Sponsored by The Open Range Record and Wyoming Stockmen for Liberty, the High Plains debate is being held at the historic Rialto Theater in downtown Casper. A cash bar and refreshments will be available.
The doors will open at 4:30 with seating first come, first served. The night will feature two debates in a modified classic format. Co-Owner of The Open Range Record, Rebecca Bextel, will open the evening with a few comments. The first contest will be a debate between candidates for the United States House of Representatives, followed by a gubernatorial debate.
On the importance of candidate debates, Co-owner of The Open Range Record, David Iverson said, “As the party of Lincoln, we have a long history of political debates. Lincoln himself spent an entire summer debating Stephen Douglas on the topic of slavery. Think of that, an entire summer on one topic. Granted, that topic was a tad more consequential than anything that will be discussed at our debate; Lincoln set a standard that everyone in 2026 can and should aspire to.”
The event will be livestreamed to The Open Range Record’s multiple social media platforms—Facebook, YouTube, Cowboy State Politics and The Open Range Record website and mobile apps.
On stage will be the five candidates who qualified for a seat through a poll conducted by The Open Range Record. The one-question poll remained open for the entire month of June, asking: which 5 candidates would you like to hear from in a debate. The top 5 candidates were invited to the debate stage; if one of them declined, the next candidate in line would be invited.
The poll winners were: Chuck Gray, Steve Friess, Kevin Christensen, Bo Biteman, and Jillian Balow. Each of them was contacted and given an RSVP deadline of July 3. Jillian Balow had a scheduling conflict, and Bo Biteman never responded to repeated emails. This opened the door for Frank Chapman and David Giralt to join the stage.
The confirmed slate of candidates for the congressional debate is Gray, Friess, Christensen, Chapman and Giralt. This debate will be moderated by Co-Owner of The Open Range Record and three-time college national speech and debate champion, David Iverson; and Founder of Wyoming Stockmen for Liberty, Lynn Everts.
The second and final debate of the evening will be between candidates for Wyoming Governor, Brent Bien and current Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. Eric Barlow was invited to debate but declined, citing a scheduling conflict. The gubernatorial contest will be moderated by Iverson and Wyoming Stockmen for Liberty Board Member Mike Eathorne.
Each debate is scheduled to last 1 hour with four topics posed to each panel. The debate topics were developed by the staff of The Open Range Record. None of them will be released to anyone prior to the debate. Each of the topics will be drawn at random, and not even the moderators will know which topic is coming when.
At the conclusion of each segment of the evening, the audience will be straw-polled to determine the winner of each debate.
The High Plains Republican Primary Debates promise to be a great evening at a great venue. For more information visit The Open Range Record’s website and Facebook account. The Open Range Record and Wyoming Stockmen for Liberty hope that everyone interested attends the debates.