Primary election

Multiple races develop as filing nears end

With filing for the 2026 Wyoming Primary Election ending Friday, there are multiple contested races facing voters in Big Horn County, creating a crowded election lineup for several offices.

The Wyoming Primary will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 18, and filing ends at the end of the workday (5 p.m.) on Friday, May 29.

As of Tuesday, there were three new filings for Big Horn County Commissioner, all vying for the Republican nomination. Seeking one of two commission seats is incumbent Deb Craft of Basin, along with challengers Randall Gormley of Burlington and Jeff McCollam of Lovell, joining previously announced candidates Tim Beck of Lovell, Jared Boardman of Frannie and Mike Laird of Greybull.

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.

There is one race for county office. Incumbent Mike Jameson of Lovell has filed for the Republican nomination, along with Clayton Draggoo of Greybull. 

Five incumbents for Big Horn County offices have also filed for the Republican nomination: 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

The Town of Basin has two council seats open for 2027.  One was recently vacated by the resignation of Brent Godfrey. His term ends 2026. The other council seat open as of 2027 is held by Chuck Hopkin.  Only one person has filed for the open seats. That is Stuart DesRosier, who was a council member previously. The Basin mayor term is also ending this year. The current mayor CJ Duncan will not seek reelection. Two people have filed. They are Danae Bales and Carl Olson. Olson has previously held a seat on the council. 

In Burlington the Mayor and three council seats are open. No one has filed for the mayor seat. Of the three council seats, Neal A. Wood has registered for the open two-year term. The other two open seats on the council are four-year terms. No one has filed for either seat as of May 26. 

Manderson mayor, two four-year and one two-year council seats are open. As of May 26 no one has filed for any of the seats. 

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

Six candidates have filed for the U.S. House of Representatives: Republicans Frank Chapman of Moran, Jillian Balow of Cheyenne, Kevin Christensen of Casper, Reid Rasner of Casper and Steve Friess of Cheyenne and Democrat Lisa Kinney of Laramie.

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

Other state office filings as of Tuesday were:

Secretary of State – Republicans 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;

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 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.

Candidates running for federal office file with the Wyoming Secretary of State and pay a fee of $750. State office candidates also file with the secretary of state and pay a fee of $300. Candidates for county office file with the Big Horn County Clerk with a $100 filing fee.

Mayor and council candidates file with the candidate’s respective town clerk, with a $25 filing fee.

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