Anthony Bouchard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Anthony Bouchard is an American politician serving as a member of the Wyoming Senate from the 6th district since 2017, as a member of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
. Bouchard was previously a candidate in the
2022 United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming The 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the U.S. representative for . The election coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United State ...
.


Education

Bouchard attended the Florida State College at Jacksonville.


Career

Prior to entering politics, Bouchard was a businessman, automotive technician, and welder. He later worked as an automotive business management consultant. Since 2017, Bouchard has also worked as a real estate agent. He and his wife own and operate a septic-draining business.


Lobbying

Bouchard spent several years as a lobbyist for Wyoming Gun Owners, a group he founded. In 2010, Bouchard led an effort to oppose receiving $1million of federal money to protect against large increases to health insurance premiums. Bouchard said that accepting the money would have undermined Wyoming's ability to fight the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
in court.


Wyoming Senate

Bouchard unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for a seat in the Wyoming Senate in 2012 and a seat in the
Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of ...
in 2014. When incumbent State Senator Wayne Johnson announced his retirement in 2016, Bouchard announced his candidacy for the seat. Bouchard ran against State Representative
David Zwonitzer David Lee Zwonitzer (born March 10, 1953) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives representing District 9 from 2007 until 2017. His son Dan is also a member of the Wyoming House. Educatio ...
and
Laramie County Laramie County is a county located at the southeast corner of the state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 100,512 or 17.4% of the state's total 2020 population, making it the most populous county in Wyoming, b ...
Conversation District Supervisor Lindi Kirkbride in the Republican primary. Bouchard defeated Zwonitzer by five votes to become the Republican nominee, with Kirkbride running a close third. He defeated independent candidate Kym Zwonitzer, the wife of
David Zwonitzer David Lee Zwonitzer (born March 10, 1953) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives representing District 9 from 2007 until 2017. His son Dan is also a member of the Wyoming House. Educatio ...
, in the general election with 52% of the vote. In the state Senate, Bouchard voted against proposals to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured Wyomingites. Bouchard is a proponent of capital punishment, opposing a proposal in 2019 to abolish the death penalty in Wyoming. In 2017, Bouchard supported a bill to allow people to carry guns into government meetings; the bill was vetoed by Governor Matt Mead. In March 2018, Bouchard introduced a bill to the Wyoming Senate to allow a person to use deadly force in order to protect themselves without requiring the person to retreat from the perpetrator and, in the case of a person who shoots an intruder to their home, assumes that the person acted in self-defense. The bill passed into law. Later that year, a man shot a man nine times with an AR-15 at the entrance of his home. A district court judge dismissed the first-degree murder case against the man, and the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the dismissal. In 2021, Bouchard shared a
meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
on Facebook calling for the execution of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director
Anthony Fauci Anthony Stephen Fauci (; born December 24, 1940) is an American physician-scientist and immunologist serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president. ...
.


2022 U.S. House of Representatives campaign

In January 2021, Bouchard announced that he would challenge incumbent U.S. Representative
Liz Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2017, with her term expiring in January 2023. She chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest p ...
in the 2022 Republican primary. Cheney, who had been serving in Congress since 2017, was criticized by fellow Republicans, including Bouchard, for her vote in favor of impeaching President Trump because of his actions leading up to the
2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...
. Bouchard accused Cheney of being "out of touch," and added that Wyoming needed a Representative who would "stand up to
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
and the Democrats." In March 2021, Bouchard voted in favor of a bill, endorsed by
Donald Trump Jr. Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
, that would have required candidates to win a majority of votes in primary elections to avoid a
runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
; the bill, which would have undermined Cheney's reelection campaign, failed on a 15–14 vote. Bouchard has stated that he has raised over $500,000 in his campaign against Cheney.Olsen, Tyler
Republicans who voted for impeachment face barrage of pro-Trump primary challengers
'' FOX News'', June 14, 2021.
He finished third in the primary.


Personal life

In May 2021, Bouchard claimed he was pre-empting a media exposé by telling his supporters on a Facebook Live video that, when he was a teenager, he impregnated a girl who was "a little younger than me" in Florida "more than 40 years ago." He later told the '' Casper Star-Tribune'' that he was 18 years old and the girl was 14 when she became pregnant. Bouchard said they married when he was 19 and the girl was 15, and the girl eventually gave birth to their son. He said the couple divorced after three years of marriage; she died by suicide in 1990 at age 20.


References


External links


Official page
at the Wyoming Legislature
Profile
from
Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard, Anthony Living people 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections People from Laramie County, Wyoming Republican Party Wyoming state senators Year of birth missing (living people)