Wyoming tribes call Sec'y of State's actions ‘direct attack on Native voting’
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray is calling for the state to reconsider how electoral maps are drawn near the Wind River Indian Reservation, prompting pushback from tribal governments, according to a new WyoFile report.
State government and politics reporter Maggie Mullen reported that Gray sent letters to Governor Mark Gordon and the Fremont County Commission citing a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrows the ability of states to use race as a determining factor in drawing maps.
Gray argues that maps created for House District 33 and Fremont County are unconstitutional because they consider race. He said the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision applies across the United States, including in Wyoming, and that “drawing districts based on race is a blatant violation of the United States Constitution.”
Both the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho have denounced Gray’s letters and called what he is suggesting a “direct attack on Native voting,” Mullen said.
Both tribes are calling on elected officials and voters to reject efforts they warn would undermine the principles of representative democracy.
The Northern Arapaho Business Council contends that the Callais decision does not replace a 2010 federal court ruling that found the use of at-large districting unlawful in Fremont County. The council says returning to that system would dilute the Native vote and eliminate fair opportunities for Native representation in elected office.
Mullen noted that Commissioner Clarence Thomas is currently the only Indigenous member of the Fremont County Commission.
“And then in the Wyoming Legislature, I mean, you’re talking out of 93 members, there is a single Indigenous member, right now, that voters have elected to the body,” Mullen said. “And that is state Representative Ivan Posey.”
Gray’s letters came at the official start of Wyoming’s 2026 election season. Mullen said Gordon has the authority to call lawmakers into a special session to redraw maps, but the governor’s office told her it is still waiting for guidance from the attorney general.
“I don’t get the impression that there is a strong appetite among lawmakers, or really the governor’s office, to redraw maps in the middle of an election,” Mullen said.
