- Wyoming PBS, Wyoming Public Media, and Cowboy State Daily present Vote 2026, A Debate Among Candidates in the Race for Wyoming Governor, live from the auditorium at Riverton High School.

Greetings, viewers, audience members and candidates.

I'm Steve Peck, public affairs producer for Wyoming PBS.

We welcome you tonight to the general election debate among candidates for governor of Wyoming.

That seat currently is held by Mark Gordon, a Republican who is retiring after two terms in office.

This is the first of two debates tonight on Wyoming PBS.

Candidates for Wyoming Secretary of State follow almost immediately after the conclusion of this debate.

The general election is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Early voting in Wyoming began October 5th and is ongoing.

You heard our debate partners during the opening sequence of the debate, and we add our thanks now to Fremont County School District 25 in Riverton and its superintendent Jodi Ibach for hosting this debate.

All ballot certified candidates were invited to take part tonight.

Those who accepted are on our stage.

The order of speaking was determined by a random drawing backstage in which the candidates participated.

This debate is being aired and streamed live by both Wyoming PBS and Wyoming Public Media.

Our debate comprises four segments.

First, a preview question which was sent to the candidates yesterday in advance.

Second, three questions in sequence to the full slate of candidates with each candidate answering the same question.

Third, a short answer lightning round with each candidate responding to a brief prompt.

We expect to have time for as many as 10 lightning round cues.

Finally, a closing statement from each candidate.

In a joint briefing before the debate, we express to the candidates that we expect and require civil conduct and decorum during the debate.

I'm the moderator of tonight's debate and I'll also be a questioning panelist.

Our remaining panel consists of two experienced Wyoming journalists, Clair McFarland, reporter for Cowboy State Daily and Jordan Uplinger of Wyoming Public Media.

Wyoming Public Media and Wyoming PBS are separate and unaffiliated organizations.

The timer for the debate is Ryan Schuckman of Wyoming PBS.

Candidates were briefed on the operation of the talk light before the debate.

Now we meet the candidates participating in today's debate introduced from left to right as you see them on stage.

Eric Barlow, nominee of the Republican Party.

Kenneth Casner, nominee of the Democratic Party.

Rebecca Bextel, nominee of the Constitution Party.

Now, time to begin the debate.

The following preview question was sent to each candidate and they've had a day more or less to prepare.

Candidates appearing on the general election ballot 20 days from now is proposition one, which if approved by voters effectively would reduce property taxes by 50% statewide.

Official estimates put the amount of lost revenue at nearly $200 million during the first two years if the measure is approved.

Property tax revenue funds many services for local governments in Wyoming, meaning services including public schools, road maintenance, firefighting, and emergency services among others could be affected.

Do you support proposition one, both from the perspective of the office you seek and as an individual voter?

Why or why not?

We'll begin with Mr.

Barlow, 60 seconds.

- Wyoming people, Wyoming and its people care about our kids and our communities.

Property taxes, as was stated, funds those things, our schools, K-12 education and the services receive in our counties, our towns, and through our special districts.

I do not support proposition one.

The Wyoming legislature, which I've been a member of for 14 years, in the last five years has taken up five measures that significantly reduced the property tax burden of Wyoming families on their residential property.

We don't understand the full consequences of that, so actually adding additional property tax reductions will impact services that are so important, such as the school that we're standing in today for this program, property tax support school districts, the schools in your community and the services that you receive.

So I do not support it and I think we have done a lot and there's more that can be done through the legislature.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Mr.

Casner.

- Well, first of all, I'm going to start off with this.

I remain fully committed to upholding the Wyoming Constitution and defending the rights of our citizens against federal overreach, outside influence, while firmly standing by the United States Constitution and the supreme law of the land.

Also, my oath, I don't think any governor candidate has ever said this.

My oath to you is to provide representation that moves Wyoming forward and supports highly qualified life, ensuring that we, the people of Wyoming, control our own destiny.

With that being said, you have a bigger problem than referendum number one.

You have a big problem right here in Fremont County.

And I will say this, there are $66 billion in Fremont County that you don't know about.

And with that, that works.

- Thank you.

Ms.

Baxter.

- First of all, Wyoming, I never trust official estimates.

They're always wrong.

Property tax is a scam.

You're renting your house.

You know what's such an interesting thing about property tax?

If you're a municipality or your town, if you get grants from the state, they're earmarked for the water district or for the new water tank or whatever.

Property tax is a free for all on whatever those elected officials want to spend money on.

In Rock Springs, it might be a golf club membership for the mayor.

In Teton County where I live, it's taxpayer funded benefits for illegal aliens to pay their rent with the first last in deposit program.

We're paying people to stock tampons in the men's restroom in Teton County.

