NEWS
Eric Barlow left little room for misunderstanding about what he wanted Republican voters to believe. “I am a leader who stands firmly on sound, conservative principles,” he declared in his August 2025 campaign announcement.
“My record shows I am a conservative Republican,” he told Fox News days later. By March, his campaign website was making the promise again: “I’m running to bring conservative principles and real results to the people of Wyoming.”
Barlow made an unmistakable sales pitch during the Primary Election. Then came one of his first personnel decisions as governor-elect: Walter Eggers for attorney general.
Barlow announced the selection November 10, alongside his choices for chief of staff and chief operating officer. Eggers still requires Senate confirmation. His political giving, however, already provides something Republican senators should examine: years of financial support for Democratic candidates and the Wyoming Democratic Party.
This was no single contribution to an old friend. Eggers is a registered Democrat who has consistently donated to Democrat causes and candidates for years.
CampaignMoney’s records list five contributions totaling $1,550 to Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. They list $1,250 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, and a $1,000 Biden for President contribution in the 2020 election-cycle.
Other listed recipients include Gary Trauner’s congressional campaign and Jason Crow’s congressional campaign. The records also show contributions to the Democratic National Committee.
The records also list $1,750 in ActBlue transactions: $300 on March 31, 2008; $250 on November 1, 2016; and three entries totaling $1,200 in the 2020 cycle.. The 2020-cycle entries carry invalid placeholder dates.
The state-party giving is particularly revealing. Entries total $10,200 to the Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee between 2004 and 2019. That includes $2,250 in 2011–2012, $3,300 in 2015–2016, $3,150 in 2017–2018 and $1,000 in 2019, following a $500 donation in 2004.
For several years, the records show recurring $150 contributions. That is sustained financial support for the Democratic Party’s organization in Wyoming.
Eggers’ giving was not exclusively Democratic: the same records list $2,700 to Republican Tim Stubson’s congressional campaign in 2016. That does not erase the repeated Democratic contributions.
Neither Walter Eggers nor Governor-Elect Eric Barlow’s transition team immediately responded to requests for comment from The Open Range Record. This story will be updated should either of them wish to comment.
Barlow spent his campaign insisting voters should trust his Republican credentials. He even supplied his own report card which claimed he supported all 23 planks of the Wyoming GOP Platform.
When conservatives questioned his record, Barlow offered a campaign-produced assessment of his conservatism. Now voters have an assessment he did not write: the political contributions of the man he wants as the state’s chief legal officer.
Vice Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party, Bob Ferguson, told The Open Range Record, “Based on Barlow’s record and everything he has supported and voted for throughout his career it doesn’t surprise me a bit that he would put a dyed in the wool democrat in as the chief legal counsel and chief law enforcement office of the state.”
Wyoming’s Attorney General must be confirmed by the Wyoming Senate. Of Mr. Eggers’ nomination, Wyoming Senator Laura Taliaferro said, “I think that anyone who donates to Democrats like Hillary, Obama and Biden is not someone who will look out for Wyoming’s best interests. All of those people have proven their agenda of destroying everything that Wyoming has historically stood for.”
Wyoming Republicans have confronted this disconnect before.
Mark Gordon’s first run for office, his unsuccessful 2008 congressional campaign, became embroiled in questions about his donations to Democrats. His support for John Kerry, Kathy Karpan and the Democratic National Committee fueled doubts about his Republican credentials. Gordon lost the primary to Cynthia Lummis.
Eggers has substantial legal experience, and outgoing Attorney General Keith Kautz has praised the selection. Professional qualifications deserve consideration. So does the political judgment of the governor-elect who chose him.
Eggers’ nomination was first reported by Cowboy State Daily. They did not mention his readily available campaign donation history nor did they note that he is a member of the Wyoming Democrat Party.
Donations alone do not establish how Eggers would handle a particular case. But Barlow made conservative leadership part of his appeal to voters. Those voters are entitled to ask how this nomination fulfills that promise.