Rebecca Bextel Announces ”Insurance Policy” Run For Wyoming Governor

A Jackson political activist who was involved in the "checkgate" controversy in the Wyoming legislature in February says she is running for governor on the Constitution Party ticket as an "insurance policy" against Eric Barlow being elected.

Rebecca Bextel handed out campaign contributions on the floor of the House to several conservative House members on Feb. 9. The House was not in session at the time and she maintained there was nothing wrong with distributing the checks in person as opposed to mailing them. A House investigative committee found no wrong doing in the incident.

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak launched a criminal investigation of the incident, but at last report no results of the investigation had been announced.

Bextel Will Campaign "As Hard As I Can" If Barlow Is GOP Nominee

Bextel is running as a member of the Constitution Party. But whether she actively campaigns depends on the outcome of the Republican Gubernatorial Primary election in August. On her campaign Facebook page, she says "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."

The page goes on to say "Historically, Wyoming’s Republican primary tends to favor the Democrat among the candidates. This leads to a two-term Governor that represents the values of less than a third of the Republican voters in Wyoming."

The post cites the nominations of Matt Mead and Mark Gordon as examples. Both Mead and Gordon went on to be elected governor and serve two terms each.

Barlow is a Republican State Senator from Gillette and a veterinarian. Bien is a retired Marine Corps Col. and Degenfelder, who has been endorsed by President Trump, is the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Bextel and her husband own and operate Mountain Business Center.