Don't fall for it.

This is an unrealized game.

We are forcing seniors out of their home.

I find it like a conflict of interest that the Wyoming Realtors is all of a sudden in support of, well, they're against getting rid of proposition one.

Well, they make a lot of money when a senior citizen gets driven out of their home.

Also, for the rest of the evening, when I refer to my opponent, it is not the precious Mr.

Casner.

He is as cute as he can be.

I'm talking about somebody else.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Our next round is all panel questions.

Each candidate will answer the same question.

We'll ask three questions.

The first from Clair McFarland.

- What qualifications do you have?

What qualifications do you have to be governor of Wyoming?

- What qualifications do I have to be governor of the state of Wyoming?

Well, let's just put it this way.

I have 24 years of politics and I've done it all the way up.

And the other part about it is, is by this oath, I have to defend all of you.

I use representation.

I do not use politics.

That means in course of this actions that we have even in Fremont County today, you weren't notified, you weren't told, you weren't told anything of $66 billion coming to your public lands and everything else.

And they're the magnificent seven and the magnificent seven or eight are Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Havita, everything.

And our people that you are, are sitting at home and you have no idea that this has even taken place.

Your politicians don't even tell you.

- Thank you.

Ms.

Baxler.

- Well, the number one thing that qualifies me to be governor is I can spot bull crap from a mile away.

And I'm sure many of you mothers out there could do the same thing.

I cut my teeth finding government scams like the Wyoming Business Council and the green energy scams that my opponent has funded for 14 years.

With the leadership of my opponent, we have the worst GDP of all 50 states.

We can't afford four more years of that.

I'm coming in there at Wyoming with a baseball bat and I'm going to start swinging for us, the people of Wyoming.

I never wanted to be governor, but I had to save us from becoming Colorado.

I have identified properties all over the state that don't pay property tax owned by Japanese and East Coast equity investors.

If you want more information, please go to eyesonwyoming.com.

Also just for fun, check out barlowbull.com.

- Thank you, Mr.

Barlow.

- So we've been campaigning to be the next governor of Wyoming for 14 months.

And I started in the beginning.

I said I'm running for Wyoming, not against anyone, for all of the citizens of Wyoming, for the future generations of Wyoming, and I'll continue doing that.

So the qualifications to be governor are constitutional, 35 years of age, an elector, a resident of Wyoming.

So those are the basics, but then actually what have you done in Wyoming?

What have you done?

I've lived Wyoming, raised a family in Wyoming, worked Wyoming, a business owner, and served Wyoming, both in our community, the things that we care about, the Boys and Girls Club, 4-H, all of those things, and then served in the Wyoming legislature.

Those are things that build relationships and understanding of the things that are important in Wyoming, not just the 14 months, but the 60 years of experience that I bring to the table and relationships that matter for the future of Wyoming.

- Thank you, sir.

Our next question is from Jordan Uplinger.

Ms.

Bextel, you're first to respond.

- Water quality and availability have always been an important public issue in Wyoming.

Now, pressures due to water problems in other states with far larger populations than Wyoming are being felt increasingly here.

What would be your guiding philosophy in talks with downstream states with bigger populations regarding water availability from Wyoming?

- So first of all, we need somebody that's going to fight for Wyoming.

We need to protect our water rights.

We need to renegotiate the Colorado Water Compact.

Now let me ask you a question, Wyoming.

Do you want a fighter at the table that's going to put your best interest at heart?

My opponent, last year when the educational savings account bill came to the floor, he was voting on bills before that.

Then all of a sudden he leaves the floor.

I hear he's hiding behind a door in the back, comes back in after the educational savings account bill and continues voting.

He didn't have the strength to go against the Wyoming teachers unions.

Do we need that kind of weak man negotiating our water contract with other states?

I think not.

I promise you, Wyoming.

I promise you.

I'm putting you first.

- Thank you, Mr.

Barlow.

- Thank you.

So water is precious in Wyoming.

Thankfully, we're having a little bit of a shower here across actually much of the state.

That's a little bit of relief from drought, but we have long-term issues as well.

The Colorado River Compact, that's a very complex document, obviously, from 1922, and the downstream states are demanding or wanting more water.

Wyoming, we will continue to fight it legally and with the science to protect the water rights of Wyoming's industries, our agriculture, our communities.

That's what we need.

It's a fundamental to having a successful economy and communities, and we will do the work to make sure our rights and our interests are defended to the greatest amount possible.

- Thank you.

The third question this round comes from me.

Mr.

Barlow, you'll be first to respond.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Mr.

Casner.

Mr.

Casner.

Okay.

You want me to go?

Yes, please.

- You betcha.

Well, you've got, right now, you have $66 billion.

You have $50 billion.

