GOP grapples with write-ins

CASPER — After learning of a write-in effort to oust Republican nominee Sen. Ogden Driskill, the Campbell County GOP expressed frustration at Republican candidates “re-inventing themselves” to run in the general election.

Following the primaries, supporters of Roger Connett, who lost by 442 votes to Driskill in the primary race for Senate District 1, started a grassroots write-in campaign called “Roger is Right” to challenge Driskill in the general election.

Driskill, R-Devils Tower, is the Senate’s Majority Floor Leader and has been in the Legislature since 2011. This was Connett’s first year vying for a Legislative seat.

Another Republican candidate, Rep. Bill Fortner, R-Gillette, came in third.

There’s no candidate on the November ballot other than Driskill, so it’s very likely that he’ll win a fourth term in the Legislature.

Connett told the Star-Tribune that he hasn’t been involved in the write-in effort centered around him.

“I told them they could use my name, but that I wouldn’t be a part of the effort,” he said.

Ted Davis, a Crook County resident who unsuccessfully ran for House District 1 in 2014 and 2016, is leading the “Roger is Right” campaign, which he said began in earnest in mid-September.

Davis said he didn’t ask Connett to be involved in the write-in effort because he didn’t want “to pit him against the Republican Party.”

“Our primary dynamic has really been distorted lately through crossover voting,” Davis said. “In some ways, this campaign is to help express some dissatisfaction in that crossover vote.”

Davis said he considers Connett to be more conservative compared to Driskill, with a platform closer to that of the Republican Party.

Fortner, the other losing candidate in the Senate District 1 primary race, told Davis he would write-in Connett’s name for the general election; mailers promoting the “Roger is Right” campaign say: “Bill Fortner states, ‘Roger gets my vote!’”

Similar efforts to oust Republican nominees have popped up around the state following the primaries, though not always in the form of a write-in campaign.

Most notably, a group of moderate Republicans, as well as some Democrats, tried to get a Republican to run as an independent against Chuck Gray, the deeply conservative nominee for secretary of state. But that effort failed.

There’s also a write-in effort for Republican Brent Bien, who lost in the primary race for governor to incumbent Gov. Mark Gordon.

Bien told the Star-Tribune at a GOP State Central Committee meeting in September that he wasn’t involved in the effort, although he has posted advertisements for the campaign on Facebook.

The Campbell County GOP expressed its frustration with such campaigns at the same time that it announced it had unanimously voted last week to give $5,000 in support to the campaigns of Republican nominees who will face challengers in the November elections.

One of those candidates, Speaker of the House Rep. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, will face independent candidate Patricia Junek in the race for Senate District 23.

Barlow has been in the Legislature since 2013. He was the House Majority Floor Leader before becoming Speaker of the House.

Junek, although running as an independent for the general election, is deeply conservative. She challenged Barlow as a write-in candidate in the primaries.

The Campbell County GOP will also give $5000 to Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, who will challenge Constitution Party candidate Larry Williamson in the House District 53 race.

Campbell County commissioners appointed Knapp to fill the House seat in November 2020 after the former representative, Republican Roy Edwards, died from COVID-19.

Knapp served three terms as a county commissioner prior to becoming a lawmaker. This is Williamson’s first year running for a Legislative seat.

A statement from the Campbell County GOP said that the “strong consensus” to support these Republican nominees is “consistent with past practice” and upholds the GOP’s “mission of electing Republicans.”

Early voting started on Sept. 23. The general election is Nov. 8.