Eli Bebout

Eli Daniel Bebout (born October 14, 1946) is an American athlete and politician who served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from a multi-member district in Fremont County and the 55th district from 1987 to 2001, and later served in the Wyoming Senate from the 26th district 2007 to 2021, as a member of the Democratic and Republican parties. He was the first person to serve as both Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives and President of the Wyoming Senate

Bebout was born in Rawlins, Wyoming, and educated at Shoshoni High School, the United States Air Force Academy, and the University of Wyoming. He was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force Academy stating that he believed he had violated the honor code. Bebout became involved in the energy and pharmaceutical industries and gained a net worth of around $6 million.

Bebout entered politics with his successful write-in candidacy to the state house and was a member of the Democratic Party. During his tenure in the state house as a Democrat he was considered a possible candidate in multiple statewide elections, was selected to serve as Minority Whip, unsuccessfully sought the vice-chair position of the Wyoming Democratic Party, and his proposed redistricting plan was adopted. He switched to the Republican Party in 1994, and was given the position of Majority Leader and then Speaker.

Bebout left the state house in the 2000 election and unsuccessfully ran in the 2002 Wyoming gubernatorial election with the Republican nomination against Democratic nominee Dave Freudenthal. He was selected to replace Bob Peck in the state senate following Peck's death. During his tenure in the state senate he served as Vice President, Majority Leader, and President.

Early life and education

Eli Daniel Bebout was born in Rawlins, Wyoming, on October 14, 1946, to Hubert Bebout, a former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and mayor of Shoshoni, Wyoming. He graduated from Shoshoni High School and started attending the United States Air Force Academy after receiving an appointment in 1963. He was named to the Prep All-American Basketball team after a poll was conducted of coaches and sportswriters in the United States. He played at the 1969 Western Athletic Conference Championship for the University of Wyoming.

Bebout did not graduate from the United States Air Force Academy which he had attended from June 29, 1964 to February 28, 1967, but did graduate from the University of Wyoming. He was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force Academy and Bebout stated that he had voluntarily left the academy in 1967, due to him believing that he had violated the honor code after not reporting other cadets who had committed infractions. He served in the reserves until 1970, but did not serve in active duty.

In 1977, Bebout married Lorraine Tavares Bebout, with whom he had four children. Lorraine later convinced Bebout to join the Republican Party which she had been a member of. He and his wife later reported being worth around $6 million in the 2000s.

Bebout served as president of the Nuclear Power & Energy Company which performed explorations for uranium. He also founded Smith-Collins Pharmaceutical Incorporated in 1983. He was one of the organizers of the Yellowstone State Bank of Lander in 1979.

Career

Wyoming House of Representatives

Elections

During the 1986 election Bebout was one of four people to file as a write-in candidate for one of five seats in the Wyoming House of Representatives from Fremont County. He placed fourth out of ten candidates after spending $7,138 during the campaign causing incumbent Republican Representative Bob Baker to not win reelection while the other four incumbents retained their seats. Bebout served as a member of the Democratic Party in the state house.

Representative Scott Ratliff wanted either Bebout or Republican Representative Mary Odde to run in the 1988 state senate election to succeed Senator Frank Dusl, but Bebout chose to run for reelection. During the campaign he was endorsed by the AFL–CIO and placed first out of seven candidates.

Chuck Graves, the chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party, talked to Bebout about running for a seat in the United States Senate in the 1990 election against incumbent Republican Senator Alan Simpson, but Bebout announced on May 8, 1990, that he would not run in the election and would instead run for reelection to the state house. He won reelection in the 1990 election.

Graves listed Bebout as a possible candidate, alongside Secretary of State Kathy Karpan, for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 1992 election against incumbent Republican Representative Craig L. Thomas. Following the 1992 reapportionment of districts he was moved into the single-member 55th district with two other incumbent members of the state house. Bebout stated that he had considered joining the Republican Party, but that he would remain in the Democratic Party. Bebout filed to run for reelection as a Democrat and won in the general election after defeating Republican nominee Marlene Brodrick, who had been appointed to fill the remainder of Representative Odde's term.

On April 26, 1994, Bebout announced that he had changed his political party affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, but stated that he would not run in a statewide election in 1994. Edward Lee, the chair of the Fremont County Democratic Party stated that resigning would be "the ethical thing for Mr. Bebout to do". He defeated Libertarian nominee Jim Blomquist in the 1994 election.

Bebout considered running to succeed Simpson in the United States Senate in the 1996 election, but chose not to and a poll conducted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee showed him losing to Karpan, a Democrat. He was reelected without opposition in the 1996 and 1998 elections. Bebout announced on April 28, 2000, that he would not run for reelection to the state house. Republican nominee David Miller defeated Democratic nominee Linda Bebout, who was no relation to Bebout, to succeed him in the state house.

Tenure

During Bebout's tenure in the state legislature he served on the Corporations, Revenue, and the Mines and Minerals committees. In 1992, Bebout was selected to serve as Minority Whip without opposition after representatives Don Sullivan and Bill Vasey, who instead became chair of the Democratic caucus, declined their nominations for the position.

After Bebout became a Republican he lost his position on the Appropriations committee to Representative Bill Bensell and his position as Minority Whip to Representative Wayne Morrow, but Speaker Doug Chamberlain, a Republican, appointed Bebout to serve on the Judiciary and Travel, Recreation and Wildlife committees. Bebout was selected by the Republican caucus to serve as Majority Leader in 1996. During the 1998 election Speaker Bruce Hinchey left the state house to run for a seat in the state senate. Bebout defeated representatives Harry Tipton and Carroll Miller to become Speaker while Rick Tempest was selected to serve as Majority Leader.

During the 1989 United States House of Representatives special election Roger McDaniel and Bebout served as Democratic nominee John Vinich's campaign coordinators. He attempted to become the vice-chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party in 1989, but was eliminated from contention after a man was selected to serve as chair due to party rules requiring the chair and vice-chair to be members of the opposite sex. Bebout served as a delegate to the Wyoming Republican Party's state conventions in 1998, 2000, and 2002.

Bebout was selected in 1997, to replace Larry Dickerson, a member of the Oklahoma Senate

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