# Erik Prince running for Wyoming Senator's seat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 9, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377 "2017-10-09T12:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/1 "2017-10-09T12:26:16Z")
[Seriously](https://apnews.com/75b65a45ee7d4420871c60cb7603359e/AP-Source:-Wyo.-Senate-race-might-see-insurgent-challenger). > [@](#): > > Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince is considering a Republican primary challenge to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a senior member of the Senate GOP leadership team, in a race that could pit the party’s establishment against insurgents inspired by allies of President Donald Trump. > > Prince was in Wyoming this weekend to discuss a possible Senate campaign with family members and has been encouraged to run by Steve Bannon, a former top White House strategist to Trump, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations. Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the former chair of the Michigan Republican Party. Ya know, normally I would think that a guy who contracts mercenary forces to governments so the governments can plausibly deny killing civilians wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning an election. But this is 2017, and it’s Wyoming, so who the fuck knows, right? Erik Prince is one of the most loathsome, amoral, entitled jackasses on the planet. I’ve railed against him (and his various companies) for years, both in real life and on these boards, and I’m appalled and frightened by the fact that I don’t think it’s a certainty that he would lose this election. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/2 "2017-10-09T12:55:40Z")
Oh, he’ll win. Josef Mengele could win in Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/3 "2017-10-09T13:02:18Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Oh, he’ll win. Well, he has to win the primary first. Which is a real possibility, but the last rich Republican with important connections who tried to parachute into a primary against a sitting Wyoming senator flopped _very_ badly. Although she’s now Wyoming’s congresswoman, so I guess it didn’t bruise her too badly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/4 "2017-10-09T13:27:30Z")
Don’t forget, **Lord Feldon** , that right next door in Montana last year, Greg Gianforte (a rich Republican with no political experience) won his election despite assaulting a reporter in front of witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/5 "2017-10-09T14:16:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Erik Prince is one of the most loathsome, amoral, entitled jackasses on the planet. I’m curious why this is. I don’t know much of anything about Erik Prince, but we’ve got an entire planet full of loathsome, amoral, entitled jackasses. What makes this guy “one of the most”? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/6 "2017-10-09T14:23:05Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m curious why this is. I don’t know much of anything about Erik Prince, but we’ve got an entire planet full of loathsome, amoral, entitled jackasses. What makes this guy “one of the most”? [Academi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi)(formerly Blackwater) > [@](#): > > Academi is an American private military company founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince[2][3] as Blackwater,[4] renamed as Xe Services in 2009 and now known as Academi since 2011 after the company was acquired by a group of private investors.[5] The company received widespread notoriety in 2007, when a group of its employees were convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad for which four guards were convicted in a U.S. court. Also, brother to Betsy DeVos. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/7 "2017-10-09T14:45:51Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m curious why this is. I don’t know much of anything about Erik Prince, but we’ve got an entire planet full of loathsome, amoral, entitled jackasses. What makes this guy “one of the most”? Feel free to look him up and do some research; when you feel knowledgable enough to have an informed opinion, feel free to share it with us. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/8 "2017-10-09T14:55:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Feel free to look him up and do some research; when you feel knowledgable enough to have an informed opinion, feel free to share it with us. You were going to be part of my research. You seem to have strong opinions about him, I was wondering what they were based on. If you don’t want to share, that’s fine, I’ll just file it away under “unsupported opinions” and move on with my life. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/9 "2017-10-09T15:02:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You were going to be part of my research. You seem to have strong opinions about him, I was wondering what they were based on. If you don’t want to share, that’s fine, I’ll just file it away under “unsupported opinions” and move on with my life. It’s clear you were baiting and have no intention of doing any research. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/10 "2017-10-09T15:17:54Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > If you don’t want to share, that’s fine, I’ll just file it away under “unsupported opinions” and move on with my life. Where do you think \*your \*posts go? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/11 "2017-10-09T15:23:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Where do you think \*your \*posts go? I think they get posted to the forum, just like yours. Everyone - Knock off the bullshit sniping. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/12 "2017-10-09T15:27:43Z")
So, we need cites now that a killer for hire is loathsome? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/13 "2017-10-09T15:31:50Z")
So pointing out that a position is unsupported by facts is “bullshit sniping” now? That’s gonna put a real chill on discourse here. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/14 "2017-10-09T16:34:44Z")
He’s got “family values”. Its the Barzini Family, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Shagunathor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Shagunathor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagunathor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/15 "2017-10-10T00:25:14Z")
When I was growing up in Wyoming, the local TV news out of Casper had a weekly segment about public health that was anchored (corresponded? unsure the proper verb) by Dr. John Barasso–the senator that Prince would be trying to unseat. Because of that stint on the news, Barasso has far more name recognition in Wyoming than Prince, and has the rep of being solidly conservative. Yeah, Wyoming is Wyoming, but I’d be super surprised if the state kicks out that “nice TV doctor” for a carpet-bagger. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/16 "2017-10-10T02:09:33Z")
Dick Cheney grew up in Casper, too. It was Cheney’s hiring of Erik Prince for various “duties” for the CIA during the Afghan & Iraq wars that helped make Blackwater a household name. ---
**Author:** ![Navigator66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/43a26b/32.png) [@Navigator66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator66)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/17 "2017-10-12T23:40:42Z")
Say what you will about the man, he did offer a good starting salary, $500. to $750. per day ($15,000. to $22,500. per month), for your basic rent-a-grunt. Not too bad for a spear carrier. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/18 "2017-10-13T00:44:16Z")
> [@Navigator66](#): > > Say what you will about the man, he did offer a good starting salary, $500. to $750. per day ($15,000. to $22,500. per month), for your basic rent-a-grunt. Not too bad for a spear carrier. Those salaries were paid by you. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/19 "2017-10-18T08:12:53Z")
> [@Navigator66](#): > > Say what you will about the man, he did offer a good starting salary, $500. to $750. per day ($15,000. to $22,500. per month), for your basic rent-a-grunt. Not too bad for a spear carrier. “Spear carrier”? That’s what you think Blackwater did? Stood in the back and looked bored? I wonder how much per diem the [CIA paid for Blackwater assassins?](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/us/20intel.html?_r=1&hp) ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377/20 "2017-10-25T18:59:45Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Oh, he’ll win. > > Josef Mengele could win in Wyoming. As long as after his name was “(R)”, then yes, you are right. However, I don’t know that Wyomingites would necessarily eject an ACTUAL Wyomingite from his seat for shits and giggles. Barrasso is recognized name, and known to be a truly local, long-time resident, which will likely give him some staying power here. Erik Prince would be an outsider. Of course, in the era of Trump, nothing makes sense anymore anyway, so who knows. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/erik-prince-running-for-wyoming-senators-seat/798377.md?page=2)