Final filings in place

Numerous races in play for election

With filing for the 2026 Wyoming Primary Election now complete as of Friday, May 29, multiple contested races have given voters in Big Horn County a crowded field of candidates in August.

The Wyoming Primary will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

As the filing period ended Friday, there was one more hat in the ring for Big Horn County Commissioner. Rodney Hopkin of Basin has filed for the commission, joining six previously filed candidates: incumbent Deb Craft of Basin, Randall Gormley of Burlington, Jeff McCollam of Lovell, Tim Beck of Lovell, Jared Boardman of Frannie and Mike Laird of Greybull, all vying for the Republican nomination.

Four candidates have filed for the Republican nomination for Big Horn County sheriff: Jeff Angell, Jason Beal and Craig Shidler of Lovell and Travis Davis of Greybull.

Incumbent Mike Jameson of Lovell has filed for the Republican nomination for county coroner, along with Clayton Draggoo of Greybull.

Five incumbents for Big Horn County offices have also filed for the Republican nomination and are running unopposed: Serena Lipp for clerk of district court, Cozette Winters for county assessor (recently appointed to the post), Nicole Vigil for county treasurer, Lori Smallwood for county clerk and Marcia Bean for county attorney.

Town offices

Three candidates have filed for the Town of Basin mayor slot. They are Danae Bales, Carl Olson and Chuck Hopkin. Hopkin currently is a town council member. The field for the two open Basin council seats has increased from one last week to seven this week. Those vying for the seats are Stuart DesRosier, Jennifer Riley, Karen Scott, Steve VanderPloeg, Nicholas Unruh, Michael Tanner and Don Oryall.

Gary Brunko is the lone candidate for Burlington mayor. Brunko is currently a town council member. Running for two four-year seats on the Burlington town council are Melissa Leonhardt, Jackie Cenker, Matt Walker and Michael J. Harrington. Neal A. Wood and Jessie Hamilton are running for the single two-year seat.

Only William Duncan filed for the mayor seat in Manderson. No one filed for the three open town council seats. Two of the seats are four-year terms. The remaining one is for a two-year term.

Wyoming Legislature

Two candidates have filed for the Republican nomination for Wyoming State Senate District 19 in Republicans RJ Kost and Paul Hoeft, both of Powell.

Two Republicans have also filed for the GOP nomination for Wyoming State House District 26: Incumbent Rep. Dalton Banks of Cowley and J. Addison Aagard of Lovell.

Incumbent Rep. Martha Lawley of Worland has filed to retain her District 27 seat in the State House, and Theresa Livingston of Worland has filed for the Democratic nomination for the seat.

Four are running to replace the retiring Rep. John Winter of Thermopolis, all four seeking the GOP nomination: Allen Hogg of Meeteetse, Carlin Jones of Otto, Marshall Keller of Thermopolis and Roland Luehne of Thermopolis.

State offices

At the state level, several races have developed.

There are seven candidates filed to succeed the retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis for one of Wyoming’s two seats in the U.S. Senate: Republicans Harriet Hageman of Cheyenne, the current Wyoming congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jill Edwards of Laramie, Jimmy Skovgard of Casper, John Holtz of Laramie and Sam Mead of Jackson and Democrats James Byrd of Cheyenne and Billy Benavidez of Sheridan.

Twelve candidates have filed for the U.S. House of Representatives: Republicans Bo Biteman of Ranchester, current secretary of state Chuck Gray of Casper, David Giralt of Mills, Frank Chapman of Moran, Jillian Balow of Cheyenne, Keith Goodenough of Casper, Kevin Christensen of Casper, Reid Rasner of Casper, Richard Dodson of Sundance and Steve Friess of Cheyenne and Democrats Lisa Kinney of Laramie and Elena Del Real of Lander.

Five have filed to succeed Gov. Mark Gordon in the governor’s mansion: Republicans Eric Barlow of Gillette, Curt Blake of Centennial, Brent Bien of Cody and current Supt. of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder of Cheyenne, along with Democrat Kenneth Casner of Elk Mountain.

Other state office filings were:

Secretary of State – Republicans CJ Young of Cheyenne, Jason Fearneyhough of Cheyenne, Quenton Eagle Oviatt of Hudson, Rachel Williams of Cody and Robert Short of Douglas and Democrat Bryan McCarty of Worland;

State Auditor – Incumbent Republican Kristi Racines of Cheyenne;

State Treasurer – Incumbent Republican Curt Meier of LaGrange and Republican Scott Smith of Lingle;

Supt. of Public Instruction – Republicans Chad Auer of Cheyenne, Steve Harshman of Casper and Tom Kelly of Sheridan and Democrats Ana Cordova of Cheyenne and Sergio Maldonado Sr. of Lander.

The Primary is a nominating election for the November 3 Wyoming General Election, with the election deciding Republican and Democratic nominees at the state, legislative and county level. For non-partisan municipal offices (mayor and town council), the Primary will whittle the field to two candidates per seat.

School board, hospital board and cemetery district and conservation district board positions will be elected in the General Election, with filing running August 5-24.

Also on the ballot in August are party precinct committeemen/women and supreme court and district court judges up for retention.