Across the country, Freedom Caucuses have tried to work their way into state legislatures to push the Republican party farther to the right. And in Wyoming, the caucus has gained a foothold.
The state’s Freedom Caucus has been a vocal minority for a couple years, pushing to ban abortion in most cases and restrict trans girls from sports teams. Now they hold a majority in the statehouse.
“I just haven't heard of any other Freedom Caucuses in states that have had the same degree of success that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus has,” said Matthew Green, a politics professor at the Catholic University of America.
For instance, the caucus in Idaho hasn’t been as influential recently because of a schism between members.
Green said Wyoming’s caucus is gaining seats, potentially because districts are small, so it’s not that expensive to run campaigns.
“It's also entirely possible that Wyoming is a state where you just have more voters that are receptive to that kind of insurgent populist conservatism,” he said.
He added that moderates may have handed the caucus more power by focusing their messaging around them.
“There's always the risk when you are in leadership that by challenging an insurgent caucus, you are giving them an incentive to kick you out of office in the next election,” Green said.
Freedom Caucus members were also elected in Arizona and Montana. It remains to be seen how this will affect legislation in those states in the year ahead.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