What do we do with it?

Where do we go with it?

Well, I can tell you, property tax is the least of your worries right now.

Your worries should be, how do you take that money and put it into a fund where you can give your ranchers, your farmers, your people opportunities to redo their ponds, redo their areas so that we can make water for the upcoming years?

Use this money because you don't know this money's here and you don't have a voice in how you use it.

Wyoming Constitution says the following thing.

Everything in Wyoming, especially water, is owned by the people.

Not by the Congress, not by the senators, not by anybody else, but you, the people.

We the people have to ask the questions, why don't we hear these things?

Why can't we do better?

We can.

- Thank you, sir.

The next question is from me, Mr.

Barlow, you're the first to respond.

Candidates, a conservative estimate calculates that Wyoming in the last 20 years may have lost half its young college graduates to other states by the time they reach age 30.

Some ways of measuring that say could be as high as 75%.

Everyone agrees this is a problem and candidates often say Wyoming must address it, acknowledging that you've recognized the problem.

Do you have any specific ideas as governor for solving it?

Mr.

Barlow?

- Well, young people are our most precious resource.

We are blessed.

Kelly and I have two great young people who found a place in Wyoming, who are working in Wyoming, succeeding in Wyoming.

All of our kids and grandkids should have that opportunity.

So how do we do that?

First of all, as we've traveled the state, we engage with young people.

18, 19 different times now.

We've had sit downs with college age folks, high school folks and young professionals saying, "What are the challenges you're dealing with?"

So asking them what's on their minds, what their challenges are, that's the first part of it.

And we've had really good responses.

They have good ideas.

Now we have to get them to the table, not just at a coffee shop or in a listening session, start engaging them in the boards and commissions and the different things where they think they can make a difference.

So those are the two things.

Get them involved, listen to their ideas, and then the things we work on together, the things we all care about, thriving communities, economies that are robust and give them opportunities.

- Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Casner.

- Well, I'm going to go back to what I've been saying all along about the money situation.

The money situation in Wyoming is drastically high.

You're not told that.

You have $52 billion right now.

You're wondering about referendum one, it's 96.2 million.

That's it.

How do you get your kids to stay in Wyoming?

First of all, you got to look at government.

What is the largest population in our population of employment?

Government.

No government worker today wants to lose his or her job because they lose all their revenues.

So what do we do with the young people?

Where do they go?

How do they go?

We incorporate a whole different kind of work, a whole time of different system.

The system is, why don't we take them and let them tell us really what they want to do and where they want to do it.

And we help and encourage them to do it by not giving them money, but them earning that money.

- Thank you, sir.

Ms.

Bextel.

- Wyoming, I hope you notice that my opponent didn't just answer the question.

It's always a lot of platitudes.

We talked to 18 groups.

We wanted to hear what they had to say.

We want to create the opportunities.

The fact is 75% of the people, the students that attend the University of Wyoming, they leave the state.

75% of the students that attend community colleges and trade schools stay right here.

This is what you're getting set up on on my opponent.

It's greasing the wheel for well-connected people through the Wyoming Business Council scam.

We spent $55 million last year to the well-connected to create 40 jobs, some of them paying $20 an hour.

We don't need any more friends in the Wyoming Business Council, I can assure you of that.

The people around my opponent are here to enrich themselves.

I don't have one single person sitting here trying to get a job or a land transfer or a grant or a subsidy.

What we need to do is look at what made Wyoming great.

We need to get rid of the German studies at the University of Wyoming.

What does that do for anybody here?

I'm going to do a top-down approach on the University of Wyoming and figure out how to keep our youth here.

It's not the Wyoming Business Council.

- Thank you.

By my calculations, we have time for one more question in this round.

Elise, Clair McFarland will ask that question.

Mr.

Casner, you'll be first to respond.

- Wyoming legislative candidates aligned with the Freedom Caucus took a beating in the primary election generally, losing their majority in the Wyoming House, falling further from a majority in the Senate.

Will that make your job as governor easier or more difficult?

- Mr.

Casner, you're first.

- If I heard the correction or the statement correctly, the legislature in Wyoming... I'm going to say it.

I've said it all the time I've been up here.

It needs to be restructured.

And the way you restructured it is because we have... Governor Gordon has 48 representatives that talk to or 46 that talk to him every day.

That's way too many.

You have in Mr.

Barlow's situation and Mr.

whoever the president of the legislature has in the little part, they all go and sit on all these bills and all these committees and they come forward.

And yet Wyoming people aren't allowed to say, "We want that and we want that and we want that."

This man right here can sit on the bill and he can stop it that quick.

The one in the house can sit on a bill and stop it that quick.

It's time that stopped.

It's time we say the people want it, not what the investor wants.

- Thank you, sir.

