House District 46 candidates collectively raised more than $55,000 in the lead-up to next week’s primary election. More than 80% of that cash was raised by one Republican candidate.

In Albany County’s only competitive State House race this cycle, Cam Wright, a moderate Republican, is aiming to unseat Rep. Ocean Andrew, a leading member of the state’s right-wing Freedom Caucus.

The primary contest between Wright and Andrew is one of several playing out across the state that will determine the balance of power in Cheyenne next year.

Andrew has never lost an election. To challenge him, Wright has mustered nearly $45,000 in campaign cash, drawing from a diverse range of funders. About $20,000 has come from individuals, while another $20,000 has come from political action committees (PACs).

That includes a $5,000 check from the Way Back PAC, which funnels money to independents and moderate Republicans, and a $4,000 check from the Wyoming Education Association’s PAC.

Governor Mark Gordon’s Prosperity and Commerce PAC gave Wright’s campaign $1,000. In total, eight different PACs gave Wright that much or more.

The challenger also recruited more than 50 individual donors, including five who gave the maximum allowable donation ($1,500) and another five donating $1,000 or more.

At time of filing, Wright had spent more than $33,000 on yard signs and advertising, among other expenses. His primary campaign finance report shows he paid a significant portion (more than $14,000) to the campaign consultant firm Election Hive.

Andrew has both raised and spent less. His primary push has cost about $9,800, but the majority of that figure — about $8,300 — was carried over from the balance of previous election cycles. Andrew’s new cash includes about $480 from his own pocket and less than $1,000 from various individuals, none donating more than $250 a piece.

The House District 46 Republican primary winner will likely face Democrat Gary Wilken in the general election. Wilken is running unopposed on the other side of the aisle and is therefore likely to be nominated next week in his party’s own primary.

Wilken’s primary finance report shows contributions totaling about $740, with a third of that coming from Laramie City Councilor Erin O’Doherty.

Ocean Andrew (Republican)

• Raised: $9,803

• Spent: $9,803

• Average donation: $122

• Own money: $480

Contribution breakdown:

• $480 — Immediate family/personal

• $975 — Individual

• $8,348 — Un-itemized

Top donors:

• $250 — Susan and Robert Wilson, Cheyenne residents

• $200 — Mary Ann Perez, Laramie resident

• $200 — Sandra Eike, Laramie resident

• $100 — David Knudson, Laramie resident

• $100 — Joseph Magana, Oklahoma resident

Cam Wright (Republican)

• Raised: $44,976

• Spent: $33,477

• Average donation: $383

• Own money: $266

Contribution breakdown:

• $266 — Immediate family/personal

• $20,320 — Individual

• $19,050 — Wyoming PAC

• $1,250 — Federal/Out-of-State PAC

• $705 — Anonymous

• $3,385 — In-kind

Top donors:

• $5,000 — Way Back PAC, which supports moderate Republicans

• $4,000 — WEA PACE, which is aligned with Wyoming’s teachers association

• $2,500 — Wyoming Mining Association PAC

• $2,000 — Wyoming Realtors PAC

• $2,000 — Lawyers Active in Wyoming PAC

• $1,500 — Joseph Leimkuhler, Louisiana resident

• $1,500 — Debbie Garcia, Cheyenne resident

• $1,500 — Vince Garcia, Cheyenne resident

• $1,500 — Dave True, Casper resident

• $1,500 — Philip Treick, Laramie resident

Gary Wilken (Democrat)

• Raised: $743

• Spent: $363

• Average donation: $76

• Own money: $0

Contribution breakdown:

• $382 — Individual

• $361 — In-kind

Top donors:

• $250 — Erin O’Doherty, Laramie resident and city councilor

• $100 — Sarah Gorin, Laramie resident

• $25 — Lorraine Saulino-Klein, Laramie resident

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Albany County Commissioner Pete Gosar said he’s proud of what the county has accomplished during his eight years on its highest elected body — from aquifer protection to renewable energy approvals and more.

But there’s still work to be done, and Gosar said the experience he brings as the only incumbent running in this year’s Democratic primary will be an asset to that work.

If reelected, Gosar said he’ll be able to collaborate with whomever joins him on the three-member commission next year.

“Most of our job, I think it would be surprising to you, is not ideologically driven,” Gosar told the audience during a Progressive Voter Alliance forum last month. “It’s solution-based, and if you’re in the business of solutions, I’ve not found somebody who wouldn’t meet you some part of the way.”

Gosar is seeking his third term on the commission, having first been elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022.

As in those earlier cycles, 2026 sees two of the commission’s three seats on the ballot. Accordingly, each major party may send two nominees to the general election.

The Republicans have theirs already: Commissioner Terri Jones and former Laramie Police Officer Chris Cleven, who were the only two members of the GOP to file this year.

The Democrats, however, have decisions to make. Four candidates are seeking the party’s two nominations. In addition to Gosar, they are Albany County Democrats Chair Klaus Halbsgut, Young Democrats leader Erik Boss, and retired wildlife ecologist Merav Ben-David.

Democrats will get to pick two of those candidates when they head to the polls next week.

“I still like the job. I still feel committed to the community,” Gosar said. “I would like to see the aquifer further protected, whichever ways we are able to do that. I’d like to see … the funding for Pilot Hill become more sustainable, so that the future generations of people in Albany County and Laramie can really just count on that being part of the reason that we all live here.”

Gosar said he has a track record of returning constituent calls and of being honest with members of the public — even and especially on topics where he disagrees.

“Laramie, Albany County, is a small enough place with few enough resources that collaboration is required,” he said. “And I feel that that has been something I’ve tried to be an example of.”

Outside of his work as commissioner, Gosar is the executive director of the Downtown Clinic, which serves uninsured residents of Albany County. He has been the director for more than a decade. Gosar also rents out two apartments, which provide him additional income.

The current commissioner is the only candidate in the Democratic primary who has held elected office.

The primary election is Aug. 18. Early voting has already begun.

What happened in Gosar’s first two terms?

The commission is a three-member body. All three seats are elected by the public. Those three then vote on a commission chair from amongst themselves. Typically, when a party takes control of the commission, its members elect their longest-serving compatriot to the chair.

Gosar has been on the commission for eight years. He spent the middle four as chair.

Gosar was elected in 2018, but spent his first two years on the commission as its only Democrat. In 2020, Democrats took the commission and Gosar became the chair. In 2022, Gosar was reelected to a second term. Because Democrats still held a majority, he kept serving as the commission’s chair. In 2024, Democrats lost control of the commission and Gosar lost his chair, becoming, once more, the body’s only Democrat.

The last eight years have been a transformative time for the county. As a member of the commission, and sometimes as its chair, Gosar played an active role in most of the major developments.

Those included the Pilot Hill Project: the successful effort to collaboratively purchase 5,500 acres of open land directly east of Laramie. With private donations and buy-in from a range of community partners, including the University of Wyoming, the land has been preserved as animal habitat and as a non-motorized recreation area, connecting the city of Laramie to National Forest land.

The commissioners also hammered out a Natural Resource Management Plan in 2022, going through multiple revisions before landing on a final version. The plan outlines the community’s wishes for the 24% of land in Albany County managed by the federal government.

“We passed the most public land-friendly natural resources plan this side of Jackson, and I think maybe on the other side of Jackson as well,” Gosar said to a forum audience last month. “I really do think public lands are a really important part, not only for protecting the aquifer, but for making a livable city.”

Other major developments from Gosar’s time as commissioner enjoyed less universal praise. While it’s true that much of the commission’s work is not “ideologically driven,” some of the work very much is.

Gosar has supported efforts to shield Laramie’s main source of drinking water and he voted to allow a new wind farm south of Laramie. Neither move was unpopular, but both faced some backlash — up to and including lawsuits against the county.

Aquifer protection

Debates about aquifer protection have dominated much of Gosar’s tenure with the commission. Those who advocate for greater “aquifer protection,” as Gosar does, seek to mitigate contamination by limiting what can be built on the land above the underground water source.

In 2019, advocates targeted the Tumbleweed Gas Station, which sits above the aquifer. A gas station could not be built there today given updated aquifer regulations, but the business predated those and had been grandfathered in.

County officials filed a lawsuit that year arguing Tumbleweed had lost its “grandfathered” status. But they soon after reversed course, revoking the suit in the belief that the local government could not win.

Gosar was the only commissioner who supported continuing the lawsuit in 2019.

The following year, Democrats flipped the commission and Gosar became the chair. Under Gosar’s leadership, the commission approved aquifer protection regulations in 2021. These were challenged in court and the commission was sent back to the drawing board.

In 2022, Gosar was reelected and Democrats retained control of the commission. This electoral victory paved the way for stronger aquifer protections.

In early 2023, the commission approved revised aquifer regulations and the new version of those regulations stuck.

Simultaneously, the county developed an updated Casper Aquifer Protection Plan. This new plan eliminated discrepancies between the county’s and the city’s former plans. The CAPP also passed in 2023.

In 2024, Democrats lost control of the commission and Gosar went from serving as the commission’s chair to its lone Democrat.

The aquifer protection work completed during Gosar’s tenure in the leadership role has not been undone in the two years since Democrats lost the majority.

Renewables

Gosar has been a reliable vote in favor of renewable energy proposals. That includes supporting solar buildouts on county facilities wherever possible.

“I’m a big supporter of renewables for the county, and I think what’s important is I support it personally,” Gosar said. “The rentals I have are both solar-powered. The clinic that I work in is solar-powered. I think it’s a really smart move financially. I think it’s a really smart move [as] an environmental piece.”

He said voters can expect more support for solar in his third term.

“As we think about, and we see, electrical fees continuing to rise, what we’ve done at the courthouse, and at the search and rescue building, and at the county’s IT building, is we have locked in the cost of that electricity at a rate that will no longer rise,” Gosar said. “There’s more to be done. I’d love to see all county operations go to renewables with batteries backing [them] up.”

Gosar has also been a consistent supporter of wind energy developments, including the Rail Tie Wind Project.

In 2021, he voted alongside other commissioners to approve Rail Tie’s WECS (Wind Energy Conversion System) permit, siding with advocates for the wind project. Despite objections from some local opponents, Gosar viewed the proposal as beneficial for Albany County.

He stressed that getting a good deal for local residents was paramount in his decision to approve.

“I’m the son of an oilfield worker in western Wyoming and I have seen businesses run over local populations,” Gosar said before the vote in 2021. “It’s my job, as I see it, as a commissioner, to represent those local populations and to do the very best I can to make the very best deal for the people I serve.”

Rail Tie’s opponents did not give up after the WECS vote. They have tried to halt the project at various government levels and with multiple lawsuits. These efforts have not killed the project but they have successfully delayed construction, and the WECS permit — good for just five years — came back to the commission for an extension vote earlier this summer.

Gosar joined Republican Terri Jones in the 2-1 vote that extended Rail Tie’s permit another five years.

On the horizon: Property tax relief

If Gosar is reelected, there will likely be more decisions to make about public lands, restrictions above the aquifer, and the installation of solar panels and wind turbines.

But another issue can already be seen on the horizon, and county leaders could have tough decisions to make following the November election.

As property taxes have risen, state lawmakers have sought to offer relief by reducing what Wyoming homeowners owe the government. Though many proposals have been brought to the table, the most significant so far was a 2025 bill that applied a 25% cut to the property taxes charged on the first $1 million of a home’s fair market value.

That cut has reduced property tax bills, but the corresponding drop in collections has been felt by local governments, in fire departments and in public libraries.

As Gosar explained to a League of Women Voters forum earlier this summer, Albany County was able to weather that cut better than some other communities because of the windfall in sales taxes coming from new wind farm construction.

