CheckGate’s Rebecca Bextel Running For Governor With Wyoming Constitution Party

The Teton County woman who gained notoriety for passing out campaign donation checks on the floor of the Wyoming House chambers is running for the Wyoming Constitution Party’s nomination to become governor. Rebecca Bextel made the announcement Wednesday morning, the party chair confirmed.

If she wins the nomination, she will face the winners of the Republican and Democratic primary elections, as well as the Libertarian Party nominee in the Nov. 2 general election. The Republican primary is shaping up to be a three-way contest between former House Speaker and current state Sen. Eric Barlow, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, and retired Marine Corps Col. Brent Bien. Bextel’s tagline is “An insurance policy against Eric Barlow.”

Wyoming Constitution Party Chair Joshua Shimkus said the party’s internal data reflects that Degenfelder and Bien are trying to garner the same vote. “And we believe that they’re going to spoil for each other and hand the nomination to Eric Barlow,” he said.

Bextel grabbed headlines starting Feb. 11 after she handed out checks on the floor of the state House of Representatives to at least four representatives two days prior, after the body had adjourned for the day. She was handing out donations on behalf of a friend, Teton County conservative philanthropist Don Grasso. There was no law or rule against the act at the time, though a House investigation and law enforcement investigation both followed to probe for bribery. As of last month, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said his investigation was still ongoing.

House Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin raised the issue Feb. 11 and urged delegates to vote against introducing a bill that Bextel had championed due to what he called bad “optics.” The bill, which sought to ban housing mitigation fees statewide, cleared the House and died in the Senate after senators discussed the CheckGate controversy. House-appointed investigators unanimously cleared their peers of bribery and misconduct, though they urged additional signage and protective steps going forward.

Shimkus said the Republican and Constitution Party platforms are similar, but the Constitution Party puts more emphasis on the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, which safeguard individual rights and states’ sovereignty. He said he approached Bextel about running, and she decided to do so May 5. She changed her party affiliation Tuesday and resigned from Teton County GOP leadership, where she had been a state committeewoman.

Bextel’s campaign website states, “Like many of you, I know Megan Degenfelder or Brent Bien would make an excellent Governor! I sincerely hope one of them beats out Eric Barlow for the Republican nomination, but unfortunately, history is not on the side of us conservatives.” The site notes that in 2018, conservative philanthropist Foster Friess and now-U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman both challenged Mark Gordon for the GOP gubernatorial nomination; Gordon, the more moderate candidate, won. Bextel’s site says Wyoming’s Republican primary “tends to favor the Democrat among the candidates” and that her run “aims to allow conservatives two lanes for the same race.”

The Constitution Party convention is set for June 19-20 in Cheyenne.