Ms.

Bextel, Freedom Caucus.

- My job doesn't change based on who's elected Wyoming.

I'm there to put you first.

Who's been represented before is the well-connected.

My Republican opponent won't even sign the Republican pledge.

He won't promise you that he'll stick with the platform 80% of the time.

You know why that is?

Because the people that got him elected are the Democrats.

Representative Liz Store said the best night of her life was when Eric Barlow won the Republican nomination.

Now she's been married twice, right?

Sounds like she wasn't having a good time.

I promise you the best night of my life's not to include somebody like Eric Barlow.

What we have to do is stay steady.

I might do nothing but veto legislation for the next two years to stop us from being Colorado.

My opponent has sponsored legislation to make marijuana legal.

He's voted for illegal immigrants to have taxpayer funded benefits.

He actually voted to give legislators healthcare benefits while all of you in Wyoming are struggling to find your own insurance.

He's voted for Green New Deal scams galore.

Scams galore.

- Thank you, Mr.

Barlow.

- Thank you.

Well, like a lot of times, everything you believe, just because you say it louder or faster doesn't make it any more true.

I am faster.

I would say the role of a governor is outlined in the Wyoming Constitution.

It's pretty straightforward, just like the legislatures is, just like the judiciary, and that's what you adhere to.

Like Mr.

Casner, and thank you for your service to our country, Mr.

Casner, I've taken that oath of office as a Marine, as a legislator, and on several boards and commissions, I take it seriously.

When somebody says, "Well, that's not constitutional," I said, "Well, let's actually consult the constitution because that's our job, is to actually understand that and let's have those conversations about what the role of a governor is."

Now, the role of a governor is the executive branch.

I have been in the legislature for 14 years and I have interacted with the executive branch, the governors, the current governor and the previous governor routinely.

Relationships make things happen, make things better.

It doesn't matter about whether you agree with them or not.

You have to have a relationship to have a conversation.

- Thank you, sir.

We still have time for one more question.

Jordan Uplinger will ask it.

Ms.

Bextel, you'll be first.

- Given that data centers are here and that the economic demand for them appears likely to continue, is it better for Wyoming to have them than not have them?

- Wyoming, the guy that owns Prometheus Hyperscale, the demonic sounding name is going after me on Facebook.

That's because he wants my opponent in there.

I promise you, I'm the only thing standing in the way of Wyoming being taken over by data centers and nuclear waste from other states.

Buzz Hog Ogden Driscoll was spotted a few weeks ago in the back room of a restaurant in Sundance, meeting with the data center lobbyist and the nuclear waste lobbyist and five or six of their closest lobbyist friends.

Ogden said they were there to talk about rodeo memories.

He thinks you're stupid and can't see through it.

They think that my opponent's about to come in there and we're just here waiting to see what happens.

I promise you, Wyoming, on the first day, I'm going to sign an executive order to get rid of the warrantless mass surveillance of flock cameras.

We're going to require data centers to put a bond up so when the technology is absolute and the company's gone bankrupt, we're not left holding the bag.

I promise you, if I lose this election, we will be Colorado in a few years.

Please vote Rebecca Bextel for governor.

- Thank you.

Mr.

Barlow.

- So data centers, thank you, Jordan, are already part of Wyoming's economy in numerous communities, and there's proposals for more.

Now, that doesn't mean that they come without responsibilities.

We protect our water.

We all agree, I believe, on how important our water is.

We make sure our communities can actually support them, and if our communities have concerns, the companies that want to do this have to answer those concerns.

And finally, they require a lot of energy as well.

Wyoming's an energy state, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should be paying for their energy.

They have to pay their own way.

If they can do those things, then we don't say no.

We work to get to, let's make it work, let's make it better for Wyoming, let's strengthen our economy, and let's give our young people opportunities.

Data centers, the energy Wyoming produces can certainly be a part of that.

- Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Casner, data centers.

- Data centers.

That's a good topic right now.

And why I say that is because the data centers are here.

He said it.

It's true.

What you don't understand is how much they're taking from you.

They're not paying for any of this.

They're not even touching any of it.

In Fremont County, they have $138 billion invested.

Governor Gordon said on the 2nd of June this year, "Come on in, boys, and we'll let you have the open gates."

And that's our problem today.

We have no... Why did they come to Fremont County?

Fremont County has no rules.

It has no jurisdiction.

They can come in here and spy the land, take your wildlife, take your water, take everything they want because you don't have a lot to stop them in Fremont County.

That's not right.

This is our land.

We have to start fighting for our land, our rights, and our abilities.

- Thank you, sir.

Now we'll move on to our lightning round.

- Appointing judges.

- Appointing judges.

That's one I've never had.