“The county would have faced a $1.9 million shortfall if it wouldn’t have been for sales tax off of turbines and big items,” Gosar said. “We realized a $600,000 cut. But how many more times will they buy turbines and generators?”

And there could be an even more significant property tax slash coming down the pike, if voters approve the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax” — a ballot measure slated for the general election this November.

The measure would exempt half of a home’s assessed value from property tax calculations. If approved by voters, it would cut taxes for most homeowners and could reduce state collections by nearly $125 million, or about 23% of what it now collects.

Gosar said that would be devastating for Albany County.

“Think to yourself about your home budget. Could you take a 20% cut? And would you be able to just be fine with that?” Gosar said. “When you think about cutting 20-25%, you can’t do the math without cutting people.”

In Albany County, there is bipartisan agreement among local officials that the ballot measure, if passed, would mean diminishing government services. At various forums this summer, Gosar and others have urged voters to vote no.

Rapid fire topics

No analysis can completely anticipate every topic commissioners will face in the next four years. But Commissioner Gosar, like his fellow candidates, has spoken on a number of issues across multiple forums as well as in an interview with The Laramie Reporter. Below are some excerpts.

Meeting times

When Gosar was chair, the commission alternated its twice-a-month meetings between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. time slots. The argument for this arrangement was that it allowed more people to attend commission meetings.

When Republicans regained the majority after the 2024 election, the meetings were moved to 9:30 a.m. exclusively. The argument for this arrangement was consistency, for the public and for county staff, who must sometimes work into the evening when there is a 6 p.m. meeting.

“When I was the chair, I moved one of the meetings to night because I felt like having meetings during the day excluded people who worked and didn’t have the time,” Gosar told The Reporter. “The current commission doesn’t believe that and moved it back to the day meetings. But I think anything that you can do to engage and to have people put their best ideas to improve government — I think that’s a really useful thing.”

Meeting times will depend on more than Gosar’s reelection chances. But if his party retakes the commission in November, meetings could return to the alternating schedule.

Data centers

Like his fellow candidates, Gosar has not taken a hardline stance on data centers, though he has been critical.

So far, no company has proposed building an AI data center in Albany County. But as communities across the country confront these typically unpopular development proposals, residents of Laramie and the surrounding area are beginning to discuss how they ought to respond should such a proposal land at their front door. City and county leaders are hosting a joint meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Gosar has said his vote on any data center proposal will depend on the proposal itself.

“As a sitting commissioner, you really don’t have the ability to say yay or nay until you’ve seen something cross your desk,” Gosar said during a League of Women Voters forum in June. “It would have to mitigate the electricity use, the water use, the heat islands, and the lack of employment once it’s done.”

But Gosar said he would also ask what all that computing power would be used for.

“I don’t know that anybody else in this room thinks they need more data collected on them,” he said to the forum audience. “So if it’s here to help cure cancer, I’m all in, right? But if it’s here to help ICE run down people on the street, not interested.”

Housing and mobile homes

The commission is limited in what it can do to support housing development. Most of the policies being pursued by housing advocates would have to be enacted at the state and municipal level.

“But I think we [the county] could work with the city and with other interested parties to figure out a strategy and be helpful,” Gosar told The Reporter. “I think what is often overlooked in affordable housing is what’s happening in our trailer courts in Albany County and Laramie. Big outside interests are coming in and buying up the trailer courts and then raising the rates on people, our Albany County residents, because they can.”

Gosar said there’s little the county government can do to intervene, but it could foster discussions about mobile home park cooperatives. Co-ops are resident-owned and resident-run, and lot rents tend to stay down because they aren’t feeding millionaire investors. In co-ops, rent hikes only happen when the residents themselves decide to pitch in for new roads or other maintenance.

Albany County currently has no mobile home park co-ops, though the idea has been gaining traction nationally.

“We don’t have many tools legally to intercede in what the state views as a private contract between the renter and the trailer park owner, but I think there are creative ways to make other options available to people so that they are not at the mercy of some well-financed, well-lawyered outside entity,” Gosar said. “I don’t think that conversation has been had, but I really will be pushing that conversation.”

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Klaus Halbsgut said he’s ready to serve on the Albany County Commission. It’s a posting he has sought and failed to acquire three previous times in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

Halbsgut said he brings a business acumen, a commitment to weigh evidence and an interest in listening to all voices — skills that could be useful to a county facing questions about housing, renewable energy, water scarcity and more.

But three campaigns have also taught him a lot about the office he seeks and the needs of the community it serves.

“I may never have won, but I’ve never lost,” Halbsgut said. “This time I feel like I’m exceptionally more qualified. Not only do I have my business experience — which I excelled at even the first time I ran — I now have a lot of experience with how to run county parties, how to run meetings, how to work with nonprofits.”

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By trade, Halbsgut is a mechanic and the owner of Import Auto Repairs, which he opened in 1992 and now celebrates as “the longest same-owner, same-location auto repair shop in Laramie.”

He also serves as chair of the Albany County Democrats, and has overseen fundraising as well as efforts to recruit Democratic candidates. He has helped to plan rallies and protests, and to host other events, including a town hall last year with repentant Capitol rioter Pamela Hemphill.

In this year’s Democratic primary, Halbsgut is one of four candidates seeking the party’s two available nominations for Albany County Commission. The other candidates are Commissioner Pete Gosar, who is seeking reelection; Erik Boss, a Young Democrats of Wyoming leader; and Merav Ben-David, a retired wildlife ecologist.

On Aug. 18, registered Democrats in Albany County will decide which two of the four they’ll be sending to the general election this fall. On Nov. 3, the Democrats’ nominees will square off with the Republicans’ nominees in a contest that will decide two of the commission’s three seats.

Like the other Democratic candidates running for commission, Halbsgut had nuanced answers to questions about wind development, data centers and other hot button issues.

He said he is “definitely pro-renewable energy” though he believes there should be “some serious regulations” to ensure any new turbines benefit the community. He said climate change is worth taking seriously and factoring into decisions about giving the yay or nay to any new proposal. On data centers, Halbsgut said he won’t issue “an immediate no or an immediate yes” to any company looking to land in Laramie, though water scarcity will be a crucial component of any such discussion.

“I want to be able to defend every decision I make and go, ‘This is why I voted this way, because I believe this will bring benefit to the community,’” he said. “Or the alternative: ‘This is why I voted no, because I think it will bring more harm to the community.’ And you need to be able to base your answer on research and facts if you want to have any kind of transparency at all.”

Halbsgut said getting to that decision — be it about turbines, servers or whatever else comes before the commission — takes input from a variety of sources.

“The richest person and the loudest person isn’t always the right person,” he said. “Sometimes, some people that are very quiet and diminutive, and don’t talk as much as you and I, might have a better answer and solution to the problem. So you need to listen to all voices.”

Halbsgut has a reputation for being talkative — during a League of Women Voters forum in June, he repeatedly joked that “90 seconds was not enough” time to answer. But Halbsgut said he’s also been listening to neighbors and voters since his first campaign eight years ago.

Previous elections

Halbsgut first ran for an Albany County Commission seat in 2018. Today he openly admits he was not ready to take on that role eight years ago, having been recruited to run and having had “no clue” what it would take.

“I want to thank all of you for not voting for me then,” Halbsgut said to his fellow partisans during the Albany County Democrats Convention in May. “Because I was not prepared.”

The 2018 Democratic primary for county commission saw more candidates than any other primary in Albany County in the last 20 years, with seven Democrats vying for two available nominations.

Pete Gosar and Tim Chesnut won those nominations, leaving a large gap in vote tallies between the victors (each with more than 1,100 votes) and the five defeated candidates (all of whom earned less than 600). Halbsgut secured 275 votes, coming in second to last.

He would face fewer opponents and earn higher vote tallies in each subsequent election.

In 2020, Halbsgut ran as an independent for the one commission seat on that ballot that year. Instead of running in a primary election, Halbsgut collected signatures to petition for his name to appear on general election ballots. This effort was successful, and he appeared as a third option next to Democratic nominee Sue Ibarra and Republican nominee Terri Jones on the November ballot.

By a razor-thin margin — 8,277 votes to 8,220 votes — Ibarra defeated Jones, securing a Democratic majority on the county commission. Halbsgut won 1,502 votes in that election.

The 2022 primary was, in some ways, the opposite of the 2018 primary. There were once again two commission seats on the ballot. But whereas the 2018 election saw seven Democrats competing for those two seats, the 2022 election drew just one: Pete Gosar, who was standing for reelection.

“They came and recruited me,” Halbsgut said, adding that Democratic party members saw he shared many of their values and had been affiliated with the Dems in the past.

So Halbsgut ran a write-in campaign for a Democratic nomination. In August 2022, Gosar, the only Democratic name printed on primary ballots, easily secured his own nomination with nearly 90% of the vote. Halbsgut secured the other available nomination via write-ins.

In the general election a few months later, with four candidates seeking two commission seats, Halbsgut came in last place, taking 4,847 of more than 22,000 votes cast. Gosar retained his seat and Jones rejoined the commission, having run again following her 2020 defeat.

Halbsgut did not run in 2024, but did develop closer ties to the local party that had drawn him back in. In March 2025, Halbsgut was chosen as the county party’s chair and retains that role today.

In 2026, Halbsgut is now running for a fourth time, now as a traditional candidate affiliated with a major party.

“I’ve never done it the easy way,” he said. “When I first did it, I had no clue. The second time I did it, I had a little bit more of a clue, but still glad that that didn’t go anywhere. The third time I did it, I was really hoping that it was going to be successful, but because of my late start and not having enough time to actually get out and knock on doors, I fell a little bit short.”

He sees promise, however, in his rising vote tallies.

“I was pleased with the turnout [in 2022],” Halbsgut said. “So, I’ve gone from 300 to 1,500 to almost 5,000 — and I hope to exceed 6,000 this time in the general.”

Water, and the people/data centers who drink it

Protecting the Casper Aquifer has long been a top priority for Halbsgut.

The Casper Aquifer is east of the city and provides more than half of its drinking water. For years, the community has been engaged in debates surrounding how much development — and what kinds of development — should be allowed on the land above it.

Those who advocate for greater “aquifer protection” seek to limit what can be built on the land above and to strengthen regulations regarding septic tank quality and other factors related to the threat of contamination.

In general, these advocates have won the debate, with the passage of a protection plan and the adoption of an overlay zone both in 2023. But advocates for these measures, mostly Democrats, say they now need to hold the line on those gains and make sure those protections aren’t unraveled.

There may be a bigger threat to water security on the horizon, however: AI data centers.

These centers, famous for their energy and water demands and now cropping up in communities across the west, have not yet come to Albany County. But many residents are hoping the county will prepare for when and if they do.

No candidate running for Albany County Commission has said they’ll give data centers an automatic approval. None have said they’ll automatically deny them, either. Instead, the candidates have been staking out how they’ll respond, and the factors they’ll weigh, should such a proposal hit their desk.

“Water is going to be a big deal, and water will always be paramount in any decision that I make,” Halbsgut said. “I will not jeopardize the quality of our water or the quantity of our water. Data centers would have to be able to answer that question for me to get to a yes. And if they can’t, then I probably wouldn’t be able to give them a yes.”

Halbsgut said he would also grill those making data center proposals about noise and other pollution and the demand such a center would place on the existing electrical grid. But water availability will be the primary concern.

“If we don’t have access to water, nothing else really matters,” Halbsgut said. “Infrastructure development, economic development, housing — none of that matters because we’re going to be dying as a community if we don’t have decent water.”

But other considerations can be factored in as well, he said. For example, data centers could provide local jobs for electricians, at least during the construction phase. Halbsgut said this is happening now in Cheyenne.

