Nine of 10 Republican candidates tied to ‘Checkgate’ lost in Wyoming’s primary

Nine of the 10 Republican candidates who received “Checkgate” campaign donations on Wyoming’s House floor and elsewhere during the 2026 legislative session lost in Tuesday’s primary election. 

The controversy — which overshadowed the session and spurred investigations, legislative rule changes and an executive order from the governor — involved Rebecca Bextel, a Teton County conservative activist, handing out campaign checks on the House floor after lawmakers had adjourned for the evening on the session’s first day. 

Don Grasso, who was soon identified as the Teton County donor behind the $1,500 checks, told reporters the donations were intended for 10 Republican candidates: House Speaker Chip Neiman of Hulett; Reps. John Bear of Gillette; Marlene Brady of Green River; Gary Brown of Cheyenne; Chris Knapp of Gillette; Tony Locke of Casper; Darin McCann of Rock Springs; Joe Webb of Lyman; Sen. Bob Ide of Casper; and former lawmaker Mark Jennings of Sheridan. 

All but Knapp lost their bids for another term in the Wyoming Legislature in Tuesday’s stunning primary election upset, which saw the Wyoming Freedom Caucus lose control of the House and backslide in the Senate. Ahead of Tuesday, campaign mailers targeting the Freedom Caucus referenced Checkgate, with one depicting Bextel as a puppeteer controlling candidates. 

Knapp, who had not yet filed his campaign finance report by publishing time, did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment. Reports were due to the secretary of state’s office Aug. 11. 

Reps. Bear, Brady, Brown, Knapp, Locke, McCann, and Webb all ran for reelection to the House, while Sen. Ide sought to retain his Senate seat. 

Jennings, who lost a Senate bid in 2024, lost again Tuesday when he attempted to run for House District 30, a seat he previously represented for about a decade. 

Neiman also lost his bid for Senate District 1 against incumbent Sen. Ogden Driskill in a race that exemplified the Republican divide in Wyoming. Neiman accepted a check from Bextel in the speaker’s office, but didn’t reveal that until after choosing the lawmakers who would serve on the “Checkgate” investigatory panel.

For several of the candidates, last week’s campaign finance due date marked the first time they explicitly and publicly acknowledged receiving a check from Grasso. Several declined to confirm during the legislative session whether they had accepted a check, while others only acknowledged so much when they spoke under oath during a House Special Investigative Committee hearing spawned by the affair. 

While the committee ultimately determined that Bextel handing out checks did not violate the Wyoming Constitution nor did it constitute legislative misconduct, the panel said it “was undesirable and must never occur again,” in its final report. 

Meanwhile, the criminal inquiry by the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is ongoing. 

Some of the Republican lawmakers named by Grasso took aim at two Democratic lawmakers who spoke out about the checks being distributed on the House floor. Locke, for example, filed a complaint against Reps. Karlee Provenza of Laramie and Mike Yin of Jackson, accusing the two Democrats of breaking legislative rules by speaking about the checks publicly and to the press. Lawmakers ultimately dismissed that complaint. Other check recipients questioned the public attention devoted to the controversy and argued that they were victims of unfair media scrutiny. 

In May, Bextel announced she would run as a Constitution Party candidate for governor if Sen. Erc Barlow won the Republican nomination, which he did.