidate was the incumbent, included the wrong dates for early voting and could not even get the picture of the candidate right. Rather than the actual candidate, the mailer included the picture of a U.S. Senate staffer with the same name. The sloppiness of this group would be 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 that engage in similarly bad conduct. The Wyoming Freedom PAC, affiliated with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, recently sent out mailers with outright lies on them — accusing multiple legislators of voting to remove former President Trump from the ballot. No such vote ever occurred. Rather, these legislators voted for a budget footnote limiting the Wyoming Secretary of State from expending state funds to engage in litigation based on other state’s election laws. These are very different things and trying to say they are the same is a lie. Those who put out these mailers, and those who continue to push the false statements contained in them, are lying to the people of Wyoming.

These mailers reveal the character of those who back them. When confronted with the lie, both Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette) and Secretary of State Chuck Gray embraced it. Not only were these officials willing to lie, but when caught in the lie, they were unrepentant. It shows a 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 put in them, and we should not reward their willingness to deceive their constituents.

While the out-of-staters can be dealt with by merely ignoring them, those closer to home require more vigilance. They have shown a willingness to outright lie if doing so will advance their goals of increasing their own influence. We need to be diligent and decide what type of place we want Wyoming to be. Are we just another battlefield in the culture wars, where national interests control our state? Are we willing to cede our state to those who would lie and cheat to govern it? Or are we willing to push back and reject those who would use unethical and immoral tactics to try to deceive us?

Wyoming needs to hold those who seek power at the expense of truth to account. We deserve more and better from our public officials. Those candidates who refuse to disavow lies told to their constituents have breached the public trust. They harm our state and our social fabric through their betrayal. We must not reward their degradation of our political system. We have the choice, right now, on how to respond to attempts to lie, cheat and deceive. It is up to us to decide what type of state we are. Choose wisely.

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