“These are good paying jobs, so that’s bringing money into Laramie County,” he said. “And then these people, of course, have to have a place to live, and then they’re going to go out to restaurants, and they’re going to go out to stores, and so that’s going to bring in some increased revenue into Laramie County. But at what cost? is what I think. What’s going to be the debit to Cheyenne? What’s it going to do to their electrical grid? What’s it going to do to their water supply?”

In Halbsgut’s view, other development proposals have more to offer Albany County and the world at large.

Renewables, and the people/planet who benefit from them

Halbsgut said he’s “definitely pro-renewable energy” and has been since he first ran for commission in 2018. In subsequent campaigns, he has repeatedly stressed an affinity for renewable energy, including wind energy, and the need to take action in the face of a climate crisis.

“Climate change is causing a lot of impact,” Halbsgut said. “We’re seeing a lot more forest fires, you’re seeing a lot more devastation from hurricanes … I’m not sure if we have passed the point of no return at this point in time, but we have to do something different.”

Halbsgut admits Albany County can’t reverse the global climate disruptions that have rendered the world 1.5 degrees warmer. But he said it can be part of the global energy transition by leaning in with wind and solar, two resources Albany County has in abundance.

“I’m not naive. We’re not going to get rid of fossil fuels and the extraction industry overnight,” Halbsgut said. “That’s not going to happen. It’ll eventually phase out, probably not in my lifetime. So, at this point in time, I have to favor an all-of-the-above scenario.”

An “all-of-the-above” energy approach advocates for fossil fuels alongside renewable and even nuclear energy. But in Albany County, where electrons are easier to catch from the wind than excavate from the earth, “all-of-the-above” is roughly synonymous with promoting green energy.

Securing local benefits will also be important to the way Halbsgut approaches proposed renewable energy developments.

“You have to do what’s in the best interest [of Albany County],” Halbsgut said. “I would want to have some serious regulations on where and how and what recourses [there are]. If the corporations that you’re dealing with fail to live up to their end of the bargain, there would have to be some clauses in any kind of contract that if you fail to deliver on this … you are financially responsible for the recovery, the repair, and whatever it may be, to guarantee that the burden is put on the corporation and not on the citizens.”

At the end of the day, however, Halbsgut said he will also be bound by the law.

“If there is something that the law says is allowed and all of the permitting processes have been done, just because I may not like it, I don’t have the right to deny the community the benefits of that particular development, but I do have a right to ask all kinds of questions and make sure those get answered,” Halbsgut said. “I don’t want to just blindly make a decision without doing the research. You have to do the research, and if you have questions, you have to get answers to those questions.”

He said he’ll extend that approach to every issue that comes before the commission.

Rapid-fire topics

Four years is a long time in the history of a community. Four years ago, the county was emerging from the worst of the pandemic, the Rail Tie Wind Project had just been approved, and aquifer protection was an open question facing candidates for office.

Whoever joins the county commission ahead of 2027 will likely have to weigh in on a number of issues the county is not yet anticipating.

Across multiple forums and in an interview with The Laramie Reporter, Halbsgut has shared his views on some perennial and ongoing issues that could color the commission’s work between now and the end of the decade.

Working with the city

During a League of Women Voters forum in June, Halbsgut said he anticipates working closely with the city council.

“What benefits the city benefits the county,” he told the audience. “If it benefits the county, it benefits the city. So, there’s a big advantage to learning to work together. There was a time, just a couple of decades ago, where the county commission would not work at all with the city. Things did not get done, agreements were not made, things stagnated. We can’t go back to that.”

Housing shortage

One area where the city and county could work together is housing. Advocates for housing are now advancing partnerships between public and private entities with the aim of realigning an incentive structure that discourages affordable and workforce development.

“There’s more money in making McMansions for our construction companies than there is in making affordable housing,” Halbsgut told The Reporter. “So, how do we motivate construction companies to build affordable housing?”

Halbsgut said that might involve the use of tools like tax increment financing, but also combatting “Not In My Backyard” or “NIMBY” objections.

He pointed to the current proposal to incentivize infill development on the West Side, though he said that specific proposal is a “tough challenge right now.”

“Well, sometimes tough decisions have to be made,” Halbsgut said. “That one is conflicting me a little bit, being that I live out on the West Side. I’m not really a fan of that development, but I also understand that housing is an issue, and we need more of it. So that’ll be a conflict that’ll be beating me up for years.”

Public participation

During the June forum, Halbsgut was asked what he would do “to promote public trust” with a constituency that sometimes feels blindsided by government discussions and decisions.

“You have to be transparent,” Halbsgut said, noting commission agendas and meeting streams are already available online. “The community has to take a little responsibility, too. You need to come to some of these meetings. You need to watch some of these recorded meetings on YouTube, or however they’re presented to you. You need to have buy-in. It isn’t up to everybody sitting up here when we get elected to come knock on your door and tell you what we’re doing next Tuesday.”

Upcoming and past Albany County Commission agendas can be found on the county website. Meetings are live-streamed via YouTube and archived on the county’s official channel.

Property tax relief

Possibly every elected official in Albany County is united in their opposition to the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax” that will be appearing on November ballots for approval or disapproval by voters.

The initiative would slash property taxes for most homeowners and could reduce state collections by nearly $125 million, or about 23% of what it now collects.

Those cuts would be felt by schools and local governments. In Laramie, officials and candidates of both parties have been clear that such a cut would mean firing employees and reducing services.

“Tough decisions will have to be made,” Halbsgut said. “That unfortunately is probably going to be the least enjoyable part of the job.”

The primary election is Aug. 18. Every Democrat in Albany County gets to vote in the county commission primary.

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A young community organizer and aspiring minister is focused on housing, clean water and other issues important to voters his age in his bid to join the Albany County Commission.

Erik Boss is one of four Democratic hopefuls in this year’s race for two Albany County Commission seats. Boss helped to kickstart the Young Democrats of Wyoming and served as its president until stepping down two weeks ago to focus on his campaign for commissioner.

Boss said he wants to see Laramie grow.

“We need this county to continue to blossom, not to get stuck as a bud,” he said. “There’s always a season for blooming, and there’s always a season for hibernating, but at this point I think it’s time for a blossom.”

The primary election on Aug. 18 will whittle the field of four Democratic candidates to two party nominees, advancing whichever two get the most votes to the general election in November.

Every registered Democrat in Albany County gets to participate in the primary election for county commission.

Boss is pitching himself as a progressive choice for the job, promising to work with the city and other entities on housing issues and to use the position to fund and advocate for rural healthcare.

Ministry, preschools and engaging young voters

A 2011 graduate of Laramie High School, Boss has mainly lived elsewhere for the last decade and a half.

He attended the Metropolitan State University of Denver, graduating in 2016 with majors in psychology and human development, then worked for five years at a Denver preschool. During that time, he said he “identified a call to ministry.”

“It had always kind of been there in the back of my mind,” Boss said. “It just got louder and louder as time went on.”

He moved to Chicago, enrolling in the Lutheran School of Theology in early 2021, and graduated earlier this year. In July 2025, after completing his degree requirements, he moved back to Laramie. Rostered, but not yet ordained, as a Lutheran minister, Boss is once again working with youth, as an assistant teacher at Basic Beginnings.

Despite his time away, Boss said he feels prepared to lead.

“I’ve come back to Laramie very regularly over the last 15 years,” Boss said. “I’ve seen it grow. I’ve seen it change. I’ve seen campsites get established at Vedauwoo, and Chili’s come into an empty lot. And when I was away, what my training was focusing on was how to be a community member, how to engage with the community, and especially how our power structure is set up … That’s the eye that I bring when I am returning to my home.”

Since returning, Boss has joined the city’s human rights commission and helped to launch the Young Democrats of Wyoming — the latter of these with the explicit goal of engaging young people who feel “unheard” and “disenfranchised.”

“This is a group that’s focused on getting young people to get excited and interested about either voting or running for office,” said Boss, who is 33. “This disinterest in engagement — we want to combat that with reasons why people should engage, reasons why people should, if not get excited about election season, at least get informed and participate.”

Boss wouldn’t take credit for inspiring their campaigns, but several young candidates are seeking local office in Albany County this election cycle.

They have not formed an official slate, but have been occasionally campaigning together. Boss’s campaign announcement party earlier this month also featured an announcement from Nicolas Jesse, another young progressive, who is running for a Laramie City Council seat. Jesse and Boss graduated from LHS the same year.

Boss said his driving motivations are commitments to building bridges and to treating all people with dignity — commitments he credits to his faith.

“I respect the separation of church and state,” Boss said. “But I think that anybody can agree that if I’m going to treat you the way that I want to be treated, then I should probably give you food and water and medical attention and welcome you as a stranger and give you clothing. I think these are all values that anybody can agree with.”

Vision for healthcare

If elected, Boss said he will use his position to support access to healthcare. The commission weighs in on funding requests and grants related to public health.

“County commissioners are able to have input on funding for things like WIC [Women, Infants and Children Program], for example, and I know that there are people who visit our WIC office here in Laramie who from either Rock River or Centennial, even some people come from Saratoga, which is quite a haul,” Boss said. “Then there’s funding [Albany County] Public Health and nursing services, so we would be responsible for adopting budgets that allocate tax revenues to the county’s public health department.”

In these decisions, and as a representative for the county, Boss said he would consistently support public health.

“We want to ensure access to nurses and disease control and preventative care,” he said. “[The commission is] also a liaison from the state level, and so commissioners represent their county’s interests to the state legislature.”

That advocacy would include fighting for telehealth and Wyoming’s 988 suicide hotline, which Boss said are underfunded.

“There’s a lot of people out there, out in the deep, deep Wyoming rural areas, that need mental healthcare, and not just a band aid,” he said.

Boss added that the commission’s role in healthcare is limited. Despite earlier listing “healthcare” as a core pillar on his campaign website, he said he now sees engaging young people, and giving them a voice on the commission, as a more practical focus.

Threading the needle on housing in the county

During a League of Women Voters’ candidate forum, Boss said housing was his “No. 1 concern.” Many of the young people now getting involved in politics are doing so because of the housing crisis, which disproportionately hurts their generation.

“Most young people, unless they have some way into the housing market, it’s simply impossible to raise a family here,” Boss said. “The housing issue in the city of Laramie is like a countywide issue. If there’s not people in the city, if there’s not people moving here, then the whole county is going to suffer because of that.”

Boss is intimately acquainted with the housing crisis. He, his wife and their two children (one of whom is less than a month old), live in a home they rent from Boss’s parents. Boss’s brother and his wife just moved in as well, unable to find another affordable dwelling in Laramie.

As a commissioner, Boss said he would look for places on the edge of Laramie where homes could be built close enough to connect to city infrastructure but where they wouldn’t caused flooding or additional pollution.

“It’s a ‘threading the needle’ kind of thing, because there’s only so much space that you can grow without pretty major investments,” he said.

Echoing arguments raised by other local housing advocates, Boss said improving the housing stock is a key component to economic growth. The lack of homes can drive away companies which might have otherwise set up shop in Laramie.

“I’d love to see some economic growth happen there, and so I think that housing bringing people into the county is going to help with that,” Boss said.

Renewables and the value of climate action

Boss said he’s “a big fan of renewable energy” but “understands that it has limitations.” He said he would support solar energy investments because “we live in a state that’s like 300 days of sunshine” — meaning that such an investment “will pay for itself [and] become self-sustaining at a certain point.”

Siting wind turbines is a trickier issue, Boss said. When they are proposed for private land, private property rights must be respected, but he said it’s more complicated on public lands.

