While the run for the White House dominates national headlines, voters in Big Horn County will have far more to decide this November than simply whether Barack, John or Hillary will be the next inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.


Some key county and municipal races will begin to take shape next week when the filing period opens for one seat on the Big Horn County Commission, the Wyoming House of Representatives and various seats on local town councils.


The filing period opens Thursday, May 15 and ends Friday, May 30. Candidates for town council seats can file during regular office hours at their respective town hall, while the candidates for the commission seat can make it official during regular office hours at the courthouse in Basin. A filing fee of $25 will be collected from candidates when they officially enter the race.


Those seeking the House District No. 26 seat in the Wyoming Legislature may file with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office, if they have not already done so, as in the case of Rep. Elaine Harvey, who filed her paperwork in Cheyenne at the end of the 2008 Budget Session.


The races will appear on the Aug. 19 primary election ballot, where they will be joined by among others, candidates for Wyoming’s two U.S. Senate seats now held by John Barrasso and Mike Enzi and one U.S. House seat now held by Barbara Cubin.

Bill Duncan’s term on the Big Horn County Commission is set to expire at the end of this year, and already, one candidate, Jerry Ewen of Shell, has announced his intent to seek the four-year term. When contacted recently, Duncan said he had not decided whether to seek another term.


Duncan’s commission seat will be the only county race on the ballot this year, as the other elected officials are just midway through the four-year terms they were elected to serve in 2006.


Rep. Elaine Harvey’s House District 26 seat in the Wyoming Legislature will also be up for election. She will be seeking her fourth two-year term in the House.

Mayoral terms across Wyoming became four-year terms after action by the Wyoming Legislature two years ago, so all five mayors in north Big Horn County are in the middle of their terms, having been elected in 2006.


But various town council positions will be up for grabs as follows: In Lovell, the seats currently held by Scott Allred and Brian Dickson; in Byron, the seats currently held by David Hessenthaler and Gil Cordova; in Cowley, the seats held by Tim Jones and Peggy Rasmussen; in Deaver, the seats held by Fred Yates and Don Wenstrom Jr.; and in Frannie, the four-year seats held by Ronald Logan and Marty Roedel and the two-year seat held by Brenda Kawano.

Filing for a plethora of other elected positions that will appear on the general election ballot in the fall begins Aug. 6 and continues through Aug. 25, according to Annette Dillon of the Big Horn County Clerk’s office.
Voters will be asked to fill seats on the local hospital, school, cemetery, fire protection, rural health care and conservation district boards for the Nov. 4 general election.


Three seats on the North Big Horn Hospital Board will be up this year, seats currently held by Dexter Woodis (at large), Don Minchow (at large) and Ruthann Holzer (Lovell).


School board seats in District One up for election include the Deaver/Frannie seat held by Russell Boardman, the Byron seat held by Ed Riding and the at large seat held by Bryan Lee.


In District Two, school board seats up for election will include the seats currently held by Matt Bassett, Dan Anderson, Rebecca Moncur and Tracy Beal, who was recently appointed to serve out the term of Monty Wardell.