Filing period officially closed

The date of the 2022 Primary Election continues to draw closer. With the filing period closing at 5 p.m. on May 27, some candidates will have a tough race ahead of them. Other seats, however, will have to be filled with write-in campaigns.

United States Representative - Republican

After well over a year of a number of potential candidates coming out of the woodwork to run against incumbent Representative Liz Cheney, the official number of candidates for Wyoming’s lone seat in the House of Representatives has come down to single digits. According to a recent report from WyoFile, Super PACs (Political Action Committees) have already spent a record $1 million in the U.S. House race. Despite the amount of money and the number of initial candidates, Cheney will face just four other candidates in the race.

These include Anthony Bouchard, who filed to run shortly following Cheney’s vote to impeach former President Donald Trump after the event of January 6, 2020, Denton Knapp, Robyn Belinskey and Harriet Hageman. Hageman, who was a gubernatorial candidate in 2018, received the “Trump nod” last year. Over the weekend, Trump and other politicians aligned with the former president converged on Casper in support of Hageman.

United States Representative - Democratic

While five Republican candidates will be facing off in the primary election, two Democratic candidates will run to determine who moves on to the general elections in November. Lynette Greybull, who ran for U.S. Representative in 2020, filed to run again. Also filing to run is Steve Helling.

Governor - Republican

Governor Mark Gordon will be seeking re-election following his first term. Gordon, however, will have to make it through the primaries. Three other candidates have also filed to run for Governor. The candidates include Rex Rammell of Rock Springs, Brent Bien of Sheridan and James Scott Quick of Douglas.

Governor - Democratic

Two Democratic candidates have filed to run for Governor. Rex Wilde of Cheyenne and Theresa Livingstone of Worland will face each other in the primary election to determine who faces the Republican candidate in November.

Secretary of State

Just two weeks after incumbent Secretary of State Ed Buchannan had announced he would run for re-election, he reversed the decision. With that announcement came four Republican candidates, no Democratic candidates filed for the position.

Three of the candidates are current legislators. Representative Chuck Gray is joined by Senator Tara Nethercott and Senator Dan Dockstader. The fourth candidate is Mark Armstrong, who ran for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Cynthia Lummis in 2020.

State Auditor

Kristi Racines will be running unopposed in both the primary and general elections, it appears, as the incumbent is the only candidate to have filed for the position. No other Republican filed to run against her in the primary and no Democratic candidates filed before the deadline of May 27.

State Treasurer

Incumbent Curt Meier is seeking re-election and will be facing one other candidate in the primary election in Bill Gallop. No Democratic candidates filed to run for the office.

Superintendent of Public Instruction - Republican

Following the departure of former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Ballow, Governor Mark Gordon appointed Brian Schroeder to the position. Schroeder is one of five Republican candidates to file to run as Wyoming’s top superintendent.

The other four candidates include Jennifer Zarba of Casper, Megan Degenfelder of Laramie, Robert J. White III of Rock Springs and Thomas Kelly of Sheridan.

Superintendent of Public Instruction - Democratic

Democrats in Wyoming will have one pick for Superintendent of Public Instruction during the primary election. Sergio Maldonado, Sr. of Lander filed as a candidate and will run unopposed to face the Republican candidate in November.

State Senator - District 11

Incumbent Senator Larry Hicks of Baggs will be seeking a third term. No other Republican candidate filed to run against Hicks in the primary election and he will not be facing a Democratic challenger in November. Hicks’ pursuit of a third term follows a significant increase in his district following the 2020 Census.

State Representative - District 15

Incumbent Representative Donald Burkhart will be running for re-election. Following the intensive redistricting following the 2020 Census, Burkhart’s district has drastically increased in size and includes not just Rawlins and Sinclair, but Bairoil as well.

State Representative - District 47

Two Republican candidates and one Democratic filed to run for House District 47. Incumbent Representative Jerry Paxton will not be seeking re-election. In his place, Robert Davis of Baggs and Clyde Johnson of Saratoga will vie to be the Republican candidate moving forward to the general election in November.

The lone Democrat running to represent House District 47 is Lee Ann Stephenson of Riverside. Stephenson previously ran for state office as a challenger to Hicks in the 2018 General Election.