“When it comes to public land, it needs to be a delicate conversation,” he said. “Because it does feel like an intrusion — not only the trucks and development that need to go and tear up so much land to gain access to the location, but then how is that energy being redistributed back to the county, and is it fair to everyone?”

Boss admits he has more to learn about the issue, but proudly calls himself “a learner” who will lean on the knowledge of his constituents and the experience of his fellow commissioners.

“I really have done a lot of work to build my network, so I have connections to people who have been in this town for their entire lives and who know the best people to talk to about certain subjects,” Boss said. “When I go and speak to these people, I always hold it at arm’s length, just to make sure that I’m getting a well-rounded perspective. Sometimes people, especially people who have been around for forever, can have a desire to keep things the same, and there are some times that change is necessary.”

Opinions about wind energy development in Albany County can make strange bedfellows. Even when all three commissioners support a wind project, they often do so for radically different reasons.

Some view it as a matter of respecting private property rights and place a high value on the government staying out of the way by allowing development. Others view renewable energy development more positively, as an important step toward tackling the climate crisis.

That crisis is a global issue, but activists and former commissioners alike have celebrated wind energy projects as the local community doing its part to lend a hand.

Commissioners squarely focused on private property rights, meanwhile, say that consideration doesn’t really come into it — and perhaps shouldn’t.

For his part, Boss said taking action on climate change is a valid part of the conversation.

“I think that ‘downstream effects’ is always an important consideration,” he said. “In my eyes, if we’re not shifting to renewable energies, we’re paying for it.”

Boss said those extra costs come in the form of wildfire smoke inhalation or a number of other deleterious health impacts supercharged by climate change. These often result in higher medical bills for individuals and countries.

“It’s good to think about [wind development proposals] through an ecological and climate change lens,” Boss said. “But I think it’s more important to look at it as: What does Laramie have to offer the world, or what does Albany County get to show the world? And how do we get to lead, or are we going to be following someone else’s path?”

It all comes back to engagement

Across all issues likely to face the commission in the next four years, Boss said he wants to lower the bar to entry for young people to engage with their government, because it’s their future on the line.

He said that takes commitments to transparency and accessibility.

“The wealth inequality in this city is very apparent now that I’ve moved back,” Boss said. “A lot of people earned their wealth and are just enjoying the fruits of their labor. But there’s also a bunch of other people who want a seat at the table and want to also have a life that’s worth living, and dignity to do things that they enjoy, and have hobbies, and not just work three jobs and care for their kids.”

The primary election is Aug. 18. Every Democrat in Albany County gets to vote in the county commission primary.

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Merav Ben-David, a retired wildlife ecologist, said she’ll bring a scientist’s eye to decision-making if elected to the Albany County Commission.

Ben-David is one of four Democrats competing for her party’s two available nominations this primary election cycle. The party’s two nominees will advance to the general election where they will face two Republicans in a race that will decide the partisan balance of county leadership.

Amid that crowded field, Ben-David argues her career as a researcher gives her a unique focus. She said her lifelong professional and personal interest in the effects of climate change has shaped how she views the world and her role within it.

“Everything that I do personally and try to implement in the community comes from the fact that we are heading headfirst into a disaster, an ecological climatic disaster, and we are not preparing for it,” Ben-David said. “My goal is to help my community.”

Ben-David is no stranger to the campaign trail, though the commission seat she now seeks would be her first elected role.

In 2020, Ben-David was the Democratic nominee for one of Wyoming’s U.S. Senate seats. She ran against and lost to Cynthia Lummis. In 2022, she was the Democratic nominee for House District 46. She ran against and lost to Ocean Andrew, who remains the district’s representative.

The following year, Ben-David was appointed to the county’s planning and zoning commission, which recommends policy changes to the elected county commission. She was reappointed in 2025, and will serve until 2028 unless she is elected to a higher role this election cycle.

Ben-David said her work on aquifer protection and other regulations has given her the experience to be an effective county commissioner, while the local nature of that role made her realize she could do more good in the county than in Washington, D.C. or in Cheyenne.

“I’ve done already quite a few things to help my neighbors and make sure that we are living to our standards, protecting wildlife, and property rights,” she said. “But working in the planning and zoning commission, I realized that I could probably do a lot more for the county.”

Ben-David said she won’t be accepting financial donations this election cycle.

“I’m using money I’ve saved to run this campaign,” she said. “I do not want people to donate money. If people want to help me, they can volunteer — stuff envelopes, write postcards, but I do not want money from people.”

Ben-David added she would accept endorsements, but not contributions, from PACs.

A contested primary

Ben-David will go head to head with three other Democrats seeking the party’s two available nominations this primary election.

The other candidates are Pete Gosar, a current county commissioner seeking re-election; Klaus Halbsgut, chair of the Albany County Democrats; and Erik Boss, head of the Young Democrats of Wyoming.

The primary election is Aug. 18.

The top two vote-earning Democrats will be the party’s nominees and face two Republican nominees in the general election.

The Republican nominees are likely to be Commissioner Terri Jones, who is seeking re-election, and Chris Cleven, a former Laramie Police Officer. Jones and Cleven are the only two GOP candidates who filed to run for county commission and are therefore likely to become their party’s two nominees in August.

Jones, Cleven and the two victorious Democrats will face off in the general election for two available seats.

The two who win in November, whatever party they claim, will join Republican Thad Hoff to fill out the three-member commission.

Hoff was elected in 2024 to a four-year term. Of Albany County’s three commissioners and seven countywide elected offices, Hoff’s is the only seat not on the ballot this year.

Career and decision-making

Ben-David was born and raised on a family farm in Israel, and completed her two years of mandatory military service with the Israeli Air Force from 1977-1979. During the 1982 Lebanon War, she was called up for reserve duty. She said she was “just behind the front lines” but did not see active combat.

“My job was to coordinate the operation of the air force with ground forces including directing bombers to enemy convoys and helicopters to evacuate our wounded,” she said.

Ben-David earned her bachelor’s, then a master’s in zoology, from Tel Aviv University. She came to the U.S. to complete her Ph.D. in wildlife management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Eventually, she took a job as an assistant professor of wildlife at the University of Wyoming, advancing to associate then full professorship, heading the wildlife and fisheries ecology and management program and serving as department head for a spell.

She became a U.S. citizen in 2009. In December 2025, she retired and is today an emeritus professor.

Ben-David’s research focused on the way climate change has affected wildlife populations, from chipmunks to otters to polar bears — the last of these leading her to the Arctic as chief researcher on a 2009 expedition.

Ben-David’s academic interests have colored her worldview.

“I’ve been interested in the effects of climate change on wildlife for many, many, many years — actually, even before I finished my master’s degree,” she said. “Everything that I do, even in daily personal life, but also politics, relates to climate change and what I know about it and have learned about it over the last 40 years.”

These interests led her into the world of local politics, where water availability, renewable energy and other environmental concerns regularly demand consideration and action.

But a career in scientific research has also shaped how Ben-David approaches decision-making.

“I rely on data,” she said. “I rely on establishing relationships between different components of the system, and then building what we call projection models … My approach would be to gather all the facts, understand what they will do, and then use that understanding to forecast the future. Based on that, you make a decision.”

What the future holds for the county commission in the next four years is unknown, but a few running topics are likely to emerge at some point: Data centers, water availability, renewable energy development, housing and more.

Ben-David said she’ll approach each with a scientist’s eye, and with a mind toward getting the best deal for Albany County.

Renewables

Renewable energy developments have sharply divided locals, even as the community has started to see significant tax benefits from their construction.

Ben-David said she supports renewable energy and when it comes to solar, she’s all in.

“We put solar panels on every single public building … not to mention options for private homes, and we don’t need anything else,” she said. “We can meet all our needs from solar power with battery storage.”

Ben-David said she drives a Rivian, an electric truck, and produces her home’s power with the solar panels on her roof and the batteries connected to them.

Her relationship to wind, however, is more complicated.

“I am obviously a huge proponent of renewable energy with a main focus on solar,” she said. “As a wildlife biologist, I have a few issues with wind turbines, especially with raptors and bats.”

Turbines do kill eagles and other raptors. There are efforts to reduce these dangers — and counterarguments from the pro-wind side about the greater number of birds killed by society’s reliance on fossil fuel extraction — but as of now, the number of raptors each new wind farm will “take” is something that must be factored into official environmental assessments.

That doesn’t mean Ben-David would automatically vote against wind farms, however. She said she would just demand a better deal.

“I would have voted against [the] Rail Tie [Wind Project] under the conditions they were willing to give us,” Ben-David said. “They gave us nothing in return, nothing in return, and that is not acceptable. You want my resource, you have to compensate me for it.”

That compensation could take the form of a community benefit agreement, and might involve demanding that the power produced is used locally, that the wind company pay for local infrastructure improvements directly, or that the company make outright payments.

Community benefit agreements would also be a key component of Ben-David’s policy on data centers.

Data centers and water

As next-door Laramie County goes big on big data centers, Albany County has yet to receive any proposals for the kind of massive AI-powering data centers that have been grabbing national headlines.

But the issue is front of mind for many in Albany County. It featured as a central question for Ben-David and her commission candidate competitors during a recent public forum. As others took a range of stances toward the possibility, Ben-David was among those most critical. But she did not say she would reject such a proposal outright.

As with wind, she said, her approach would involve drafting and securing a community benefit agreement. One component of any such agreement, Ben-David said, should require the company behind the data center to generate their own electricity.

“They can make ours as well,” she told the forum audience. “We don’t have to pay for electricity. They are billionaires, and they can pay for ours as well.”

Referring to her career as a wildlife ecologist, she said any data center looking to set up shop should go beyond this as well, perhaps funding wildlife overpasses.

“Why not?” she said. “They’re the billionaires, let them pay for it.”

But before weighing any such agreement, another issue is paramount for Ben-David: water availability.

Data centers use a lot of water. This is one of the main concerns driving popular opposition to their development in rural areas.

“Right now, if a data center proposal came across my desk, I would say, ‘You can take that away. I’m not even going to look at this, because I need to make sure people get water in their tap,’” Ben-David said. “I want everybody in Laramie to be able to open a tap and have water.”

Ben-David said her chief concern at the moment is water availability, a focus shaped by her time poring through local data as a member of the county planning commission.

The Casper Aquifer, largely located east of the city, provides about 60% of Laramie’s drinking water, and aquifer protection has long been the focus of water advocates in Albany County. In 2023, those advocates secured long sought after victories: the passage of the Casper Aquifer Protection Plan and the adoption of an overlay zone restricting what can be built on the land above the aquifer.

That work began before Ben-David joined the commission in 2023, but she was involved in seeing it through.

Following the warmest winter in Wyoming’s recorded history, which was also one of its driest, every inch of Albany County is facing either “severe” or “extreme” drought conditions. In that environment, Ben-David said water-hungry data centers are simply a non-starter.

“If we have five more years of 2026 in terms of precipitation, all our ranchers are going to go out of business,” she said.

But Ben-David added these challenges are not a reason to panic. They are, she said, a reason to be prepared and to approach AI data center development with extreme caution.

Housing and other topics

Renewable energy and data centers might have taken center stage in the county commission primary, but they are not the only issues facing the candidates and the county.

Alongside water security, energy independence and protecting “wide, open spaces,” Ben-David’s campaign site also touts her commitment to government transparency, fair treatment and quality healthcare for those imprisoned in the Albany County Detention Center and public safety — from maintaining roads to supporting the county attorney’s office in prosecuting animal cruelty cases.

When it comes to housing, most of the most impactful efforts will come at the city- and state-levels. But in some instances, having support from county commissioners can aid those efforts.