Appointing judges is the responsibility, I think, of the people.

The people have the jurisdiction to appoint them.

Every judge that has to be appointed should be, "I propose this man to you."

- I don't like how we get a list of three judges.

They're given to us by a bunch of deep state swamp creature lawyers, trial lawyers and all that.

No, that system is set up for Wyoming to fail.

However, Wyoming, if there's a judge and the question on the ballot is should they be reappointed, the answer's no if they were appointed by Governor Gordon or Governor Meade.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- The process for reporting judges and justices is in the constitution.

If people are displeased with that, then amend the constitution.

- Thank you.

Our next lightning round prompt from Jordan Uplinger.

- Local control versus state control of K through 12 education.

Ms.

Masto, you're - First.

I think that the local district should be able to set the teacher's salary.

The end.

I'm done.

- Thank you, Mr.

Barlow.

- The funding of education is a state responsibility per the Wyoming Constitution.

The delivery education is local school districts.

- Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Casner.

- Correct.

He's correct on that.

But the other thing that they take out of it is once it's distributed, we don't follow it, and we're not getting our revenues, and we're not getting what we should be getting in our school districts.

Houston Pro and we don't get it.

- Thank you.

The next prompt is from me, Mr.

Barlow.

You'll be first.

The governor and the Wind River Indian Reservation.

- So the residents, the Native peoples of the Wind River Reservation are Wyoming citizens.

They are also, as a whole, sovereign nations, and having a robust dialogue and understanding with them is paramount.

- Mr.

Casner.

- Well, I'm going to give you Indian criteria right now.

You point with your finger like this out.

I believe we've let the indigenous people in Wyoming down for so long, we need to change that.

We need to let their education and their title of teaching in our schools.

- Thank you, sir.

Ms.

Bextel.

- It's a sovereign nation.

I think robust dialogue sounds like a career politician, but certainly if there's a problem, I hope they give me a call.

- Thank you.

Our next prompt from Clair McFarland.

Mr.

Casner, you'll be first on this one.

- Traditional energy.

- Traditional energy.

I don't even know what that means to me.

- Coal, oil, gas.

- Oil, gas, and all that.

We've lived that.

We know what it does.

We know how it works.

The thing about it is we can't last forever on it either.

So we need to look forward, do different things.

Why can't we?

If we can go to the moon, we sure as heck can change Wyoming for the better in the future.

- What was the... I didn't hear it.

It's about traditional sources of energy.

- Yes.

Yes.

More, more, more, please.

Now, my opponent said that we should testified in front of the US Congress that we should remove our dependence on fossil fuels in favor of a renewable model.

If you don't believe me, and I promise you he's trying to reword it, wordsmith it, trick you, go to barlowbull.com.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Traditional energy fuels our economy, it fuels our communities, it fuels Wyoming's future, and it will continue to be a strong part of it.

- Thank you.

The next prompt is from me.

Ms.

Bextel, you'll be first.

It's from Jordan.

Ms.

Bextel, you'll be first.

Okay.

- Management of federal land in Wyoming.

- I don't want to do anything with federal lands in Wyoming.

I love federal lands in Wyoming.

The end.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Wyoming... Public lands in Wyomings are very important to our economy.

To our way of life, but we get a seat at the table if they're not managing them properly or want to make abrupt changes.

- Thank you.

Mr.

Casner.

- Federal lands.

Federal lands are the Americans' lands.

We're doing a bad job of watching it.

We're getting better.

We've made some changes.

However, federal land is not Wyoming State land and it's not Wyoming's purchase.

Wyoming lands have to be protected just as bad as that does.

- Next prompt is from me, Mr.

Barlow, you'll be first.

Age limits or term limits?

- On elected office?

- Yes.

- You'd have to change the constitution to have age limits or term limits for elected people in Wyoming.

Mr.

- Casner.

We tried it.

1976, we tried term limits in Wyoming and the people voted 79% in favor of getting them.

It didn't happen.

They threw it out.

The legislature threw it out.

I'm all in favor of term limits.

In fact, I'm only going to run for four years and then after that, somebody else can take over the reins.

- Ms.

Baxlo.

- Mr.

Barlow opponent, they weren't asking for an explanation to the question.

They were asking for an answer on your opinion.

And I would say I'm in favor of term limits.

- Thank you.

We're continuing with Clair McFarland.

- Gun rights.

- Mr.

Casner, you're first.

Yes.

- Gun rights.

Why do we keep bringing this up?

Your constitution says you have the right to bear arms.

You have a militia in Wyoming.

You have everything you have.

Don't make it specialized, just live by the Constitution of the United States and then we can do it.

- Ms.

Bextel?

- Yes to the Second Amendment.

I have a gun everywhere by the way.

