Wyoming Lawmaker Files Complaints Over Gubernatorial Campaign Finance Violations
Wyoming House Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin filed an amended campaign finance complaint against Constitution Party gubernatorial nominee Rebecca Bextel on Monday, alleging her campaign accepted illegal corporate donations and exceeded individual contribution limits.
Yin launched the review after reviewing campaign finance reports to check if candidates had corrected maximum donation violations, Cowboy State Daily reported. He filed three initial complaints late last month against Bextel and Republican contenders Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien.
“My interest is in seeing the law applied evenly and the integrity of our elections protected,” Wyoming House Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin wrote in each of his complaint letters to Secretary of State Chuck Gray.
Bextel finished a distant second in the Nov. 3 election behind Governor-Elect Eric Barlow, the Republican nominee. Despite the loss, Bextel secured major-party status for the Constitution Party by capturing roughly 16% of the vote, clearing the 10% threshold required to place a dedicated party line on the 2028 primary ballot.
The amended filing targets four $1,000 donations from Susan Gore, which Yin argues breach the state’s $2,500 individual donor cap by $1,500. Bextel told Cowboy State Daily that her campaign was issuing refunds to Gore and filed three amended reports, though none record the repayment.
“I withdraw the offer of cure, and ask that the complaint be referred to the Attorney General,” Yin wrote in the amended complaint dated Monday, revoking a previously offered correction window for Bextel.
Yin also withdrew a separate charge regarding a $500 donation from John Warren, acknowledging that Warren is Bextel’s father and therefore exempt from the cap. Bextel’s initial filing had listed Warren among general individual sources before correcting the classification in an amendment.
The new complaint introduces allegations that Bextel accepted funds from corporate entities, a practice barred under Wyoming law. Filings show a $2,500 contribution from Wyoming Stockman of Wheatland, along with a $500 gift from Lone I Ranch and a $150 donation from Abundance Unlimited LLC.
The Secretary of State’s Office lists no active corporate entity matching Wyoming Stockman, though state records show a nonprofit corporation named Wyoming Stockmen For Liberty.
“The committee can resolve this count with its records; the report should show who gave the money, and if an entity did, the money should be returned,” Yin wrote.
Yin stated Tuesday that the Secretary of State’s Office has taken no action on his late-last-month complaints against Bien and Degenfelder, and neither campaign has filed amendments addressing those claims. Degenfelder’s team previously dismissed Yin’s complaint as frivolous and disputed his interpretation of campaign finance law regarding donations carried over from her prior Superintendent of Public Instruction run.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray stated in a text message that his office is reviewing the original filings in accordance with Wyoming law and will evaluate the amended complaint using the same standards.