Ben-David once again said that her experience on the unelected planning commission has shown her commitment to the issue. During her tenure, the planning commission endorsed two new zones to the county’s zoning tables.

Zoning determines what can be built on a particular patch of land and how much density is permissible. In the county, the residential zones run from “Agricultural” at one extreme (only one home allowed per 35 acres) to “Urban Residential” at the other extreme (one dwelling per 10,000 square feet).

There were already a couple of gradations between these extremes, but during Ben-David’s tenure and with her support, the planning commission added two more: “Agricultural Residential” and “Ranchette” zones.

“We made more categories that allow people to divide the properties, but not into city-level types of densities,” Ben David said.

The goal, she added, was to enable the construction of some housing while also protecting the county’s wide open spaces — without forcing landowners and county officials to pick one extreme or the other.

The primary election is Aug. 18. Every Democrat in Albany County gets to vote in the county commission primary.

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Raynes Goins has withdrawn from the Laramie City Council Ward 1 race, citing recent health struggles and endorsing one of her erstwhile opponents.

Goins was one of three candidates seeking the open Ward 1 council seat this election cycle. Her departure from the race means there is no longer a contested primary in Ward 1 because Ward 1 primary voters will be asked to pick two candidates from what is now a field of two.

Both of the remaining candidates — Nicholas Jesse and Eric Henderson — are now highly likely to advance to the general election in November.

Goins had announced her candidacy during the Albany County Democrats’ convention in May. She announced her withdrawal in a July 4 Facebook post.

“During these past few months, I experienced significant barriers to accessing mental healthcare in Wyoming and threats to my economic security because of my health,” she writes. “To put it simply, it’s expensive to be poor in America. I need to take a step back to take care of myself, and that involves not running for office at this time.”

In her announcement, Goins endorsed Jesse for the Ward 1 seat.

“The other reason why I am withdrawing from the race is because I know that I am leaving the city of Laramie in very good hands,” Goins writes. “My ‘opponent’, Nicholas Jesse, is as perfect of a candidate for Laramie as I could have imagined. A Laramie local, he has extensive roots in his community, works at UW, and has been a champion of equal rights and affordable reform in Laramie.”

In his own post, Jesse thanked Goins for her endorsement.

“Stepping up and running for any office takes a very special kind of courage,” he writes. “Being vulnerable about issues that face folks in Laramie and caring enough about those issues to run is one of the bravest ways people can get involved. We need more young people with fresh ideas, passion in their hearts, and a motivation to fight for their communities in politics. It takes a village to support one another and I’m incredibly grateful for the support she has shown me.”

The Albany County Clerk’s Office confirmed Goins has officially withdrawn. However, her name will still appear on primary election ballots for Ward 1 voters because the earliest ballots — those going to soldiers and others overseas — have already been mailed.

Having officially withdrawn, Goins cannot be crowned winner. Votes for Goins will be disqualified (though the rest of a Goins supporter’s ballot would still be counted).

If Goins were to receive the most (or second-most) votes during the Ward 1 primary, the spot would go to the next highest vote-earner.

That means Jesse and Henderson are all but certain to advance to the general election, being the only two valid names competing for the two available spots on general election ballots.

Following Goins’ departure, there are now no competitive primaries in any city council ward.

In Ward 2, two candidates are competing for two spots on the general ballot. In Ward 3, four candidates are competing for the four spots on the general ballot.

Every officially filed city council candidate still running is likely to see their name printed on November ballots. From the eight candidates to receive that honor, voters will decide which four will join the Laramie City Council next year.

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In House District 46’s Republican primary, political newcomer Cam Wright is challenging incumbent Ocean Andrew, aiming to unseat the three-time representative.

Andrew is a member of the state’s right-wing Freedom Caucus; Wright is not. The contest between them mirrors others playing out across the state wherein more moderate conservatives compete with Freedom Caucus members and their allies for the future of the Republican Party — and by extension, the future of a state dominated by that party.

Wright said he wants to give voters in his district a different choice and won’t be going on the attack.

“I will never go negative on a campaign like this, so you’re never going to hear me say anything bad about [Andrew],” Wright said. “That’s just not how politics should be.”

By most measures, Wright is more of a political moderate than his opponent Ocean Andrew — staking out more centrist, less concrete stances on university curriculum, library materials and federal food nutrition programs. However, he’s no Democrat. If elected, he’s likely to clash with his liberal colleagues on a number of issues.

Wright said he wants to see abortion on the ballot, which Albany County Democrats oppose, and said he has no problem with permitted concealed carry on campus, a position that’s unpopular on campus itself.

On the signature issue of Andrew’s career thus far, the state’s new and embattled school voucher program, Wright takes a measured approach, saying he would support public tax dollars funding private schools so long as the courts deem that program constitutional.

The first part of this two-part feature broke down Wright’s background and his ongoing litigation against UW.

Below is a breakdown of Wright’s positions on a number of issues facing the Wyoming Legislature, and how those policy stances compare to Andrew’s own stances and voting record.

Andrew did not respond to interview requests.

The primary election is Aug. 18. Only Republicans residing within the boundaries of House District 46 may cast ballots in the race between Wright and Andrew.

University of Wyoming funding

During the 2026 Legislative Session, UW’s cut of the overall state budget took center stage when the Freedom Caucus made moves to dramatically slash its size. Caucus members aimed to reject about $20 million in special funding requests and cut UW’s standard budget by an additional $40 million, citing a variety of shifting reasons for that cut.

In the end, UW won all $61 million the Freedom Caucus had attempted to gut.

Wright said he would not have supported the caucus’ efforts.

“A cut in the budget of that size, just right off the top like that — that’s not an effective way to try to guide an organization into spending state resources more efficiently, or in a better way,” Wright said. “If they want to guide the university better, then they should take the time and effort to dig into the details and understand where there could be some efficiencies or inefficiencies, and make some recommendations. Meet with people. Come up with some mutual plans — not just take a sledgehammer to the budget like that.”

Throughout the session, Freedom Caucus members provided various justifications for the cuts, from needing to balance the budget, to sending a message about diversity, equity and inclusion programs, to allegations of administrative bloat or out-of-whack employee-to-student ratios.

Some of these justifications appeared made up on the spot. Representatives citing the employee-to-student ratio, for example, admitted to googling the number, then cited incorrect figures.

Several lawmakers who opposed the $61 million gutting said they would be willing to consider more targeted cuts with clearer goals. Wright said he could be among them.

“I think there are lots of places UW could be more efficient, and I think there are people in the administration that want to be more efficient,” he said. “I think every publicly funded organization should regularly take a hard look at how they’re organized, how they operate, how they’re funded, and try to do better at how they are spending the public funds.”

At the legislature’s insistence, UW is now reviewing its organizational structure and will present a savings plan to state appropriators in the fall.

University of Wyoming curriculum

UW’s programming and course curriculum has also attracted the ire of the Freedom Caucus and its allies in the Senate.

In 2024 and 2025, the state passed laws banning diversity programs and course curricula that allegedly “promote institutional discrimination.” Andrew supported these efforts.

In the wake of those new laws taking effect, a number of programs and summer camps, as well as an on-campus resource center, have been shuttered, and faculty have received guidance on conforming with the rules surrounding course curriculum.

The bringers of that legislation say they are not looking to limit speech, though many have openly complained about course content they want to cancel for failing to match “Wyoming values.”

UW has reiterated its stated commitment to free expression and academic freedom even as it says it’s complying with the new rules.

Some members of the Freedom Caucus are doubtful UW has complied (this doubt, in turn, powering the attacks on university funding detailed above) and further attention on the university’s course offerings is likely in future sessions.

Against this backdrop, Wright advocates a measured approach.

“It gets to be dangerous when a legislature tries to control individual curricula, but I know that DEI, as a sort of an area of emphasis, got a bad name for itself,” he said. “Whether it was warranted or not, it got a bad name for itself in the legislature and around the state … But I think that any university or any organization that’s funded by public money has to pay attention to the political winds, and it was clear that emphasizing DEI was not going to go well across the state.”

Wright said lawmakers “have to be very careful when they start trying to make curricular decisions,” and need “to drill down to the truth and find out what’s really going on.”

Gender studies, in particular, has been targeted by right-wing lawmakers year after year. After their several failed attempts to kill the gender studies program outright, UW chose to consolidate the program into its larger American Studies program, citing low enrollment in the embattled program. Gender studies courses are still available to students, but the gender studies major is not.

Would Wright support a ban on gender studies if the Freedom Caucus raises the prospect once more?

“I have a hard time saying, across the board, that we ban a particular topic area,” he said. “If you have a sufficient number of students that really want to major in a particular area, it’s hard to say that the only university in the state shouldn’t have an area to respond to that desire of the students.”

But there may be reasons to axe the offering, Wright added.

“On the other hand, we have an obligation to try to prepare students for a career [where] they can actually pay their bills and maybe buy a house and raise kids and all that,” he said. “Some of these very small, narrowly focused curricular areas may not provide a good career for these students. Are we misleading students to say that you can major in this and then have a viable career? I don’t know the answer to that, but it’s something I would definitely want to look into.”

Guns on campus

Concealed carry is fully permissible in most areas and buildings of UW’s Laramie campus following 2025 legislation.

Wright, a lifetime member of the NRA who taught marksmanship during his career in the military, said he has no issue with that law.

Wright also has no issue “in general” with this right extending to 18-year-olds, who were authorized to carry on campus by followup 2026 legislation that lowered the minimum age for obtaining a concealed carry permit from 21 to 18.

“If you want somebody who’s pro-gun, I’m kind of the poster boy for pro-gun,” Wright said. “But [in the military], we made sure that people were well-trained, understood what the weapons were capable of, and what the safe operation of them were. So I think that there should be, coupled with that [ability to carry], some sort of expectation about people. You know: are they checked out? Have they taken a weapon safety course? Have they taken some kind of proof that they know which end of the gun the bullet comes out of?”

That position puts him at odds with at least some in the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, who endorsed a bill in 2026 that would have allowed permitless “constitutional” carry on campus. The bill failed, but could return in future sessions.

Ocean Andrew, the incumbent Wright hopes to unseat, voted to lower the permit age and voted in favor of the failed bill to allow permitless carry on campus.

School vouchers

Another hot button issue in education policy sees Wright and Andrew in close alignment.

In 2024, Wyoming adopted the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship — a statewide school voucher program that gives state money to parents homeschooling their children or sending their children to charter or private schools. In 2025, a follow-up bill expanded the program, dropping its income cap and boosting the payments.

Both the 2024 and 2025 bills were sponsored by Andrew, and Wright said he likes the idea behind them.

“I firmly believe people should be able to choose where and how their kids are educated,” he said. “But I also think there needs to be some sort of oversight or quality control of some kind to know how well are they being educated.”

Not everyone is so supportive of the voucher program. Wyoming’s teachers’ association is suing the state to halt it, arguing the vouchers will use taxpayer dollars to fund religious and other private schools that are legally allowed to turn away disabled and queer children. They allege the program will conflict with the state’s constitutionally required duty to provide adequate, equitable education for all students.

That case is currently being adjudicated in Laramie County District Court, which is set to decide the program’s constitutionality.

“I don’t have a problem with [the voucher program] as long as it’s proven to be within our constitution,” Wright said. “I know that the way they set it up is [that] it doesn’t pull money away from the public school budgets in order to fund this, and I think that’s important.”

The program has been backed by $50 million from the state, but it does not pull that funding from the School Foundation Program account, which is the fund that supports public K-12 education.

Wright said he would also like to see Hathaway Scholarships made available to trade school students, like those attending WyoTech. The idea has been floated in legislative committees.

Currently, the Hathaway — a state scholarship — is usable only by students attending public higher ed, like UW or any of the state’s two-year community colleges.

