Rachel Rodriguez-Williams

Coming off a dominant victory in last month’s primary election, state Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody) has been tabbed as the next leader of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

The caucus, which has sought to move the Wyoming Legislature further to the right, announced Monday that Rodriguez-Williams had been unanimously chosen as its chairman for the next two years. She takes over from Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette).

In a statement, Rodriguez-Williams said she’s honored to serve in the new role.

“Our members will continue to work hard to restore hope for Wyoming in the People's House and be strong voices for the issues that are most important to the people of Wyoming,” the Cody lawmaker said.

Rodriguez-Williams is moving into the chairman’s seat just as the caucus is poised to take on a much bigger role in the state House of Representatives. In the past couple of legislative sessions, the Freedom Caucus and its allies generally lacked the votes to override more moderate Republicans and Democrats. But in last month’s Republican primary, 32 of the 46 legislative candidates endorsed by the group won their races, and most, like Rodriguez-Williams, have no opponent for the general election. What the caucus called an “overwhelming electoral success” could clear the way for the group to control the House during the 68th Legislature.

In an interview immediately after the election, Rodriguez-Williams said Wyomingites will see a more conservative body.

“And I think that the people of Wyoming have spoken very loudly that that's what they want,” she said. “They don't want to be pushed around by the federal government. They don't want special interest groups being a larger voice or a louder voice than themselves. And they want results.”

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a part of the broader State Freedom Caucus Network, which has chapters in a dozen states and counting. Over 200 state lawmakers attended the network’s first-ever summit in Dallas last week, according to The Washington Times. Rodriguez-Williams was among nearly a dozen Wyoming Freedom Caucus members in attendance, according to a group photo posted to Facebook.

At the summit, several members of the House Freedom Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives “advised their state-level counterparts to stop seeking funding from the federal government,” the Washington Times reported.

“Fight back, push back, pass contrary laws, make a large statement about [federal government spending],” the publication quoted U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) as saying. “By the way, also start figuring out how to get off of the federal dollars.”

In her interview last month, Rodriguez-Williams said that if the Republican primary winners go on to win in the general election, it will represent an excellent opportunity for Wyoming to see what it’s like to “really carry out the appropriate role of government.”

While conservatives want to bring “real change,” she added that they also want to appropriately fund things like law enforcement, public schools and infrastructure.

In Monday’s statement, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus said it “could not be more hopeful about the next chapter” for the organization and the state.