Cale Case

Cale Case (born June 2, 1958) is an economist, businessman, and politician from Lander in Fremont County in central Wyoming. Since 1998, Case has served in the Wyoming State Senate. From 1994 to 1998, he was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives. He is considered a principal advocate in Wyoming of individual freedom and limited government.[1]

Cale Case holds a PhD in economics from the University of Wyoming at Laramie[1] and is one of only four Wyoming politicians to have been granted the endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus.[2] The late U.S. Senator Craig L. Thomas,[3] Sue Wallis, and Frank Peasley are the others.[4]

On December 8, 2007, Case endorsed U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008,[5] but most of the Wyoming caucus votes, cast early in the season, went to former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who instead became the party's 2012 presidential nominee.

Case voted against legislation approved by the Wyoming Senate which would have forbidden the state from recognizing same-sex marriages deemed legal in other states or countries. Case said that Wyoming has been damaged in the eyes of the nation by the Matthew Shepard case. "I'm a religious man; I believe in God Almighty. I believe there has to be a separation between the laws of this state and what religious people believe," Case said.[6]

Case is known for his original quotes. In response to a law prohibiting smoking in private businesses, he said:

I don't like being exposed to Kenny G's music, cigarette smoke or patchouli oil, but I will defend the right of other folks to have all that junk, the right of business owners to allow it, and my right not to have to be around it. Government should not regulate anything that citizens can avoid by turning around and walking out.

Case often lectures at colleges and other public forums on the advantages of the capitalist system.[7]