Andrew has supported efforts to expand the Hathaway for students at private institutions.

Abortion

Wright said he is a “pro-life kind of guy,” who wants to “respect and cherish life whenever it begins.” But he said the way the state has gone about outlawing abortion is flawed.

For years, lawmakers have passed bills aimed at banning, curbing or otherwise restricting abortion access. Some of these have been struck down by the courts, while others remain tied up in litigation.

The central issue is typically Wyoming’s Constitution, which guarantees the right of each Wyoming resident “to make his or her own health care decisions.”

Conservatives of all stripes have called for a constitutional amendment reworking that provision to pave the way for anti-abortion legislation.

To achieve this, the legislature would have to pass a bill putting that amendment on the ballot, the people of Wyoming would have to approve it, and then the legislature could get to work crafting new bills that actually target abortion.

So far, that first step has not happened. But Wright would like to see it.

“We’re not going to really settle this question until we actually put it on the ballot as a constitutional amendment and let the voters themselves decide how they want to deal with this issue,” he said. “I think that’s the only way that we can really put this issue to rest.”

Laramie’s Democrats oppose putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot, arguing abortion access, as healthcare, is a fundamental right that should not be infringed. All four local Democratic lawmakers have been consistent defenders of full abortion access.

Wright said there should probably be exceptions to any ban on abortion for danger to the mother, or in cases of rape or incest — but he’s not opposed to limiting abortion in general.

“To say that no, there absolutely cannot be any exceptions whatsoever — you know, that gives me pause,” he said. “You’ve got to look at those from a thinking point of view, rather than a feeling point of view. I know it’s a very emotional topic, so I can’t tell you that I’m just blanket saying, ‘No, no exceptions whatsoever.’ But then I’m not saying that you should have all these other exceptions. I think it’s something that really needs to be looked at, discussed carefully, and get the input from the people that it’s going to affect.”

Andrew takes a more stringent position. He has consistently voted to limit abortion, including voting for bills that make no exceptions for rape or incest.

Sun Bucks

During the 2026 Budget Session, right-wing lawmakers stripped funding for a summer childhood nutrition program known as SUN Bucks from the state budget. They did this by rejecting a $1.8 million request that would have kickstarted the program and brought $3.8 million in federal benefits to Wyoming every year thereafter.

Members of the Freedom Caucus defended that cut against repeated attempts to restore it, and Andrew voted twice to defend the cut and not fund the program.

Wright said he was uncertain whether he would support funding the program.

“I don’t know the exact details, so it’s hard to really come up with a hard and fast ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that,” Wright said. “I don’t believe that kids should be going hungry during the summer, and so, if there’s a reasonably effective way to do that with shared state money and federal money, then yeah, I think that’s something that we should definitely pursue.”

After the session ended, Gov. Mark Gordon launched the program anyway.

Public lands

On the topic of public lands, it’s not yet clear how Wright would differ from the incumbent he is challenging.

During the 2026 session, Andrew voted for both of the public lands bills he could, one voicing Wyoming’s support for public lands and the other codifying corner crossing protections. The first of these passed with overwhelming support; the latter ultimately fell apart in the Senate.

Wright said he wants to see public lands used “for a variety of purposes” including both recreation and commercial or extractive activities and is wary of “special interest groups that really try to push certain agendas that then are trying to limit what we can do.”

He’s also concerned about proposals to sell off federal land, which he views as short-sighted.

“I don’t think they see where it could then land, where some very wealthy individual could then come in and snap up a lot of what is now public land and turn it into their own private little area that nobody else can go near,” Wright said. “We don’t want that. I don’t think very many people, if any, in the state want that. So I think we need to keep our public lands public.”

Housing

Wright said he would like to see the state support local actions to address the housing shortage.

“One of my priorities is to try to help with the state economy and try to make it so that our kids can have good jobs and stay in the state and have futures, and so they don’t have to move out of Wyoming just to get a good job,” he said. “A linchpin of that is you’ve got to have housing in order to bring these companies in to then have those jobs.”

In Laramie, the housing crunch has hurt economic development, made the recruitment of teachers, nurses and other young professionals challenging, and has contributed to housing insecurity in general.

Wright said he’s supportive of the actions the city government has taken on this front, such as by reducing minimum lot sizes and parking requirements and by trying to get ahead on the infrastructure that’s needed for further development.

“We need to build the units themselves, but I think that the infrastructure holds back a lot of potential developers, too,” Wright said. “Where are the roads? Where are the sewer lines? Where are the water lines? … A developer often is not willing or able to take on all that themselves, just to do a development, and so I think that then falls to the city and the counties.”

But Wright said making development easier isn’t the only consideration.

“You’ve got to balance that with: How does that affect everybody else?” he said. “You don’t want to have your nice little house in the tree area and then have somebody come in and put in a 10-story apartment building next to you. So it all has to be balanced very carefully.”

When it comes to the actions Wright might be able to take as a legislator, the previous two sessions give some insight into the specific proposals that are likely to come up.

One recurring proposal, championed by Laramie Rep. Trey Sherwood, would establish a loan program that would back cities and counties making investments into housing.

Without coming down for or against the idea, Wright said this was “something I’d want to investigate,” since “the devil’s in the details.”

“I would not just write it off,” he said.

A bill establishing some version of this loan program has been filed twice, in 2025 and 2026. Rep. Andrew has yet to cast a vote on the issue because, in both cases, the proposals died early in the lawmaking process.

Other housing bills have made it to a vote.

From the perspective of housing advocates, Andrew’s voting record is a mixed bag. He has voted in favor of a successful bill fast-tracking the permit process and in favor of a failed bill to eliminate protest petitions, both of which are recommended by housing advocates.

But Andrew has also voted twice to kill affordable housing mitigation fees. These fees exist only in Jackson but they have been targeted by activists and Freedom Caucus lawmakers as infringements on a free housing market.

The proposal’s connection to this year’s Checkgate scandal sank the 2026 bill that would have banned these fees, but lawmakers intend to raise the issue again in 2027.

It’s not clear how Wright will vote on that bill if he gets the chance.

“I’d want to learn a lot more about it before I really said whether I’d support it or not,” he said. “But my initial impression that I’ve gotten just through reading the various news outlets about it is [it’s] an attempt to make a state level solution to a single county problem, and I’m, in general, not in favor of that kind of approach, regardless of what the problem is.”

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Albany County’s safest Republican district will see a primary competition this year between the incumbent, who is a leading member of the state Freedom Caucus, and the retired veteran-turned-educator looking to challenge him.

Cam Wright served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force during a 30-year military career. Upon retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2003, he taught at the University of Wyoming’s engineering college until becoming its dean in 2019.

Wright was ousted from that position last year amid a dispute with upper university administration over the appropriate use of state funding. His retaliation lawsuit against UW is ongoing.

Wright is a first-time political campaigner. He is not a member of the Freedom Caucus and said he doesn’t intend to join it. He said he believes his votes should represent the majority opinions of his district.

“I may have personal opinions about some of these issues, but my opinions take second row to what the people in the district feel,” Wright said. “I think that’s what representative government is all about, is me representing what their opinions, what their wants and their needs are.”

But that doesn’t mean he lacks his own political beliefs. Wright said he’s “conservative” and agrees with the “live and let live” mentality so dominant in Wyoming. But he acknowledged that government has a place, too.

“The government has some very well-defined and necessary things to do, and they are things that an individual can’t do,” Wright said. “I can’t build, pave and maintain a road from my house to town. I can’t keep a sheriff’s department equipped and running. I can’t keep a fire department running. I can’t keep a military running. These are the things government is for: those things that we as individuals can’t do.”

This has limits, he said.

“Where we get into trouble is where government starts to get over that line, and they start to overreach on things,” Wright said. “They start to try to affect and control the things that really aren’t their business, and that’s where you get back to the Wyoming philosophy of ‘live and let live.’”

Wright is looking to replace Ocean Andrew as House District 46’s representation in Wyoming’s lower chamber.

Andrew, first elected in 2020, has crushed every primary and general election challenger he has faced in his political career.

Andrew is a leading member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, the right-wing faction now in control of the State House, and he chairs the House Education Committee.

Andrew votes with the caucus on most issues, but not on votes about university funding. As his usual political allies sought to slash the University of Wyoming’s budget during the most recent legislative session, Andrew voted repeatedly to restore the funding.

Wright and Andrew are the only two still running for House 46’s Republican nomination. On the final day of candidate filing, RJ Lennox entered the fray as well, but has since withdrawn.

The winner of this year’s Republican primary will likely face Democrat Gary Wilken in the general election. Wilken is running unopposed in his own primary.

In the first of this two-part feature about Cam Wright’s bid for House 46, The Laramie Reporter examines the candidate’s background, his current litigation against the university, and his chances in the 2026 Republican primary.

The second part will detail his political positions, from university funding to abortion rights to school vouchers.

Military to UW

Wright was born in Massachusetts and enlisted with the Navy at 17, starting “as the lowest of the low, cleaning toilets with a toothbrush.” He served multiple tours, eventually earning an engineering degree while in the reserves. He was recruited by the Air Force, which allowed him to complete a master’s degree and to work in aircraft avionics and space systems as a commissioned officer.

Wright would retire as a lieutenant colonel in 2003 after 30 years in the military — but not before a spell at the Air Force Academy in Colorado let him fall in love with teaching.

During that time, he met scholars from UW, like Steve Barrett, today a vice provost, who recruited him. Wright didn’t hesitate to take the job when it was offered.

“I saw a university, a civilian university, that cared about students and put students as a high priority — and that’s something you don’t see very often,” he said. “You go to an Ohio State or University of Michigan or a Purdue or CalTech, the research, the money, the papers — that’s the top priority, and the students kind of come in at a lower priority. And I did not see that at Wyoming. I didn’t even bother applying to any other university.”

For the next two decades, Wright served UW’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, first as a professor and then, starting in 2019, as its dean.

He said his experiences helping students become entrepreneurs, like the UW graduates who built Uplink Robotics, show Wyoming can support economic development to reduce its brain drain — the mass exodus of young people that has plagued the state for years.

“I was encouraging them [to] start a company, stay in Wyoming, and they did. Two of them founded the company, and they’re doing great,” Wright said. “To me, that’s sort of the blueprint. We encourage more people to do that, because we’re probably not going to get a Lockheed Martin here. We’re not going to get General Motors here.”

Wright was a popular administrator during his time, and his ouster in 2025, after six years as dean, set off a faculty and donor revolt that culminated in a vote of no confidence in the university president’s leadership and the speedy formation of a new shared governance committee.

Deanship and demotion

As UW’s engineering dean, Wright oversaw much of the Tier 1 Engineering Initiative.

The initiative was established by the legislature in 2012 with the goal of transforming UW’s engineering college into one of the best in the nation, and the state earmarks several million dollars in each biennium budget to support that goal.

Wright’s management of Tier 1 would play a central role in his ouster in April 2025.

In a lawsuit originally filed this time last year, Wright alleges he was demoted as retaliation for blocking a proposed $500,000 transfer of Tier 1 funds from his college to the School of Computing. He alleges he resisted pressure from upper administrators, including indirect pressure from UW President Ed Seidel, to allow the transfer.

At that time, the computing school was helmed by Seidel’s spouse.

Internal memos obtained by The Laramie Reporter show Wright viewed the transfer as being contrary to the will of the state legislature, and raised these concerns to administrators. The memos show both lawyers and state lawmakers got involved at that point, with Laramie’s Rep. Karlee Provenza and Sen. Chris Rothfuss urging UW not to retaliate against Wright.

