Exclusive: Election Chief Sounds Alarm on ‘Zuckbucks’ Risk in Wyoming

Wyoming’s elections chief is sounding the alarm that a left-wing group notable for its 2020 election shenanigans is attempting to influence the state’s 2024 contest, The Federalist has learned.

In an Oct. 2 letter sent to county clerks and obtained by The Federalist, Secretary of State Chuck Gray warned that the Center for Tech and Civic (CTCL) has a foothold in the Cowboy State weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

“I have serious concerns with CTCL’s presence and with its solicitation of county clerks,” Gray wrote.

CTCL is one of two nonprofits that dumped hundreds of millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg into local election offices in the months leading up to the 2020 contest. These “Zuckbucks” were used to expand unsecure election practices and heavily skewed toward Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive, privately funded Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.

Wyoming is one of two states (the other being West Virginia) that did not appear to have received any “Zuckbucks” during the 2020 election cycle, according to the Capital Research Center.

In his letter, Gray told Wyoming clerks he was “deeply troubled” to learn of CTCL’s presence “at the Wyoming Association of County Officers meeting in Rock Springs last week,” and that the group’s appearance at the event “only demonstrates that they are targeting Wyoming” ahead of the 2024 election. He specifically expressed concern about the launch of CTCL’s “2024 Rural and Nonmetro Election Infrastructure Grants.”

As my colleague Logan Washburn reported, the new program’s grants are directed at “eligible rural and nonmetro election offices” and “can be used for ‘key human, physical, and technological assets’ the Department of Homeland Security considers ‘necessary to conduct elections.’” The grants were offered to states in which private election funding is legal.

While arguably one of the “reddest” jurisdictions in the country, Wyoming has failed to follow the lead of 28 other states in banning or restricting the use of “Zuckbucks” in elections. In a separate letter issued last year, Gray asked state lawmakers to fast track legislation during the state’s 2024 budget session to prohibit private election funding in Wyoming.

While such a bill (HB 42) received unanimous support during its introduction earlier this year, the GOP-controlled House Corporations Committee voted to table the measure in an apparent act of retaliation by the GOP establishment against members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

[READ: ‘Zuckbucks’ Group Acts As A Shadow Legislature In Rural America]

Gray noted in his Oct. 2 communique that Republican lawmakers’ failure to pass a “Zuckbucks” prohibition into law, combined with CTCL’s “evolving tactics,” makes Wyoming “particularly vulnerable” for election interference by private entities. He also cited concerns about “funding streams linked to potentially foreign actors” such as Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss national who has dumped money into U.S. elections via left-wing dark money groups.

“While I will continue to advocate for legislative action banning the private funding of election administration, Wyoming’s current vulnerability and CTCL’s troubling presence demonstrate the need for continuing vigilance and the need to take action banning these groups attempting to influence our elections,” Gray wrote. “Should any third-party entity or organization solicit county clerks to fund election administration, I ask that you please notify me immediately for further investigation.”

Troubling CTCL presence in … by The Federalist