Lawsuit seeks to overturn Wyoming's 'sore loser law,' let primary rejects run again

A Wyoming law prohibiting failed primary election candidates from seeking the same office as an independent in the general election is unconstitutional, claims a lawsuit filed Wednesday afternoon in Laramie County District Court.

Matt Malcom, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination in Cheyenne’s House District 61 during the primary, and former Wilson lawmaker Jim Roscoe are the suit’s two plaintiffs. 

Roscoe represented House District 22 as a Democrat from 2009 to 2012, and then as an independent from 2019 to 2022. Malcom lost his primary bid to the incumbent, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Daniel Singh (R-Cheyenne), who secured 59% of the vote.

“While Malcom sought the nomination of the Republican party, his desire to serve as an elected representative of House District 61 supersedes his desire to be the nominee of any political party,” the complaint states. “Therefore, Malcom wishes to run for that office in the general election as an independent candidate.”

Following his primary loss, Malcom attempted to file to run as an independent candidate, the complaint states, but Secretary of State Chuck Gray rejected the petition, pointing to the state law that disqualifies him. 

“An unsuccessful candidate for office at a primary election, whose name is printed on any party ballot, may not seek nomination by petition for the same office at the next general election,” according to state statute. 

Roscoe did not run for office this election, but has concerns that Wyoming’s major political parties have become increasingly dominated by national political interests, extremism and hostility to members of the opposing party, according to the complaint, “all of which are making it more difficult to achieve reasonable consensus solutions for the people of Wyoming.”

Known as a “sore loser law,” the statute was enacted in Wyoming in 1972, according to Ballotpedia. But the suit claims the law is at odds with the state’s constitution, specifically a provision that requires that “the laws of this state affecting the political rights and privileges of its citizens shall be without distinction or race, color, sex, or any circumstance or condition whatsoever, other than individual incompetency, or unworthiness duly ascertained by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

“We are seeking a judicial declaration that Wyoming’s laws prohibiting a candidate who is unsuccessful in a party primary from running in the general election as an independent violates the Wyoming State Constitution,” William Schwartz, an attorney for the plaintiffs, wrote in a press release.

“These laws unconstitutionally infringe upon Matt Malcom’s political rights to run as an independent candidate and Jim Roscoe’s political rights as an independent voter.”

The suit names Gray in his capacity as secretary as the defendant. 

“The statute is there for a good reason, in order to prevent candidates from circumventing the primary election process by running as an independent after losing their primary,” Gray said in an email to WyoFile. 

Gray also said his office rejected Malcom’s petition because it lacked his signature and Malcom did not obtain approval from the secretary of state’s office before circulating the petition for signatures — both of which are required by Wyoming law.

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