In Wyoming Governor’s Race, a Wealthy Conservative Donor Tries on a New Hat: Candidate

Friess lost his chance. Looks like trump's view of his own gilded, god-like persona is more and more looking like fool's gold.

It must be getting near Christmas - I see that decorations are being advertised in some of the mass mailing catalogs and the right wingers are talking about how they feel so free to say “Merry Christmas” again. Well, I never stopped saying it but I did say “Happy Holidays” as appropriate in deference to friends and co-workers who weren’t Christians. Didn’t seem like a big deal then and it still doesn’t. Plain courtesy, nothing more.

Exactly...why buy a politician when you can just buy an election? Just like a third world nation. That is where we are.

Foster Friess...isn't that a frozen dessert stand?

I truly don't understand this. It must be some kind of "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself!" decision. Usually the Republican overlords, the owners of the Republican party, use puppet candidates whom they then dictate to, instead of messing around with the daily dirty-work of actually being a politician. Why do all the work when you can pay someone else to do what you want? Apparently Mr. Friess has concluded that a bought-and-paid-for lackey is unsuitable, and that more profit and gain can be had by being governor rather than delegating it to a stooge. Well, it seems to be working out well for Trump and his family, as they loot the US Treasury. Hold on to your wallets, Wyomingians, and consider carefully when you vote!

For a state that has had a history of individuals getting rich off of natural resources, the people don't seem to be fairing as well economically. Hmmmm wonder wonder wonder where all that money went?....Same place North Dakota's went......to people like Friess and Harold Hamm (Continental Oil/Trump buddy) They don't care about the workers or values; they just care about keeping the workers working for them.

There is nothing less Christian than a Wyoming Republican. They believe only in their own godlike corrupt congress-given status. There message is I have a gun and if you get near my land I will shoot you. And by the way, I want you US citizens to give me US citizens’ National Parks because I am here and I have a gun.They rule vast amounts ofUS territory without owning it, because they represent very very few people but have the voting clout of New York. Wake up America. Our representation should be population based. One man or woman, one vote.

Is this the same guy who plays John Oliver's Catheter Cowboy?

Foster Friess was born and raised in Rice Lake, WI and got a first class education at the U of WI Madison which is funded by tax moneys. He did grow up in straitened circumstances but unless his mother grew up in the South I doubt very much if she picked cotton in Rice Lake. He was one of the major funds, Brandywine, in our institution's retirement plan and I was close to to the principal manager of the fund who was quite liberal and had many e-mail communications with Foster. Foster believed in a very Darwinian approach to life forgetting that everyone in the state paid for the education that gave him his start. He is a fraud.

Mr. Friess's comments about Christianity and religious freedom have me worried. First, there is no war against religious freedom by the Democrats. This is the stuff of the myth-making Faux Noise machine. Membership in right-wing Christian faith has been on the decline because younger Americans are not buying into the paranoia and the drive to create a theocratic state. And as for his early — and continued — support for Donald Trump, I am reminded of the venom-dripping fans that attend his rallies. My, God! From the taunts and jeers at the media attending those events, they give the impression that they'll adding "brown shirts" to their fashion statement of red MAGA caps. So, Mr. Friess thinks he can clean up the half-billion dollar state debt? If he takes any advice from Trump's economic advisors and cabinet leaders, he will be a total failure. In fact, chances are, he will be one of the very few in Wyoming will benefit from Trumpian scorched-earth economics. I should also note that, as a Denver resident, I see the coal trains coming from Wyoming every day. And in light of Trump's recent declaration of war on the Clean Air Act by getting rid of clean air proposals by Obama, we are in for a some bad air. I grew up in mid-century Los Angeles so I know a thing or two about smog and sore throats and watery eyes. Vote in November as if our lives depend on it, because it does.

The photo depicts old graying demographics about to be extinct soon because of rapid demographic changes. They are scared like Donald. The country's strength is built on diversity, equality and no one is above the law. Wyoming is amnesic about US history.

Poor deluded man. He thinks "Trump loves America". If that were true trump wouldn't have evaded the draft nor denigrated the people who stepped up to take his place. If Tribal Trump (the Grand Narcissist) loves anything beyond himself it's money, power and prestige. He'll give a mere nod to those who pledge fealty and pay tribute. Furthermore, as a capitalist himself he should know better than to attack and look down his nose at fellow capitalists innovators, and wealth creators at FB and Google. The fact that he threw the favorite right wing bogeyman Soros into the mix shows that he doesn't have many original ideas beyond what he gets on Fox News. Verdict?: Another Fox Bot in a cowboy hat - ho hum.