So if you see me, I'm fully armed and loaded.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Thank you.

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution and Wyoming's own constitution protects our right to bear arms.

- Thank you, candidates.

Next prompt from Jordan Uplinger.

- Recruiting health insurance companies to Wyoming.

Ms.

- Bextel, you're first.

We have a problem with the pool of applicants in Wyoming.

My husband and I actually get our health insurance through a co-op.

It's called Medishare.

There's certain conditions like you can't abuse alcohol, you can't take illegal drugs and you can't use tobacco, but it has saved our family a lot of money.

I want to look at options like that.

- Continuing on, the next prompt is from me.

Healthcare is... Can I interrupt?

Oh yes, sir.

You may.

- Healthcare is a challenge and I'm pleased that the Medishare is working out because that's actually legislation that I sponsored to provide to Wyoming families.

- Me?

Do I get a talk on this one?

- You do.

- My answer was so spectacular they forgot about you guys.

- My apologies.

Mr.

Casner.

- I have what the legislature of Wyoming denied and that is called Bear Care.

Bear Care was to make it a state run operation within Wyoming.

They opposed it, really opposed it and said no.

Why not?

Why can't we do it?

- Thank you.

The next prompt is from me.

Ms.

Baxter, you'll be first.

I think that was first last time.

Mr.

Barlow, you'll be first.

I'll pick me.

I'll go first.

Jordan, this is yours, right?

Okay.

Wind development in Wyoming.

More, less, the same?

- There'll be less.

- Okay.

Mr.

Casner, wind development.

- I think you're going to see wind development disappear in the next four to five years because what you're going to see is AI systems taking over and doing it around and wind energy, believe it or not, is not as efficient as it should be.

And we need to look at that way.

- Ms.

Baxter, wind energy.

- Wyoming, I'm never passing your money out for solar scams, wind farm scams.

All the people with the Barlow signs on the ranches, those are the ones that are Eric's buddies that are getting paid with state dollars to put those scams out there.

No to Wind Energy Farms, but don't look at what he says he's going to do.

Look at what he did for 14 years.

- Clair McFarland has the next prompts.

- Grizzly bears.

Management of grizzly bears.

- Grizzly - Bears.

Grizzly bears, Mr.

Kazmier.

- Man, I'm getting hit with some good ones now.

Grizzly bear habitat.

1996, we had a major deal in 1988 called Yaw Stone Fire.

10 years later we had wolves reinduced.

Everything that's happening, do you know that you could take a grizzly bear today?

And that's it.

We'll have to hear about it - Later.

Ms.

Bextel.

- The Wyoming game of fish paid a million dollars in claims last year for grizzly bears.

It's something I'm absolutely going to look into.

Wyoming, if it's in your favor, the answer's yes.

I will always put you above, even if it's a cute little animal.

The answer is yes to you, Wyoming.

- Mr.

Barlow, Grizzly's - State management.

- Thank you, sir.

We're continuing on.

Jordan, you're next.

- The use of AI or artificial intelligence by state departments, agencies.

- Ms.

Bextel, you're first.

- I don't really have an opinion on that right now, but I tell you what, these flock cameras are gone.

And Wyoming, I promise you, this is going to be sacrifice for me for the next four years.

Vote for Rebecca Bextel.

And please do not vote for Robert Short.

I would choose a dog catcher above that guy for Secretary of State.

Please vote for Tamara Trujillo.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Yeah, it's Mr.

Barlow's turn.

- We'll get you next.

I apologize if I'm out of order.

Mr.

Barlow, you're next.

Mr.

Casner.

- Yes.

The question is the use of AI in state departments and agencies.

- Certainly has potential for efficiency and the speed of commerce so that agencies can respond better to the needs of our industries.

- Mr.

Casner, AI and government.

- AI and government's already here.

You just don't know it.

And the reason it's here is because Google, everything I've done here in research is on Google, everything.

And it comes quick and it comes fast.

It helps.

It can also take away.

Look at our children in school, help or take away.

- Continuing on.

Mr.

Barlow, you'll be first with this one.

Legislative service as a prerequisite for serving as governor.

- Unnecessary.

- Ditto.

Well, I certainly don't think so.

Sometimes it takes a mom of four to get things done.

- That was a quick one, candidates.

Thank you.

Clair McFarland, next prompt from you.

Mr.

Casner, you're first.

- We're getting thin.

All right.

Governor's proposed budget.

- Governor's proposed budget.

Wow.

Proposed budget isn't really up to the governor.

The governor makes suggestions to the budget.

When he makes suggestions, the real budget comes from the people.

It comes through their towns, municipalities, their counties, and everything else.

And it's all stereotyped to population and everything.

- Ms.

Bextel.

