Do I even have to explain why Liz Cheney is being primaried right and left for her seat as US Representative for Wyoming’s at-large District House seat? The only problem is there are so many 2022 challengers for her that voting splitting could help her win. The field needs to be narrowed down soon to build up her opponent’s campaign presence and war chest.
Anthony Bouchard has been married to his wife, Billie Jean for 24 years and they have four children. He revealed this past week that when he was 18 years old, he got his 14-year-old girlfriend pregnant. They married the next year and divorced three years later. He raised their son, Tony Raymond Bouchard, after his ex-wife killed herself in 1990. This son is currently in jail in CA, awaiting trial on several sexual offense charges.
At the age of 11 Bouchard worked as an electrician’s helper. From there he attended trade schools and Florida State College at Jacksonville. In addition to being a welder, master automotive technician, and automotive business consultant over the years, he owns and runs a septic cleaning company and is a realtor.
In 2016, Bouchard was elected to the Wyoming state senate. One of the founders of Wyoming Gun Owners, he promises to defend the Second Amendment and protect America from “angry socialists and their allies in Big Tech, academia, and the Fake News media”. He notes that he wants to “take on and defeat extreme environmentalist ideologues”, secure the border and stop illegal immigration, and advocate for an America First foreign policy. He is pro-life and wants to limit women’s sports to biological women.
His campaign website is anthonybouchard.com. He is currently second in fund raising for this seat, behind Liz Cheney.
Wyoming state representative Chuck Gray attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a B.S. from their Wharton School of Business and a B. A. in 2012. Due to his performance as a conservative radio host in Wyoming, his listeners encouraged him to run for a state government seat. He lost the race in 2014 but won in 2016.
Gray is running because, as he states on his website, “For far too long now, we’ve been misled and betrayed by an elected official who is more concerned with her political career than representing us. That betrayal was no greater than when this misguided politician supported Nancy Pelosi instead of Wyoming and voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump.” He believes in small government, free market capitalism, and the importance of small businesses in America. A term limits supporter, he has signed the US Term Limits pledge. He recently sponsored a voter ID bill in Wyoming and believes in shoring up election integrity. He is pro-fossil fuels/US energy independence and wants to stop illegal immigration.
Gray’s website is chuckforwyoming.com. He was third in fund raising for the first quarter, behind Cheney and Bouchard, but as of 4/15 he had the most “cash on hand” of any Cheney opponent. Dick Morris commented that he sees Gray as a possibility to beat Cheney.
Marissa Joy Selvig and her husband, Ryan, have four children and live in Riverton, WY. She grew up in Minnesota and graduated in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a B.S. in speech communication and theater arts. She is the owner of Sweetheart Brewery Company, where she brews and bottles her homemade kombucha for sale at a local farmer’s market. She donates some of the proceeds from her sales to a pro-life crisis pregnancy center. She is also a professional harpist, an accompanist and music teacher, and the theatrical music director at Central Wyoming College.
Her political career began when she won a town council seat in Pavilion, WY (population 2,000). She was appointed as mayor by the council from 2019 until April 2020. Currently, she serves on her church ministry and devotes time to their charitable efforts at the Wild River reservation. She is also chair of the committee that evaluates economic development projects in Riverton and determines who will receive funds from the area’s new economic development tax.
Selvig’s website is selvigforcongress.com. She favors term limits, the Second Amendment, legal immigration, and a strengthened US border. She believes in ending federal funding of colleges and universities as well as instituting student loan reform; she also supports school choice. She has endorsed the FAIR tax, balancing the US budget, and civil unions. She does not believe in using regulations to address environmental issues and wants other countries do their part to address these concerns, rather than only demanding the US do so.
Darin Smith has been married to his wife, Alicia, for 22 years and they have five children. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming in 1996 and later also earned his J.D. there. He started an investment/401K business after graduating and opened his law practice in 2000. He sold the investment company in 2005 and currently has a real estate business with his wife. He has worked with many nonprofits such as the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Family Research Council. Heavily involved in community service, he and his wife are also youth pastors at their church.
Smith was chair of the Laramie County Republican Party in the past. He ran against Liz Cheney in 2016 for the House seat but lost to her in the primary. He supports the Second Amendment and wants to stop Big Tech censorship. He is pro-life, pro-veteran, and believes in limited government. In support of US energy independence, he has suggestions for ways to increase natural gas use in Wyoming vehicles, as well as stopping the “unconstitutional war on coal”. He wants to protect farmers from water and land use regulations that limit their stewardship of their own farms and their abilities to make a living.
Smith’s campaign site is smithforwyoming.com. He describes himself as a “Deplorable” and attended the January 6 rally, where he tried to stop people from storming the Capitol. He told Bill Sniffin, publisher of Cowboy State Daily, “I am not sure what else the president could do to stop the invasion of the Capitol once it started. But a much bigger issue is how all these different things came together: first, the impotent response by the Capitol police; second, the sudden appearance of these agitators who had not been that visible during the earlier rally; and third, the police opening the gates so the agitators could rush on in. I saw these things with my own eyes.”