UW has not provided many public details about Wright’s ouster but maintains that he was removed for failing to meet the excellence goals established by the Tier 1 Initiative. The Friday before his ouster, Wright was grilled by the UW Board of Trustees on this very issue.

In addition to claiming retaliation, Wright alleges Seidel spread “false information” about his performance ahead of his ouster.

UW requested the suit be dismissed, alleging Wright had not followed the proper internal channels to challenge his ouster before taking the matter to court. A district court judge ruled the suit could proceed to trial. The case is ongoing.

Wright has been tight-lipped about the litigation.

“I can’t say really anything about it, but I can tell you the purpose of it is not for anything for me,” he told The Reporter. “It’s just to hold certain people accountable for their behavior. And I would rather not have that be on the plate of a new president. And so I would love to see it just get resolved.”

House District 46 figures and stats

Wright is hoping to give Ocean Andrew the first serious challenge of his electoral career. The current House 46 rep has won every election by wide margins, which have gotten wider each year he has run.

In 2020, Andrew won 72% of the primary vote over Republican opponent James Jackson, then won 59% of the general vote over Democratic opponent Tim Chesnut.

In 2022, the district got a little more rural and a little more red in the wake of statewide redistricting. Andrew won 75% of the primary vote over Republican opponent RJ Lennox, then won 69% of the general vote over Democratic opponent Merav Ben-David.

In 2024, Andrew ran unopposed in the primary, securing 96% of the vote (the other 4% going to write-ins). He then ran practically, though not officially, unopposed in the general election. His Democratic opponent, Chris Lowry, suspended his campaign a month before the election, though it was too late to remove his name from ballots. Andrew again secured 69% of the general vote.

Wyoming’s primary election is Aug. 18. First-time or otherwise currently unregistered voters may still register as Republicans to take part in the GOP primary. All other voters are locked into whichever party they are currently registered with.

Only Republicans living in House District 46 may take part in the election for that district, but Republicans across the county will get to weigh in on their choice for Albany County Attorney, for which two Republicans are seeking the nomination.

Do I live in House District 46?

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Albany County voters will decide a number of important races this election season.

In the primary election August 18, Democrats will choose their nominees for county commission and Republicans will choose their nominee for county attorney. Republicans in House District 46 will also choose their State House nominee, and voters in Laramie City Council Ward 1 will whittle their field of three candidates to two.

Apart from these contested primary races, many of the most dramatic local contests will be decided during the general election in November.

Wyoming’s candidate filing period ended Friday.

Statewide, voters will choose their U.S. Senator, U.S. House representative, governor, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, and more from among crowded fields.

The attention on these statewide races often focuses on the primary contest between Republicans. In deep-red Wyoming, the GOP primary often determines the ultimate winner. Wyoming’s entire congressional delegation and all five of its statewide elected positions are currently held by Republicans.

But Albany County often sees more intense contests during the general election.

Based on the roster of candidates who have filed to run in Albany County, this election cycle won’t be bucking that trend.

Most races will see more intense competitions during the general election than during the primary.

• This includes races for three of the four local Wyoming House districts and five of the seven countywide elected positions, where there are no contested primaries. In all of these races, both major parties are running one candidate for each seat.

• Two races will feature even fewer candidates. In the one Wyoming Senate district on the ballot this year, the Democratic incumbent is set to run unopposed in both primary and general. In the race for county assessor, the Republican incumbent is set to do the same.

And yet, depending on their party affiliation and home address, most voters will have important decisions to make on primary election day.

• Democrats will get to participate in their first contested primary since 2022, when they decided their nominee for Albany County Sheriff from a field of three. This year, the Albany County Commission race has drawn four Democratic candidates. With two seats on the ballot, the primary will cut the party’s field of candidates in half, deciding which two of the four advance to the general. The Republicans have fielded just two candidates, meaning there is no equivalent contested primary for GOP voters.

• Perhaps the most hotly contested race this primary election will be the GOP primary for House District 46, where incumbent Ocean Andrew faces a challenge from Cam Wright (and, as of Friday, from RJ Lennox, as well). Andrew is a member of the Freedom Caucus, Wright is not, and the contest between them is likely to mirror contests across Wyoming that pit the state’s most right-wing faction against more traditional conservatives.

• For only the second time in 20 years, the Republicans will have a contested primary for their county attorney nominee. The position is currently held by a Democrat, who is seeking reelection and running unopposed in his own primary.

• Laramie City Council Ward 1 voters, no matter their party, will get to whittle a field of three candidates down to two. In Wards 2 and 3, meanwhile, the number of filed candidates matches the number that will advance to the general election.

Candidate filing for Albany County School Board seats and for special district positions will take place in August. Those contests only appear on the general election ballot. The general election will also see voters decide the fate of the local fifth penny tax as well as a statewide proposal to slash property taxes.

The Laramie Reporter will soon reach out to the candidates listed below and, in the coming weeks, highlight those running for office and the platforms they promote.

Wyoming Senate Race

Albany County is home to two State Senate districts. In Wyoming, senators serve four year terms. Senate District 10 was decided in 2024 and is not on the ballot this year. Senate District 9 last saw an election in 2022 and will appear on 2026 ballots.

Since his first election in 2010, the Senate 9 seat has been held by Chris Rothfuss. This year, Rothfuss is the only filed candidate of either party, meaning he is likely to run unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

Senate District 9

• Chris Rothfuss (Democrat)

The Senate’s only other current Democrat, Mike Gierau of Jackson, is also running for reelection this year. Like Rothfuss, Gierau is set to run unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

Wyoming House Races

House District 46 is the only local state legislative race to feature a contested primary.

Incumbent Ocean Andrew faces challenges from Cam Wright and RJ Lennox in the Republican primary. The winner of that nomination is likely to face Democrat Gary Wilken in the general.

In House Districts 13, 14 and 45, the real contests are likely to come in the general.

In House 13, incumbent Ken Chestek will run unopposed in the Democratic primary, but is likely to face a rematch with Republican Shane Swett in the general election. Swett, who earned 48% of House 13 votes during the last general election, is the only Republican who filed to run for the district in 2026.

In House 14, incumbent Trey Sherwood will run unopposed in the Democratic primary, but is likely to see a challenge from Republican Emily Study in the general. Study is the only Republican candidate to file in House 14 and will run unopposed in her own primary.

In House 45, incumbent Karlee Provenza, a Democrat, is also set to run unopposed in her primary and also set to face a challenge in the general election. Republican Ross Davenport is the only candidate running for his party’s nomination, meaning he will likely secure that nomination and face Provenza in the fall.

House District 13

• Ken Chestek (Democrat)

• Shane Swett (Republican)

House District 14

• Trey Sherwood (Democrat)

• Emily Study (Republican)

House District 45

• Karlee Provenza (Democrat)

• Ross Davenport (Republican)

House District 46

• Ocean Andrew (Republican)

• Cam Wright (Republican)

• Richard “RJ” Lennox (Republican)

• Gary Wilken (Democrat)

Albany County Commission

Two of the Albany County Commission’s three seats will be on the ballot this year. Both incumbents, Republican Terri Jones and Democrat Pete Gosar, are seeking reelection. But they’re not the only ones seeking the role.

Each party gets to advance two candidates to the general election. The primary election whittles the number of candidates who filed to run down to that number.

The Republicans have just two filed candidates and will likely advance them both to the general election.

The Democrats have more options. Four Democrats have filed to run for the two seats, and voters will have to decide in August which two of those four they want to send to the general election.

Republican Primary

• Terri Jones

• Chris Cleven

Democratic Primary

• Pete Gosar

• Klaus Halbsgut

• Merav Ben-David

• Erik Boss

Countywide Races

In 2026, Albany County must decide all seven countywide positions, from sheriff to clerk to assessor.

The only primary contest will be between Republicans for their county attorney nomination.

Then, in all but one race, Albany County voters will get to decide between a Republican and Democrat in the general election.

One race features no Democratic candidate. The current County Assessor, Chelsie Mathews, is set to run unopposed in both the Republican primary and the general.

County Attorney

• Kurt Britzius (Democrat)

• Roxie Hensley (Republican)

• Joel H. Defebaugh (Republican)

County Sheriff

• Aaron Appelhans (Democrat)

• Daron Wyatt (Republican)

County Clerk

• Kayla White (Democrat)

• Mark Armstrong (Republican)

Clerk of District Court

• Dwain Streeter (Republican)

• Kayla Marroquin (Democrat)

County Coroner

• Sally King (Democrat)

• Ryan Hershey (Republican)

County Treasurer

• Tracy Fletcher (Democrat)

• Merissa Martinez (Republican)

County Assessor

• Chelsie Mathews (Republican)

Laramie City Council

Nine individuals have filed to run for the four available city council seats. Council races are non-partisan, and every city-dwelling voter, regardless of party affiliation, may take part in the primary process for their council ward.

Albany County voters who live outside city limits do not get to take part in city council elections.

The primary election whittles each ward race down to twice as many candidates as there are seats on the ballot. The general then decides whom among that reduced field of candidates will join the council.

The only contested council primary this year will be the race for Ward 1.

In Ward 1, there is one seat on the ballot in 2026. Three candidates filed to run; the two receiving the most votes in the primary will advance to the general.

• Rayne Goins

• Nicholas Jesse

• Eric Henderson

In Ward 2, there is one seat on the ballot in 2026. Two candidates filed to run; the two receiving the most votes in the primary will advance to the general.

• Brandon Newman

• Karryn MacDonald

In Ward 3, there are two seats on the ballot in 2026. Four candidates filed to run; the four receiving the most votes in the primary will advance to the general.

• Erin O’Doherty

• Samuel Buckwalter

• Brett Ralston

• Tammy Hooper

In both Ward 2 and Ward 3, the number of filed candidates matches the number of candidates who must advance to the general election. Unless a write-in candidate earns more votes than one of the filed candidates, the six who have filed to run will likely advance to the general.

Update: The original version of this story is what appears above. A short-lived updated version had reflected the short-lived candidacy of a House District 13 Democratic challenger, who was listed as a candidate 5 p.m. Friday, but had withdrawn by midday Tuesday. The story was reverted to its original, once-again-accurate wording.

The Laramie Reporter is looking for sponsors for its 2026 election coverage. We’ll publish more information soon, but sponsors will be recognized on every election story published this year — like the early-bird members highlighted below. For more information about the sponsorship, contact Anna Rader at annabrader@gmail.com.

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Ahead of last week’s special election, four absentee voters cast blank ballots, failing to fill in either bubble for the only ballot item the election put before voters.

The special election was called to determine the fate of the local sixth penny tax, which funds specific government projects. Collections for the last round of projects are nearly complete, so local leaders put a new list before voters, giving them a chance to vote “FOR” continuing the tax, or to vote “AGAINST” it.

The Albany County Clerk’s Office confirmed the official results Friday, which show “FOR” beating out “AGAINST” by a margin of more than 3:1. The tax, therefore, was overwhelmingly renewed.

The certified results perfectly match the unofficial results provided on election night. They also confirm there were zero “overvotes” and four “undervotes.”

Voters were asked to pick either “FOR” or “AGAINST.” If they filled in the bubbles for both, their ballot would be counted as an “overvote” and would not be counted toward either side’s tally. If they filled in neither bubble, their ballot would be counted as an “undervote” and would similarly not be counted toward either side’s tally.

During this year’s special election, four registered voters did just that, submitting early, blank ballots.

Undervotes are not uncommon. In most elections, down ballot races can suffer these effects. A voter who went to the polls on general election day in 2024 to cast a ballot for Harris or Trump, but who doesn’t pay much attention to politics, might leave blank several other races they have less information about or interest in.

But during Albany County’s 2026 special election, there was only one item put before voters: the question of the sixth penny tax.

