Incumbent lawmakers fend off challengers

By Barbara Anne Greene
Incumbent lawmakers prevailed in Tuesday's primary election, as Martha Lawley defeated Tami Young in House District 27, John Winter topped Kevin Skates in House District 28 and Ed Cooper topped Tom Olmstead in Senate District 20.
With the Republican nominations secured, Lawley, Winter and Cooper have a clear path to winning re-election in the November general election.
For Lawley, it will be her second term. She received the most votes in the district. However, Young received the most votes in Big Horn County. The race was tight. Young received 170 votes, Lawley 164. There were three write ins.
“I am humbled by and truly thankful for the trust the voters of HD 27 have place in me," said Lawley. "It has been an honor to be their Representative for the past two years.
“I want to thank the voters for their overwhelming support. I look forward to continuing to work on their behalf. I also want to thank my family and friends for their unwavering support and patience during this campaign. I am hopeful our communities will unite together as we move forward. Here in the Big Horn Basin, ‘We are friends and neighbors first’ and we are always better together."

Cooper wins
Incumbent Senator Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep will continue to represent District 20 in the Wyoming Legislature. He received 2,650 votes compared to challenger Tom Olmstead of Basin who received 2,428.
Cooper won the seat overall, but Olmstead carried Big Horn County with 450 votes compared to Cooper's337.  
The senator thanked voters across the district who voted. He believes that Wyoming roots, values and integrity won. He also said that Olmstead worked hard
As far as the 2025 Legislative Session, Cooper said he will continue to bring solid, common sense, conservative Republican values to the legislative process and will keep fighting against federal government over-reach, making sure the state doesn’t over-reach to take away control on local issues facing school districts, counties, etc.

Winter wins
Representative John Winter, R-Thermopolis won another term in Wyoming House District #28. Kevin Skates of Thermopolis challenged Winter for the seat.
Winter has held the seat since 2019.  
District 28 covers Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs and Park Counties.
 

Barrasso, Hageman dominate vote in Big Horn County

By David Peck
John Barrasso and Harriett Hageman easily won their respective Republican nominations for Congress Tuesday, and Big Horn County voters matched the statewide vote, strongly supporting each incumbent.
U.S. Senator John Barrasso fought off a strong challenge from Reid Rasner of Casper to win the Republican nomination for Senate, and the three-term senator easily carried Big Horn County, receiving 1,646 votes, unofficially, to 675 for Rasner and 113 for John Holtz. Scott Morrow was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Wyoming and received 100 votes in Big Horn County
Similarly, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman easily carried the day for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first-term congresswoman easily carried Big Horn County, garnering 2,008 votes to 392 for challenger Steven Helling of Casper.
Kyle Cameron of Cheyenne was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House and received 99 votes in Big Horn County.
Rep. Dalton Banks of Cowley ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for Wyoming House District No. 26 and received 1,479 votes unofficially. There was no filed Democratic opponent.
Likewise, Bruce Jolley was unopposed for the GOP nomination for county commissioner and garnered 2,155 votes countywide. Like Banks, he likely faces no opposition in the November general election, barring a write-in Democratic nomination.

Voters make their choices in Basin, Burlington, Manderson council races

By Nathan Oster
In Basin, Burlington and Manderson, voters weighed in for the first time on the slate of council candidates on Tuesday's primary election ballot, fully aware that they'll be asked to do it again in November.
In Basin, Linda Weeks was the top vote-getter in the race for two expiring seats.  She was credited with 189 votes.  The two incumbents, Stuart DesRosier and Carl Olson, trailed with 167 and 160 votes, respectively.
Twenty write-ins were cast, potentially opening the door for a fourth candidate to enter the race.
In Burlington, there were three candidates on the ballot seeking two seats.  Jenny Booth was credited with 55 votes, followed by Don Hibbert with 46 and Cortney Todd Allen with 20.  All of them will advance to the general election.
And in Manderson, voters cast 24 votes for Christopher Sanders and 18 for Tim Patrick. They are vying for a single two-year term on the council and will square off again in November    
Judy Bury ran unopposed for a pair of four-year council terms. The county's preliminary summary showed 23 check marks in her column, but at the same time, 36 write-in votes and 31 undervotes.

Overall
With only a few contested races on the ballot, Tuesday’s primary election apparently did not strike a chord with the voting public.
Preliminary results from the Big Horn County Clerk’s office indicate that 2,644 votes were cast across the 13 precincts. If confirmed by the canvas, it would be the lowest turnout for a primary election in more than a decade.
Two years ago, 4,279 votes were cast.  In 2020, the total was 3,281.