Native News
Wyoming’s Single Native Voice is One Too Many
Native Vote 2026
Secretary of State says a district that serves Wind River should be examined in light of Supreme Court decision.
Gerrymander this?
Wyoming’s Secretary of State wants to bring the Supreme Court’s nonsense about gerrymandering down to the state level. That means redistricting the legislative seat that elects Shoshone and Northern Arapaho representatives from Fremont County’s District 33. Chuck Gray, the secretary of state, is the the chief election officer and he is a candidate for the U.S. Congress.
From Kerry Drake in WyoFile:
I don’t know Gray’s thought process, but I think it probably went something like this: He saw a way for Wyoming to get its own redistricting plan to curry favor with the president. The Equality State is 84.6% white and 7.5% multiracial; all other races combined total less than 8%. The state doesn’t have enough of a minority population to racially gerrymander a district.
Wait a minute, Gray must have realized, Wyoming does have House District 33, which was designed to include many Native Americans (who make up only 2% of the entire state’s population) who live on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The district was designed in that manner because when the Legislature approved its redistricting plan in 2021, it emphasized the need to put “communities of interest” in the same district.
Rep. Ivan Posey, a Democrat from Fremont County, now holds the seat. The primary is in August, so redistricting would have to be lightening fast and even then it would result in chaos. And get this: Only six Democrats (out of 62) now serve in the state legislature.
In 2024, Posey told Wyoming Public Radio that he was running because there are some legislators willing to find consensus.
It’s a unique district because the tribes have so many unique issues associated with governance and related to the state. When I was on the Business Council all those years, we may not have had a good relationship with the state at times, but there are some issues that we worked together on. We agreed to disagree.
The process now that I see in Wyoming politics is either “for me” or “against me.” I’m not saying that across the bar, but I’m saying that we see that part of politics where there’s no dialogue, there’s no middle ground to meet and do the best for districts and the state of Wyoming in general.
That is an idea will be tested again.
Jordan Dresser, a former chairman of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, wrote on Facebook:
“… Fremont County and the elected seats there is one of the only opportunities the tribes get the chance to have representation. And now he is trying to strip that of us. But did he meet with tribes and have consultation when he turned over all Wyoming voting data which includes personal information to this current administration? Did he have tribal consultation over his support of the SAVE act which puts limits on what ids can be used while voting when historically places all across Wyoming sometimes deny our tribal ids when we try to cash a check? I think the answer is no he didn’t. Voting is a right. Everyday it feels like we’re moving backwards. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago when we as Native people and other people of color were openly treated to racism. Feels like the same thing today.”
The governor, not the secretary of state, would have to call the legislature into a special session to make this nonsense the law. That’s unlikely to happen. But this is an early warning because Wyoming won’t be the last state to push for less Native representation at all levels of government.