Teton County Commissioner Natalia Macker works closely with Robert Short as part of the state commissioners association.
She thinks his leadership there is strong enough to propel him to one of the state’s “Big Five” executive offices.
“I’m really excited for the background that he would bring,” Macker said. “He values local input and decision-making in work that the state is doing.”
Short, a Converse County Commissioner, is running for Secretary of State. Should he win, he would replace Chuck Gray, who ran in 2022 on a platform of distrust in elections in Wyoming and the nation. Gray’s tenure has been punctuated by his public spats with Gov. Mark Gordon, the media, and the League of Women Voters.
Short said he’d like to “make the office boring again.”
Gray is running for Congress and again championing election integrity.
At a blustery meet and greet this week in Jackson, Short fielded questions from about a dozen residents concerning data centers, election integrity and keeping young people in the state.
Most of the constituents were Republican and two wore Eric Barlow for Governor hats. Barlow and Short are both seen to be more moderate candidates in one of the few states to have a prominent further-right Freedom Caucus bloc in its legislature.
Five Republicans are vying for Secretary of State, including Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Williams, a Cody Republican. The other three are Jason Fearneyhough, Qwenton Eagle Oviatt and Charles Young. Bryan McCarty is running as the lone Democrat.
“I am not a Freedom-Caucus aligned person, but I believe that good ideas can come from anywhere,” Short said.
Cracking down on voter fraud has been a top priority for sitting secretary Gray. Short said voter fraud is rare. The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation lists four cases of convicted election fraud in Wyoming since 2000. Short said that fixating on the issue disrespects hardworking election workers and volunteers.
His bigger priority is helping seniors like his 88-year-old mother avoid scams. That would fall under his responsibilities as the state’s business regulator.
The state’s second-highest office also votes on boards that govern state land use. Short brought up debates over a glamping company’s leasing of state land that led to several lawsuits between Teton County and the state. He said it was an example of the need for local control.
“I think it’s important to remember that each individual county or municipality has their own identity, their own needs, and to try to shoehorn them into one shoe, that’s not an approach that’s very effective,” he said.
Short’s goal to make the office boring again resonated with Jackson Republican Andree Dean.
“I love politics but I don’t love these kinds of politics that have been cropping up on the state level,” Dean said.
“I was impressed,” said another resident, Katie Wilson. “I like what he had to say.”
Secretary of state is an important position, Wilson said, though the candidates weren’t as known to her as the potentials the more prominent state races.
Wearing a pink heart hat, Wilson said she was grateful for Short’s message of representing all of Wyoming, no matter people’s identity.
“Our past Secretary of State that didn’t seem to be standing for that,” she said.
