Rex Rammell getting back on the political stage - East Idaho News
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Rex Rammell getting back on the political stage

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Rex Rammell in the saddle on the campaign trail in his 2010 bid for Idaho governor. Photo via rexrammell.com.

GILLETE, Wyo. — One of Idaho’s most memorable political candidates is getting back into the game.

Veterinarian Rex Rammell, a convicted poacher, and a former perennial candidate for U.S. Senate, Idaho governor and Idaho House of Representatives, is running for office again.

But this time it’s not in Idaho.

The one-time Rexburg resident recently told newspapers in Wyoming and Montana that he is seeking a Wyoming U.S. Senate seat, according to the Billings Gazette. He is one of four candidates running for a position held by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, who isn’t seeking re-election this year.

Rammell, 55, told the Gazette he isn’t new to state. He was raised in eastern Idaho, less than 10 miles from the Wyoming border.

“I spent most of my life with one foot in Idaho and one foot in Wyoming. I just officially became a resident in 2012, but I know a lot about Wyoming,” Rammell told the newspaper. “Wyoming issues and Idaho issues are a lot the same.”

Rammell’s time in Idaho was marked by highly visible political campaigns and several controversies.

In 2010, he campaigned against Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter with a giant inflatable tyrannosaurus rex. He even had a theme song.

During the campaign he took flack for joking about Obama hunting tags. And The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly disavowed any connection to his campaign after he held public meetings about a prophecy allegedly made by the church’s founder.

While in Idaho, Rammell also had his share of legal troubles.

In 2006 more than 100 elk escaped from Rammell’s domestic hunting ranch though a hole in the fence. Then-Gov. Jim Risch authorized the animals to be killed, and after Rammell tried to prevent the hunt, he was arrested for resisting or obstructing officers.

He later filed a unsuccessful $1.3 million lawsuit against the state over the incident.

In 2011, Rammell was arrested in Bonneville County and charged with felony jury tampering after he reportedly handed prospective jurors pamphlets explaining their rights. The entire incident was caught by KPVI.

Rammell also went to trial in 2011 and was convicted of illegally killing a cow elk in eastern Idaho in 2010.

After his last unsuccessful run for office in 2012, Rammell told the Lewiston Tribune he had “given up on Idaho” and was moving to Wyoming.

“I was pretty discouraged and broke, and I packed my bags and moved to Wyoming (in 2012) with no real intention of doing (politics) again,” Rammell told the Gazette. “But this opportunity with (Cynthia) Lummis just opened up, and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll give it one more try.’ See if I can help the people of Wyoming and the West.”

Rammell’s Wyoming campaign has been launched under the slogan, “It is time to take America back!”

On his website, rexrammell.com, Rammell presents his platform on the major issues. He supports the abolition of all gun control laws, wants a fence built along U.S./Mexico border and is a firm believer in free-market capitalism.

He also is a big supporter of mining and using public lands and opposes any efforts to create more wilderness areas that prevent access to public lands.

“Our public lands are a vast supply of natural resources and can be used effectively to strengthen our economy, while still managing them in an environmentally friendly manner,” according to the website.

Despite the controversy, Rammell did have a following in Idaho. During the primary election in 2010, Rammell pulled in 26 percent of the vote against Otter.

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