We've - Never really had any meaningful cuts to the budget from the governor because we've had nothing but swamp creatures in there for decades.

When I'm in there, I'm going to be taking special attention, particular attention to the 900 series.

That's where all the well-connected people get the developer and consultant studies and the other scams.

- Thank you.

Continue on with the lightning round.

Mr.

Barlow, you're next.

- The governor's proposed budget is part of the process.

The legislature actually passes the final budget.

- Another prompt or two to come.

Next from Jordan.

- ICE agreements or signing agreements with ICE.

This would go to Ms.

Bextel.

- Ms.

Bextel, your first ICE in Wyoming.

- I love ICE.

And on my first day as governor, I'm going to issue an executive order where illegal aliens will no longer be receiving driver's licenses.

And I'll remind everybody that my opponent voted for taxpayer funded benefits for illegal aliens.

It's a scam.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Wyoming Law Enforcement, local sheriffs, the state already participates with immigration and customs enforcement.

- Mr.

Casner, ICE.

- What made Wyoming immigrants?

I hate it.

I heard it today.

They're going to put them in my town in Elk Mountain to stand there and watch me vote.

What gives them that right?

Why did they have the opportunity to come in there in the first place?

Can we run our own state?

You don't want federal overreach.

That's it.

- Continuing with the lightning round, a prompt from me.

Mr.

Barlow, you'll be first.

Is Wyoming's economy diverse enough?

- No.

- 14 more seconds to elaborate if you'd like.

- There's work to be done.

We've been talking about a long time and there's new opportunities on the horizon with rare earth, uranium and other things in manufacturing.

- Thank you.

Mr.

Casner.

- You already got diversity going.

Like he said, uranium.

I was introduced to uranium.

They're that big and they're like Legos.

They can put them together and they can run themselves without us.

The other thing is that has to be done is we have to look out there.

We have to say to somebody, "You got a good idea?

Well, take a look at - It."

Ms.

Bextel.

- I'd like to develop Wyoming's core industries a lot more.

I think maybe we should get a USDA packaging facility for Wyoming's pork, beef and lamb.

I'd like to see another refinery.

We haven't had one since the 1970s, but I'm not looking to get into all these data centers and stuff like that.

- Thank you.

Next prompt from Clair McFarland.

Mr.

Casner, you're first on this one.

- An egregious example of federal overreach.

- Example of federal overreach?

- Yeah, a bad example of federal overreach.

- A bad example.

And evergious.

Okay.

Overreach.

- Yeah.

- Our horses are wild horses out there on the plains of Wyoming doing what they're doing, and we have federal people that come in and say, "You have to take them off and you have to do this because they're damaging the land."

That's federal overreach to me.

Anything that you step on in Wyoming would be from the federal government is overreach.

- Ms.

Baxdell?

- I would say things like mask mandates during the COVID scandemic.

I just always want to point out the people that told us that we need to hurry and get our kids vaccinated are also telling us that the world is overpopulated and we need to reduce the amount of people here.

I don't trust anything from the federal government.

- Mr.

Barlow.

- Egregious federal overreach.

I think actually the biggest challenge I think we all face with the federal government is our national debt.

That is overreaching into the future of this country.

- Continuing with the lightning round, Jordan Uplinger.

- Crypto and blockchain technologies.

- Ms.

Baxdell, you're first.

- I mean, it's here.

So I'm not trying to stamp it out or anything, but I also want to make sure that any policy that has anything to do with that's in the best interest of the people in Wyoming.

Whatever happened to that Wyoming crypto scam that Governor Gordon got in place?

- Mr.

Barlow?

- Well, it's certainly true it's here.

There's opportunities and Wyoming folks and other people are investing in it.

We've led the world in that regulation.

- Mr.

Casner.

- Go cryptocurrency.

Excuse my velocity, but crypto is here.

But the thing I don't like about crypto is, do you get anything out of it?

Do you?

Do you?

No.

Who gets the money?

The rich.

The poor don't get it.

- Continuing on.

The next prompt is from me.

Is the balance of power among Wyoming's three government branches sufficient at the moment?

Repeat.

Say the last part of it.

Is the balance of power among Wyoming's three branches of government appropriately balanced at the moment?

- Am I first?

- Yes.

- Is it appropriately balanced?

Well, it depends on who's there, who's serving on the Supreme Court, what the questions go before them.

Who's in the executive branch and who's in the legislature?

Everybody does their job.

That's article two.

You do your job, you do your job.

We stay out of each other's way.

- Mr.

Casner, balance of power in government.

- Balance and power in governance went beyond its limits, as far as I'm concerned.

In Wyoming, we have a thing called, what we call overreach.

Overreach is democratic overreach, policy overreach in there.

They keep it the way it is.