Four Albany County residents went out of their way to cast ballots early, but did not effectively weigh in on the only issue the election was called to decide.

Have you noticed anything mildly interesting around town? The sort of peculiarity that begs to be explained but is too small to make a fuss about? An idiosyncrasy you want to understand but you don’t know who to ask? Let us know in the comments below or via email to jeffvictorwyo@gmail.com and we might dig up an answer for the next installment of “Of Note.”

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Albany County voters have renewed the sixth penny tax, according to unofficial election results published to the Albany County Clerk’s website.

The initial tally puts the vote at 3,051 “FOR” renewing the sixth penny tax to 852 “AGAINST.” That means 78% of voters supported renewal while just 22% opposed it.

The result enables the county to keep sales tax at six cents on the dollar, using the final penny to aid in the reconstruction of Laramie Fire Station No. 1, the consolidation of the Laramie Police Department headquarters, dispatch and animal control into one location, and the construction of a new administrative services building for the county government, among other projects.

Laramie Mayor Sharon Cumbie said the result shows the community has a vision for its future.

“I think it demonstrates that the electorate has pride in their community and believes that we need to maintain, upkeep and advance our properties, our holdings, our operational services,” she said. “I think it demonstrates a belief in the city progressing forward.”

A video published by the city last week toured some of the aging government facilities set to be replaced with sixth penny revenues.

“Some of the projects that we have are going to create work environments for hundreds of city and county employees that are going to bring them up to standard,” Cumbie said. “They’ve been working in substandard conditions and putting up with it and making do for a really long time.”

The sixth penny is a specific purpose excise tax, or SPET, and it can only be used for the specific projects listed on the ballot. Today’s ballot listed various projects benefiting the city of Laramie, the county government, the town of Rock River and Laramie Regional Airport. All projects have a combined price tag of $95 million.

SPETs are set to run until their predetermined dollar amount has been collected. Once the county hits that figure, it will stop collecting the tax — unless the community votes on a new set of projects it wants to fund.

The last SPET approved by Albany County voters passed in 2018, during that year’s primary election, winning 80% of the vote. The 2018 SPET will soon be entirely collected, allowing collections for the 2026 SPET to begin.

The election results include totals from all five of today’s voting centers, as well as more than 900 absentee ballots submitted before election day.

The projects to be funded by the 2026 SPET include:

City projects ($45.6 million)

• $12 million for upgrading Laramie Police Department headquarters;

• $8.4 million to rebuild Laramie Fire Station No. 1 in a new location;

• $7 million for street buildout projects in various locations: “Bill Nye Avenue between Corthell Hill and 15th Street, 22nd Street between Harney Street and Beaufort Street [and] 9th Street between Beaufort Street and Caryl Street.”

• $5.5 million for a street buildout on Bill Nye Avenue between 3rd and 15th Streets;

• $4 million for surface water drainage projects;

• $3.6 million to rebuild the Laramie Animal Shelter in a new location;

• $2 million for Laramie Rec Center improvements, “including the renovation of pool decks, general amenities, locker rooms, multi-purpose rooms” and equipment replacement;

• $1.1 million for ADA sidewalk improvements; and

• $2 million to pave Harrison Street between Adams and Colorado Street.

County projects ($43.8 million)

• $39.6 million for the construction of a new Administrative Services Building; and

• $4.2 million to replace the grandstands and upgrade the arena and rodeo facilities at the Albany County Fairgrounds.

Airport projects ($4 million)

• Local match money for state or federal grants that could fund refurbishments to taxiways or runways, or the construction of a snow removal building or deicing pad; and

• Maintenance for existing buildings and perimeter fence.

Rock River projects ($1.7 million)

• Various small projects including $200,000 for a solar array at the town’s water treatment plant, $300,000 to replace part of the town’s sewer main line, and $300,000 to upgrade and improve street lighting.

Albany is one of eight Wyoming counties currently using the sixth penny tax. A ninth community, Laramie County, will ask voters to reapprove its own special purpose tax during the primary election this summer.

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Albany County voters will decide the fate of their sixth penny tax during a special election today.

The sixth penny is a specific purpose excise tax, or SPET, and it can only be used for the specific projects listed on the ballot. The ballot also specifies a price tag for those projects.

If approved, the SPET is set to run until that predetermined dollar amount has been collected. Once the county hits that figure, it will stop collecting the tax — unless the community votes on a new set of projects it wants to fund.

On the ballot today is a proposal from local government leaders to raise $95 million over roughly the next 10-12 years.

A yes vote keeps local sales tax at six cents on the dollar, with the sixth penny funding a new fire station, road and stormwater infrastructure, a new county administration building, airport upgrades and more.

A no vote sees local sales tax drop to five cents on the dollar. City, county and other local leaders would have to find alternative funding sources for those projects, or else those projects might not happen.

Today’s special election also features the rollout of vote centers. In previous Albany County elections, voters have needed to identify their polling place and go there to cast a ballot. Now, voters may cast their ballot at any of the following five locations, whatever their home address:

• Albany County Fairgrounds

• Albany County Public Library

• Laramie Ice and Events Center

• Laramie Municipal Operations Center

• Rock River Town Hall

The vote centers are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. The Albany County Clerk’s website will be updating wait times for each throughout the day.

Both City of Laramie and Albany County leaders have been unanimous and vocal in their support for the sixth penny tax. The city has produced a 23-minute video touring some of the facilities that would be renovated or replaced with the sixth penny funds:

If collected, the sixth penny would go toward:

City projects ($45.6 million)

• $12 million for upgrading Laramie Police Department headquarters;

• $8.4 million to rebuild Laramie Fire Station No. 1 in a new location;

• $7 million for street buildout projects in various locations: “Bill Nye Avenue between Corthell Hill and 15th Street, 22nd Street between Harney Street and Beaufort Street [and] 9th Street between Beaufort Street and Caryl Street.”

• $5.5 million for a street buildout on Bill Nye Avenue between 3rd and 15th Streets;

• $4 million for surface water drainage projects;

• $3.6 million to rebuild the Laramie Animal Shelter in a new location;

• $2 million for Laramie Rec Center improvements, “including the renovation of pool decks, general amenities, locker rooms, multi-purpose rooms” and equipment replacement;

• $1.1 million for ADA sidewalk improvements; and

• $2 million to pave Harrison Street between Adams and Colorado Street.

County projects ($43.8 million)

• $39.6 million for the construction of a new Administrative Services Building; and

• $4.2 million to replace the grandstands and upgrade the arena and rodeo facilities at the Albany County Fairgrounds.

Airport projects ($4 million)

• Local match money for state or federal grants that could fund refurbishments to taxiways or runways, or the construction of a snow removal building or deicing pad; and

• Maintenance for existing buildings and perimeter fence.

Rock River projects ($1.7 million)

• Various small projects including $200,000 for a solar array at the town’s water treatment plant, $300,000 to replace part of the town’s sewer main line, and $300,000 to upgrade and improve street lighting.

Albany is one of eight Wyoming counties currently using the sixth penny tax. A ninth community, Laramie County, will ask voters to reapprove its own special purpose tax during the primary election this summer.

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Seasoned legislators and political newcomers alike announced their upcoming candidacies during the Albany County Democrats’ 2026 convention Saturday.

Candidate filing begins May 14, and more candidates are likely to declare or to file once they’re able. The filing period doesn’t end until 5 p.m. Friday, May 29, and candidates have been known to file just under the wire, so a full listing of candidates for each office won’t be confirmed until after that point.

The Laramie Reporter will be covering the candidates and races below in more depth as the cycle advances and the primary election draws near.

State House, State Senate

All four Democratic state lawmakers will seek reelection:

• Ken Chestek is seeking reelection in House District 13;

• Trey Sherwood is seeking reelection in House District 14;

• Karlee Provenza is seeking reelection in House District 45;

• Chris Rothfuss is seeking reelection in Senate District 9.

Chestek was not present, but his reelection bid was announced by a proxy. He was first elected to the State House in 2022 and will be seeking his third term. He has never faced a primary challenge.

Sherwood and Provenza were each first elected in 2020 and will be seeking their fourth terms in Cheyenne.

Sherwood is the Joint Appropriations Committee’s sole House Democrat, as well as Albany County’s only representative on that body. She regularly challenges Freedom Caucus cuts to economic development efforts, university funding, and childhood nutrition programs.

“I love having a seat at the table to make sure that our shared community values are reflected,” Sherwood said Saturday. “And that there is a voice of reason in the process as we work to develop policy that supports strong communities, opportunities for families, good jobs, healthcare, access to mental health — all the things that are shared values.”

Provenza, in her own announcement, acknowledged her reputation as a “firebrand” who had attracted the ire of right-wing lawmakers and commentators this winter amid the “checkgate” scandal.

Provenza’s photo of Republican activist Rebecca Bextel handing out checks on the House floor sparked a legislative investigation and rules changes across both chambers, as well as a criminal investigation. The photo itself became the defining image of the 2026 Budget Session.

“I come from ancestors that were coal miners and union organizers in southern Colorado,” Provenza said. “They survived machine gun fire from the Rockefellers. They knew something about collective people power taking on wealthy oligarchs. They knew something about coming together to fight for something, and how to build power with people. I am dedicated to doing that.”

Rothfuss was first elected in 2010 and is seeking his fifth four-year term. His own announcement to the convention focused on the team effort he and his colleagues, including Laramie’s Republican Senator Gary Crum, make in the state capitol. He said it was important to send a strong delegation.

“It makes a tremendous difference,” Rothfuss said. “While our numbers are not as significant as we’d like them — because it seems that only Albany County and Teton County have the right idea about the who they should be sending — it makes a big difference to send such high quality legislators that have a true impact, in fact, on policy that comes out of Cheyenne. And we will continue to do that.”

Hoping to join Laramie’s delegation is Gary Wilken, who announced his candidacy for House District 46. That seat has been held since 2020 by Ocean Andrew, a Republican and leading member of the Freedom Caucus.

A Methodist pastor and retired Albany County Sheriff’s deputy, Wilken said he wants to boot Andrew from office.

“The Freedom Caucus’ representative there didn’t even bother to attend the forums during the last election cycle,” Wilken said. “He didn’t care what they had to say. He already had his mind made up … We Democrats need to take that seat.”

Andrew faces a primary challenge first, from former University of Wyoming dean Cam Wright.

County commission, county races

The Albany County Commission will see two of its three seats go on the ballot this year. Peter Gosar, the commission’s only Democrat, announced he will seek reelection for one of those seats.

Klaus Halbsgut, chair of the Albany County Democrats, announced he will be running for the other commission seat.

He touted aquifer protection, and support for renewable energy, in his announcement.

“We unfortunately do not have a source of wealth like some counties do with minerals, but what we do have is we have a boatload of wind,” Halbsgut said. “We also have an abundance of sun. So renewable energy and having those kinds of developments in our community brings in sources of revenue that otherwise we would not have access to.”

The sales tax generated by wind development in the county has been used by the city to pave streets, and helped the county to collect its 2018 specific purpose excise tax two years ahead of schedule.

Albany County voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether they now want to fund a new set of projects with the same tax.

For the seven other countywide offices on the ballot this year, no candidates were present at the convention Saturday. However, via proxies, reelection bids were announced for County Clerk Kayla White, County Treasurer Tracy Fletcher and Sheriff Aaron Appelhans.

Gosar read a letter from Appelhans, sent in lieu of his attendance, asking party members to help out with his campaign, which the sheriff expects to be “challenging.”

“I will need each and every one of you to be alert to any misinformation and dirty campaigning or anything concerning that you hear or see on social media and to vigorously counteract it,” