Sheriff race brewing as filing begins

Filing for the 2026 primary election began just a week ago, but there are already some interesting races facing voters in what is sure to be a jam-packed election lineup.

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

As of Tuesday, there were already four candidates 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 have also been three filings for the GOP nomination for county commissioner, with two seats to be elected: Tim Beck of Lovell, Jared Boardman of Frannie and Mike Laird 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. As of Tuesday, county coroner Mike Jameson of Lovell had yet to file for office.

There have been a smattering of filings for municipal office in the north end of the county. In Lovell both incumbent Tom Newman and challenger Dylan Banks have filed to run for mayor, and Jason Sumaya has filed for the town council. In Byron, incumbent mayor Allan Clark and incumbent town councilman Shae Abraham have filed, along with Taliesha Beech for town council.

Deaver mayor Bill Camp has filed for re-election, and as of Tuesday there have  been no filings for office in Cowley and Frannie.

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.

State offices

At the state level, several races have developed.

There are already six candidates filed to succeed the retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis for the U.S. Senate: Republicans Harriet Hagman of Cheyenne, the current Wyoming congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jill Edwards of Laramie, Jimmy Skovgard of Casper, John Holz of Laramie and Sam Mead of Jackson and Democrat James Byrd of Cheyenne.

Five candidates have filed for the U.S. House of Representatives: Republicans Frank Chapman of Moran, Jillian Balow of Cheyenne, Kevin Christensen of Casper and Reid Rasner of Casper 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 Wednesday morning were:

Secretary of State – Republican Rachel Williams of Cody 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.