Out and wanting back in: An old lawmaker fights for another shot at wintering in Cheyenne

EVANSTON—Bob Wharff is what they call a supercommuter.

Every morning, he cruises for an hour down Interstate 80 to Park City, Utah. Evenings include the same ride back north to get to his Uinta County residence.

Wharff pays the bills these days working security at a gated community in the Wasatch Range mountain resort town, a gig that includes driving a ski shuttle come winters.

Rather than take it easy once he’s back home, the 61-year-old stays on his feet. From 5:30 to 9 p.m. every evening, life consists of knocking on one door, then another, then another, he said. The goal is to walk the entirety of Evanston, a southwestern Wyoming town of about 12,000 people.

“I figured in order to get through everybody in my district, I got to start hitting 50 people a day,” Wharff said during an early July campaigning outing.

House District 49, confined to Evanston, was once Wharff’s . He walked away from the seat in 2022, when he unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Wendy Schuler (R-Evanston) in a bid for the Wyoming Legislature’s upper chamber. Rep. Ryan Berger (R-Evanston) ran in his place, and won.

Now Wharff really wants back in.

Partly it’s because he’s had a rough run at life of late: His wife left him, and months ago they finalized a divorce. His relationship with his daughter deteriorated. Meanwhile, there’s also been a spate of health issues, including a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis and even a bout of COVID toes that turned parts of his feet purple.

“It was a fun year,” Wharff said sarcastically. “I would like to see what it’s like to be [back in the Legislature] and not be focused on other things.”

At Evanston residents’ doorsteps, Wharff doesn’t try to gain appeal by throwing a pity party. His argument for reoccupying office is about politics.

During his two-year stint in Cheyenne, Wharff was known for a hard-line, uncompromising approach to politics — including tactics that got him labeled as uncivil, disrespectful and even mean . He positions himself as farther right than Berger.

“What I tell people is I’m right of center, he’s left of center,” Wharff said. “I think that’s fair.”

Wharff does not consider himself aligned with the far-right Freedom Caucus: He broke off from that Republican bloc in 2022 before his attempted Senate run.

Berger, a special education teacher and Special Olympics coach, has taken a different approach to campaigning. Through early July he hadn’t really knocked doors at all, though he took to the streets more avidly as election day neared. His philosophy is more about getting out into the community — into stores and attending events.

“You get out. I’m always out,” Berger said from his front yard in Evanston.

Berger’s running largely on his accomplishments as a freshman representative. He calls himself a “conservative problem solver” and eagerly pointed out an endorsement from the National Rifle Association .

“I’m not going there to Cheyenne just to sit there and complain,” he said. “I’m going to Cheyenne to get things done and to work. And learn.”

In his first session in early 2023, Berger and another freshman, Rep. Cody Wylie (R-Rock Springs), shepherded through a bill that gave Wyoming residents a one-week head start to search for antlers every spring. He was also a member of the Legislature’s Education and Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs committees. Looking back on his first couple of years representing Evanston, he pointed to property tax reform , helping secure public employee raises and passing the new Wyoming budget as some of his most notable achievements.

“I’m proud that those budgets are strong and they’re thin,” Berger said.

Wyoming’s 2024 primary season has been marked by a nasty campaigning, name-calling and PAC-funded mailers with false claims , and the House District 49 race has been no exception.

Berger, who often voted with Republicans who’ve traditionally held power, has been the subject of smear mailers branding him a “RINO” and more.

“It’s hit me pretty good,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to it.”

Wharff, meanwhile, has been mostly spared, he said. With one week until the election, his goal of attempting to talk to every Republican in his district is in reach.

“I have 330 doors left to knock,” he said. “I’m getting closer.”

Wharff isn’t the only former lawmaker trying to win back a seat in the Wyoming Legislature this election cycle

In far eastern Wyoming, JD Williams is challenging Rep. Allen Slagle (R-Newcastle) for his old seat in House District 2.

Rep. Tomi Strock (R-Douglas) faces a primary challenge from Robert Clausen for the House District 6 seat, which he occupied from 2017 until 2022. Marshall Burt , previously an Independent, is running as a Republican against Rep. Cody Wylie (R-Rock Springs) for the House District 39 seat in Sweetwater County’s primary.

Two Republicans running against Rep. Tamara Trujillo (R-Cheyenne) are both former lawmakers: John Romero-Martinez and Lee Filer . Former representative Sara Burlingame , a Democrat, is also running in new-to-her House District 11 following a move. She’ll take on the winner of Seth Ulvestad and Jacob Wasserburger, Republicans who’ll face each other in next week’s primary election.

See WyoFile’s election guide for more information about the 2024 primary election, which takes place Tuesday.

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