Worland Democrat announces bid for secretary of state

CASPER (WNE) — Worland resident and Democrat Bryan McCarty announced his campaign for Wyoming secretary of state earlier this year.

McCarty told the Star-Tribune the absence of a Democratic candidate for the state-level position in the 2022 election pushed him to run.

“We can’t just let the opposition have elected offices,” he said. “The literal least we can do is show up and get on the ballot.”

The only other declared candidate is Converse County Commissioner Robert Short, a Republican, who announced his campaign last week.

“I’m not going to pretend it’s not more than a little daunting,” McCarty said.

The last election between a Republican and Democratic candidate for secretary of state was in 2018, when former state representative James Byrd — now running for U.S. Senate — captured only 26% of the vote in the race against Edward Buchanan.

McCarty said he disapproves of current Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s willingness to be a formal advocate for President Donald Trump on policies unrelated to the responsibilities of his office.

He added that he has no concerns about election integrity in Wyoming, a key issue for Gray, because the registration process is already adequately secure.

“You can’t register to vote if you don’t have an ID and aren’t a citizen,” McCarty said. “It’s a total non-issue.”

McCarty, a retired railwayman, supplier and web tech, said his priorities as secretary of state would be “executing the responsibilities of that office as they are spelled out by the governing statutes and constitution” and bringing the position back to a more administrative role rather than advocacy.

“The real cornerstone of my campaign is democracy itself, and I’m really not bashful about framing it as our house, as the analogy for democracy, is just on fire,” McCarty said.

This story was published on March 10, 2026.