They don't want you to change it.

- I think that we all think that the legislative, judicial, and executive branches are in charge.

Really, it's not that Wyoming, and that's one of the reasons I'm running.

It's the well-connected.

It's the entrenched, unelected bureaucracy that really call the shots in Wyoming, and that's why I'm going to do this job.

It's to get us back where the people are in charge.

- Thank you.

Next, Clair McFarland.

- Wyoming Department of Transportation funding shortages.

- Casner?

Mr.

Casner, you're first with this one.

- I live in the Wyoming Department of Transportation's honey hole in Wyoming, and I'm going to tell you that right now because they have a lot to do with the good of Wyoming, but they've been overclassed.

And what I mean by overclassed... - Wyoming, did you know that the Wyoming Highway Patrol can only drive 400 miles a week now because the former director blew the budget on a bunch of stupid stuff?

When I'm governor, we're going to find the money where the highway patrol could do their job.

If somebody has an ICE detainer or a warrant and they don't come get them, they're released back into your community.

Can you believe we have a hundred million dollars for a $19 billion company in Gillette, but we can't help the highway patrol do their job?

- Mr.

Barlow, why not?

- Well, our roads are so important.

They would deliver our goods to market.

They would help our kids get safely to school.

We need to have them adequately funded and safe for our communities and our future.

- Continuing on with the lightning round.

Dealing with people who disagree with you, especially your first to believe.

- They could do whatever they want.

It's not going to change what I'm doing.

- Respectfully.

- Mr.

Casner.

- Under representation, which I strongly support, I represent everybody, whether you like me or you don't.

That's my job to make sure your voices are heard.

- Continuing for a couple more rounds, Clair McFarland.

- Sorry, we got a little scrambled.

I would go with Wyoming firefighting efforts.

Mr.

Farlow.

- Public safety is paramount for our communities, for our businesses, for our families.

I've supported and will continue to support all of our emergency medical services, firefighters, and law enforcement.

- Mr.

Casner, firefighting.

- Firefighting.

Firefighting has been the top seed in Wyoming.

In 1988, we went to Yellowstone National Park and fought.

In 19, up through the field, fires, every fire we do, our people come out.

They're called the National Guard.

They're called people that are good people and they support us all.

- I think firefighters are important.

I want to say how happy I was to tour the Honor Farm a couple weeks ago.

I met a lot of the inmates that do some of the firefighting, and I was also, just on a side note, extremely excited about the program where we let inmates have dogs.

- Thank you.

We've come to the end of the lightning round.

Now it's time for closing statements.

Candidates, you have 60 seconds.

Ms.

Bextel, you'll go first, then Mr.

Casner, then Mr.

Barlow.

Okay.

- How many minutes?

I'm sorry, did you - Say?

60 - Seconds.

Okay.

Wyoming, I never wanted to be governor.

I came as an insurance policy in case the two Democrat opponents both entered the field.

If you look at Mr.

Barlow's voting record, he is absolutely a Democrat swamp creature in any way.

I am going to work for you.

We've never had someone there to actually represent the people.

Nobody around me is trying to get bought off.

I'm considering this a sacrifice.

I promise you, I'm going to put you first.

If we elect this guy right here to my right, and we have to listen to him talk for the next four years, after we fall asleep, when we wake up in four years, we're going to be Colorado.

- Thank you, Mr.

Casner.

60 seconds.

- My closing statement is real simple.

You can't get by representation.

I ran on this ticket because I run on my own money, my own time, and I did it all my own way.

And the reason I did that is to show everybody out here what representation can do for you.

It'll make... The words these two people would hate is why.

Because when you're bought or you're paid for or anything else by the upper echelon, they don't like the word why.

Why forces them to come forward and do it.

Why do I say that?

Because I represent everybody in this floor, in this room tonight.

I want to represent us all and show you it can be done.

- Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Barlow.

- Well, first of all, thank you to our panelists for hosting tonight.

Thank you to the school district here.

Thank you for the citizens that are in the room and the folks that are watching online and live on TV.

It's a pleasure to be here.

My name is Eric Barlow.

I am the Republican nominee for Governor of Wyoming.

I'm running because I love Wyoming.

I love the honest, hardworking people of Wyoming.

I love our communities.

I love our outdoors, and I love the future of Wyoming.

I will do the work that is needed to protect our freedoms and make sure that we have opportunities in Wyoming for our children and our grandchildren.

Again, my name's Eric Barlow, Republican Governor Nominee for Wyoming.

Thank you very much.

- Mr.

Barlow, Mr.

Casner, Ms.

Bextel, thanks for your participation.

Thanks to the panelists and to the audience.

The debate for Secretary of State starts in a few minutes if you're watching Wyoming PBS.