Chuck Gray touts conservative record, vows to defend Wyoming industries

At a campaign event in Weston County, Secretary of State Chuck Gray described his decade in Wyoming politics and sketched priorities he would pursue as the state's U.S. House member, emphasizing coal-market access, election rules and protections for local industries.

Gray, the state's top election official and a 2016 former state representative, pointed to a string of conservative legislative gains and said they translated into tangible policy wins. "I'm a huge coal guy," he said, arguing Congress could use budget and statutory tools to blunt West Coast objections to coal export terminals and secure access to markets abroad. He described a 2019 bill his caucus passed to enable litigation to defend coal export rights and said Governor Gordon vetoed that measure.

Gray highlighted several election-related changes from his time in state office, including proof-of-citizenship rulemaking that he said began in 2023 and later legislative enactment, and other measures he supported such as banning ranked-choice voting and imposing durational residency requirements for primary registration. "We brought it through," he said of the proof-of-citizenship work, describing it as part of restoring oversight between the secretary of state and county clerks.

He also framed his work on the State Board of Land Commissioners and the state loan and investment board as evidence of attention to resource and infrastructure issues. Gray said he opposed a proposed wind-to-hydrogen lease in Converse and Niobrara counties, and credited a campaign of public pressure that, he said, led two board members to change votes and the lease to be rescinded.

Gray criticized what he called "insiders" and media coverage that he said opposed his reforms, and attacked several opponents by name during an extended audience Q&A. He described plans to press trade authorities over Chinese competition in the soda-ash market and to seek stronger dissolution authority over entities with foreign ties.

The speech closed with Gray urging local volunteers to help the campaign and announcing additional events in Crook County. He provided his campaign contact information and said he will continue outreach across rural Wyoming.