County Commissioner

Both Willing John Johnson of Elk Mountain and R. Travis Moore of Rawlins have filed to run for re-election to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners. The two Republican candidates will be running unopposed with no other Republican candidates running and no Democratic candidates having filed.

County Assessor

Incumbent Renee Snider of Rawlins will be running for a second term as Carbon County Assessor. Snider won’t be the only Republican candidate running, however, as Courtney Ney of Rawlins, also filed to run for the seat of Carbon County Assessor. No Democratic candidates filed.

County Attorney

The current Carbon County Attorney, Ashley Mayfield-Davis, will not be seeking re-election. Mayfield-Davis has served four years as the county attorney following her election in 2018. Sarah Chavez Harkins of Rawlins, who currently serves as one of Mayfield-Davis’ deputy attorneys, will be running as the Republican candidate. No Democratic candidates filed to run for the seat.

County Clerk

Gwynn Bartlett is running for re-election as the Carbon County Clerk. The Republican candidate will be running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

County Clerk of District Court

Mara Sanger will be seeking re-election as the County Clerk of District Court. She is the lone Republican candidate and will be running unopposed in the general election as well.

County Coroner

Brittany Nyman, who was appointed to the role of county coroner following the retirement of the late Paul Zamora, will be seeking re-election as a Republican candidate. David Grier of Rawlins has filed to run as a Republican candidate for county coroner as well. No Democratic candidates filed to run for the office.

County Sheriff

Incumbent Sheriff Archie Roybal will not be seeking re-election. Roybal was elected to the office of Carbon County Sheriff in 2018 after being appointed to the position following the retirement of Jerry Colson. Five candidates have filed to run the position of top law officer in the county.

Filing as Republican candidates are Alex Bakken of Rawlins, John Moore of Saratoga, Ben Opfar of Rawlins and Shawn Kelley of Rawlins. Mike Morris of Rawlins is the lone Democratic candidate for the position.

County Treasurer

Following the retirement of Patti Bentsen last year, Lindsey West was appointed to the role of Carbon County Treasurer after being recommended by the Carbon County Democratic Party. West is running to be elected to the position, but as a Republican candidate.

Town of Saratoga

The Town of Saratoga won’t see many candidates on the ballot in either the primary or general elections this year.

For the mayor seat, Chuck Davis and D’Ron Campbell will be running for the office. For the two four-year council terms, Jerry and Jacob Fluty have filed to run. Michael Cooley, meanwhile, has filed to run for the two-year unexpired council term.

Town of Encampment

A three-way race of mayor is shaping up in Encampment, though incumbent mayor Greg Salisbury does not appear to have filed. Shannon Fagan, who currently serves on the Encampment Town Council, has filed to run for mayor. Joining her will be Brad Hebig, who ran in 2018 against Salisbury, and Matthew Wagy, who ran for council in 2020.

Nobody has filed to run for the two four-year council terms on Encampment Town Council.

Town of Riverside

Both the mayor and three council seats up for grabs in Riverside will have to be decided by write-in campaign. Incumbent mayor Leroy Stephenson has not filed to run for re-election and nobody has filed to run for either the two four-year council terms or the two-year unexpired council term.

Town of Elk Mountain

In Elk Mountain, incumbent mayor Morgan Irene is seeking re-election and will face Ken Casner, who has previously run for United States Senate and Wyoming Governor. Craig Mustard filed to run for one of the two four-year council terms and Joseph Neel has filed for the two-year unexpired council term.

Town of Hanna

Another tense mayor race appears to be shaping up, this one in Hanna with a four-way race. The current mayor, Lois Buchannan, did not file to run for re-election. Two current council members, Sammy Sikes and Tracy Fowler, have filed to run for mayor. Joining them will be O.D. “Oats” Briggs and Jon Ostling.

Roger Hawks is the only person to have filed for one of the two four-year council terms.

Town of Medicine Bow

In 2020, Medicine Bow faced a lack of candidates. This time, it appears there will be just enough. Incumbent mayor Sharon Biamon will be seeking re-election and will be running unopposed. Kate Standish and Lucinda Schofield have both filed to run for re-election to the two four-year council terms in Medicine Bow.

Write-ins Possible

While the filing date may have passed, there is still the possibility of write-in candidates for a number of seats both contested and uncontested before the primary election on August 16. Those who run a write-in campaign and get a sufficient number of votes will have to file as candidates for the general election.