Lowry drops out, clearing way for Andrew’s reelection in House 46
Lowry drops out, clearing way for Andrew’s reelection in House 46
Chris Lowry, the rural district’s Democratic nominee, suspended his campaign. A two-term Republican incumbent backed by the state’s right-wing Freedom Caucus, Ocean Andrew now runs unopposed.
Though his name will still appear on ballots for the 2024 General Election, the Democratic nominee for Wyoming’s 46th House District has dropped out of the race.
Chris Lowry had been running on a platform of defending public lands, Second Amendment rights and access to abortion. But his commitment to the campaign had been wavering for a while; in late August, just days after winning his uncontested primary race, Lowry told the Laramie Boomerang he was questioning whether he wanted to keep going.
Albany County Democrats Chair Lucas Fralick confirmed Lowry’s withdrawal from the race in a statement to the Laramie Reporter Thursday.
“We want to thank Chris for running, there is never a good time to run and it is always a courageous thing to do,” the statement reads. “We understand circumstances change and want to wish Chris the best going forward. He will remain on the ballot to continue to represent Democratic Party values and that we are here for good.”
The former candidate did not respond to the Reporter’s request for an interview.
In his August interview with the Boomerang, Lowry said the demands of running a campaign — from updating social media to recruiting volunteers — proved challenging to balance with his full-time job.
“If you don’t have a hundred friends who are willing to help out with those things, it makes it really difficult to run for office,” he told the Boomerang.
Andrew unopposed
Lowry’s decision to step down has cleared the way for Rep. Ocean Andrew to secure a third term in Wyoming’s House of Representatives.
Whether or not a Democrat is in the running, however, House District 46 is considered a fairly safe Republican seat.
Andrew won his first election in 2020 by a wide margin, earning 59% of votes cast. In 2022, Andrew won reelection by an even wider margin, earning 69% of the vote.
The House 46 representative generally avoids media interviews and non-partisan candidate forums. He did not respond to an interview request from the Reporter.
Andrew was endorsed by the state’s Freedom Caucus, a right-wing faction of the Republican Party that does not list its members publicly.
The caucus had a strong showing in this year’s primary elections, during which several of its candidates ousted more moderate Republicans. Some of these victories were in deep-red districts where the Freedom Caucus candidate faces no general election challenge.
Journalists and pundits have noted that the Freedom Caucus could gain a majority in the Wyoming House this November — but that will depend on the handful of races where Freedom Caucus candidates must defeat Democratic challengers.
The race for House 46 was one of that handful of contests pundits were watching.
Entrepreneur turned “school choice” advocate
Andrew is the co-founder of On the Hook, a fish-and-chips-themed food truck, which he launched in 2014. The business, which has now expanded to 13 trucks operating across 17 states, sells wild Alaskan cod line-caught and flash frozen by the crew of the Northern Leader, a ship captained by Andrew’s father.
As a University of Wyoming student, Andrew launched and led a local chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. In 2020, as he ran for office the first time, a 26-year-old Andrew spoke during a militia-recruiting event at the Albany County Fairgrounds.
His campaign site notes he has lived in Wyoming for 11 years and that he came to the Cowboy State seeking “a certain freedom that I believe can only be had in this state.”
“Wyoming has a culture worth preserving and I am here to fight for it,” he writes. “Every election we send people to Cheyenne whom we expect to represent us as responsible and hardworking people. Unfortunately, every legislative session is only used to further erode our liberties, claim more of what we worked hard for, and pass policies that do not represent who we are as Wyomingites.”
In his first two terms, Andrew supported attempts to ban abortion, gender-affirming care and red flag laws. He also co-sponsored legislation aimed at reversing Laramie’s City Rental Housing Code.
But Andrew’s primary focus as a lawmaker has been education. He co-sponsored bills relaxing homeschooling restrictions and supporting charter schools, as well as unsuccessful attempts to exempt public school students from vaccine requirements.
For the last two years, Andrew has served on the House Education Committee.
“We have a lot of work to do,” the representative writes on his campaign site. “Many parents are finding that their children are being educated by a system that unfortunately no longer represents their values. Teachers are stuck working for a heavy handed government bureaucracy where they are not able to be creative and do what they are passionate about. It’s time to take a bold stand and fight for education choice.”
In 2024, Andrew co-sponsored and supported legislation making it easier to fund private schools with public money.
“Our tax dollars should be funding students as individuals and not a one size fits all system,” he writes on his campaign site. “Parents should be able to choose for themselves what kind of education they want for their child and teachers should be able to choose an employer that allows them to teach the way they want to teach.”
Andrew has also been a strong proponent of property tax reform.