"In Wyoming, the state Mr. Tump won by a larger margin than any other..." In his home state of New York, Mr. Trump lost by a larger margin than any other. What does that said about Mr.Trump and what does that say about Wyoming??

this doesn't really jibe with his description of himself: Friess was born in 1940 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.[2] As a student at Rice Lake High School, Friess was valedictorian of his class and a member of the basketball and track teams.[3] A first-generation college graduate, Friess attended the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin–Madison), where he earned a degree in business administration. As a student, he served as president of Chi Phi fraternity, enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and was named one of the "ten most outstanding senior men."[4] It would have been relevant for Peters to point out Friess is from Wisconsin. One gets the impression he is from Texas or Arkansas from his demeanor and recounting of his life

Another right-wing extremist, wealthy candidate trying to ride into power on a platform of guns, God, Trump, and fightin' those "elites" who he claims are taking everyone's money. As for that "wasteful spending" that Mr. Friess is allegedly going to cut: do you think that will negatively impact the Jackson billionaires or the welders that he professes to love so much?

I guess we'll see shortly what dumping over 1 million into advertising does in our state. This seems to be an "Enzi" situation all over again. But her first time out of the gate, the people in Wyoming could tell she wasn't from here. Maybe that will play out again.

As a former Wyoming resident, Times readers should know something that the Times left out, which is that Friess iwas still only polling at about 20 percent as of last week, putting him in a dead heat with a far more qualified potential governor, current State Treasurer Mark Gordon. Friess's obsession with social conservatism is really not much in sync with Wyoming's more libertarian spirit. Several independently wealthy folks have tried to buy public office in Wyoming, in part because they think it can be had on the cheap. None of these previous efforts have been successful. I hope Friess is not either.

If he’s endorsed both Rick Santorum AND Donald Trump, then how bad could he possibly be? I immediately regret posing that question.

What is the deal with cowboy hats? I mean, they're cool in their own way -- I used to have one (until my then-fiancee made me throw it away). But wearing one, I never then considered myself an authority on the economy or the environment. It was just a hat. Yet, when other people wear them, suddenly they're political sages and serious candidates for political office.

Maybe one of the reasons Wyoming has a half billion dollar deficit is because it has no income taxes. Which of course, is the main reasons Foster Friess moved there in the first place, and brought his very successful mutual funds with him. He later sold those funds for many millions of dollars, so while he may have started out with only $800 to his name, those days have long since gone for good. I really don’t think anybody should shy from regarding him as one of the elites. He can go anywhere or do anything or buy anyone he wants. It should also be noted that he refers to himself as a born again Christian, though not in this interview, with all the narrow mindedness and moral superiority that title carries with it. So the cognitive dissonance he has hold onto while being born again and supporting our orange dear leader with all of his 10 commandment transgressions (not just the sexual stuff but bearing false witness, coveting etc.) qualifies him to be a Republican of the highest rank.

This guy is the same age as Nancy Pelosi and most of the Democratic party leadership. Was there something in the water back then?

Gee, why buy an office for someone else when you can purchase it for yourself? (And I don't trust his "inclusiveness" for a moment; if he's running as a Trumpist - which he appears to be - then he's running as a Christian religionist. So much for separation of church and state.) This country just gets more bizarre as it strays father and farther from its founding ideals.

In the mostly lily white state of Wyoming, where Matthew Shepherd was famously crucified on a barbed wife fence, here we have another Sean Hannity parroting social conservative white supremacist dinosaur, who thinks "the blacks" should be grateful they're working and stop with all the whining, that Christian values deserve supremacy over all other values, etc. And, praise Jesus, we're saying "Merry Christmas" again (when we never actually stopped). Wyoming can have him.

So you give a rich white guy a cowboy hat, and suddenly he's an authority on the economy and race relations. It seems to me we've seen this play-out before. How about a story about that?

"My mom and brother and I would go into the basement and butcher a couple dozen chickens every few months, put them in the freezer." If you've ever butchered a chicken, do you believe that????? The bloody mess is something to behold.