The Candidates

Date: October 29, 2018
Categories: Elections, Promoting Participation In Government

2018 Midterm Elections

The general election on November 6 saw a high turnout in Park County with 73% of registered voters casting a ballot (compare to 62.23% for the 2014 midterm elections).

Interest in the midterms soared nationwide. An unprecedented number of women ran for and won local, state, and national office. There were several firsts, including the election of the first Native American woman to Congress–not just one but two! Two Muslim women were elected, the first Muslim women to serve in Congress. South Dakota elected its first female governor and Arizona and Tennessee elected their first female senators. Colorado elected the first openly gay man to win a governorship in the United States.

Republicans dominated the stage in the Wyoming races but Democrats can feel proud of the quality candidates on their ticket, including Mary Throne and Gary Trauner. Both these candidates traveled the state, talking to people about issues that matter to Wyomingites. Both must have known it was a very long shot, but both put their hat in the ring. Kudos!

There is still a long ways to go in Park County and in Wyoming to have a more diverse ballot, with choices that cover the political spectrum. But if one looks at the number of candidates who participated, from the School Board race in Cody to the slate of contenders on the primary election County Commissioner ballot, there is much to be optimistic about. Thank you to all of those that ran for office and congratulations to all who won. We hope that the work of Wyoming Rising helped to inform and get out the vote.

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Candidates in some of the most-closely watched races with their percentage of the total vote are below, with winners in red. For the full summary of Park County results, visit Park County elections website.

To report errors or omissions, please leave a comment below.

Park County Commissioners

The term for Commissioners is 4 years. No Democrats or Independents ran in the August primary; thereby the top three vote-getting Republicans ran unopposed in the midterms.

Special Districts

Northwest College Trustees: term is 4 years.

School District #6 (Cody) Trustees: term is 4 years.
Three seats were open. Heather Green withdrew from the race in September. Stephanie Liebert, Denise Shirley, and Julie Johannsen withdrew from the race after ballots had been printed.

School District #6 (Cody) Trustees: term is 2 years.
One seat was open. This is the seat that Rebecca George resigned in March of 2018. Lisa Constantine was selected by the School Board from a field of applicants to fill the seat until the November 2018 midterm elections. Robin Berry withdrew from the race in September.

School District #1 (Powell) Trustees:
Four seats were open.

  • Greg Borcher (15.34%)
  • Lillian Brazelton (13.86%)
  • Trace Paul (13.64%)
  • Donald Hansen (9.68%)
  • Nathan Lind (8.98%)

School District #16 (Meeteetse) Trustees:
Two seats were open.

  • Mike Potas (40.54%)
  • J. Nicole Blake (39.9%)

West Park Hospital Trustees: term is 4 years.
Four seats were open. Ken Markert withdrew from the race after the ballots were printed.

  1. Howard Thompson (12.65%)
  2. Graham Jackson (12.23%)
  3. Peggy Rohrbach (12.06%)
  4. Jen Talich (16.69%)

West Park Hospital Trustees: term is 2 years.
Catherine Schmidt ran unopposed.

Powell Hospital Trustees: term is 4 years.
Two seats were open.

  • R.J. Kost (17.79%)(
  • Jim Carlson (15.55%)
  • Beth Glib (14.26%)

Wyoming Legislature

All 60 seats in the Wyoming House of Representatives were up for election. For information about the Wyoming Legislature, visit this link.  To find your district, visit this link.

House District #50
The district includes Crandell, Sunlight, Clark, Heart Mountain, Ralston, and Wilwood

  • David Northrup (R) (77.79%)
    ~ Northrup is a farmer and rancher who has served in the Legislature since 2013. You can find a summary Northrup’s voting record and the bills he sponsored at Open States.
  • Mike Specht (D) (18.05%)~ chairman of the Park County Democratic Party, and Clark businessman

House District #24
The district includes Cody and Mammoth.

  • Sandy Newsome (R) (68.98%)
  • Paul Fees (D) (26.18%)
    ~ Fees is past president of the Wyoming Council for the Humanities and currently serves on the board of the American Indian Institute. He was curator and senior curator at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody from 1981 to 2001.

House District #25
The district includes Powell. The incumbent ran unopposed.

House District #26
The district includes Lovell and Greybull. The incumbent ran unopposed.

House District #28
The district includes Meeteetse and Burlington.

  • John R. Winter (R) (80.57%)
  • Howie Samelson (D) (16.06%)

Wyoming Governor

  • Mark Gordon (R) (73.96%)
    ~ State Treasurer, Businessman, Rancher
  • Mary Throne (D) (19.11%)
    ~ Attorney, Ex-State Representative
  • Rex Rammell (Constitution Party) (3.63%)
  • Lawrence G. Struempf (L) (1.35%)

Secretary Of State

Wyoming Secretary of State term is 4 years.

State Auditor

Wyoming State Auditor term is 4 years.

  • Kristi Racines (R) (78.55%)
  • Jeff Dockter (D) (17.87%)

State Treasurer

Wyoming State Treasurer term is 4 years

  • Curt Meier (R) (77.15%)
  • Chris Lowry (D) (19.25%)

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Jillian Balow (R) ran unopposed for re-election to another 4-year term. The specific duties of the superintendent and information about Barlow can be found here: https://ballotpedia.org/Jillian_Balow

US Senate Candidates

Incumbent John Barrasso is up for reelection this year. Senator Barrasso has been in office since 2007 and was a Wyoming state senator from 2002-2007. Senate terms are six years

  • John Barrasso (R) (75%)
    ~ The incumbent has been in office since 2007
  • Gary Trauner (D) (21.72%)
    ~ Businessman
  • Joseph Porambo (L) (2.32%)

U.S. House Of Representatives:

Incumbent Liz Cheney has been in office since 2017. U.S. Representative terms are for two years.

  • Liz Cheney (R) (70.31%)
    ~ Incumbent
  • Greg Hunter (D) (21.63%)
  • Daniel C. Cummings (Constitution Party) (3.37%)
  • Richard Brubaker (L) (2.68%)

 

Note from the editor: any updates to information about these candidates would be very welcome. Send link information to Renée at contact@wyomingrising.org

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