House Leader Yin Files Amended Election Complaints Against Bextel

Rep. Mike Yin, the state House minority floor leader, filed an amended campaign finance complaint against Constitution Party gubernatorial nominee Rebecca Bextel on Monday. Yin filed the documents with the Secretary of State’s Office as a private citizen. He also maintains separate complaints against Republican gubernatorial candidates Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien.

Yin’s original complaints, filed late last month, alleged that donations to these candidates exceeded Wyoming’s $2,500 limit for individual donors to statewide races. Yin initially offered Bextel a period to correct the violation. That window has now closed. In the amended complaint, Yin withdrew his offer of a cure and asked that the case be referred to the Attorney General.

Bextel’s candidate committee reported four $1,000 donations from Susan Gore. This total exceeds the legal cap by $1,500. Bextel stated her campaign was issuing refunds to Gore. Although her campaign filed three amended reports, none of those filings shows a refund to Gore. Yin withdrew one other charge against Bextel regarding a $500 excess donation from John Warren. Yin acknowledged in his Monday letter that Warren is Bextel’s father and therefore exempt from the limit. The campaign originally listed Warren as an individual source but later recoded him as a family member.

Yin raised new concerns about corporate donations in Bextel’s filings. Wyoming law forbids corporations from donating to campaigns. Her committee lists three corporate donors. One amended filing reports a $2,500 donation from an entity called Wyoming Stockman of Wheatland. The Secretary of State’s Office does not show an active entity by that name, though it lists a nonprofit called Wyoming Stockmen For Liberty. The campaign also lists a $500 contribution from Lone I Ranch and a $150 donation from Abundance Unlimited LLC. Yin wrote that the committee should use its records to identify the donors and return money from entities.

Bextel finished second in the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election. She received roughly 16% of the vote, behind Gov.-Elect Eric Barlow. This result secured major-party status for the Constitution Party. Wyoming law requires a 10% vote share in a race for governor, secretary of state, or U.S. House to achieve this status. The party will now have its own ballot in the 2028 primary election.

Yin said in a Tuesday email that the complaints against Bien and Degenfelder have not received action from the Secretary of State. The Degenfelder team called the complaint frivolous and disputed Yin’s interpretation of the law. Yin argued that donations to her prior Superintendent of Public Instruction campaign should count toward her gubernatorial limit if made in the same cycle. Bien noted that his campaign may have duplicate entries and that the law provides a 30-day cure period.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray did not immediately respond to a text message inquiry about the status of the complaints. Yin stated his goal is to see the law applied evenly and to protect the integrity of elections.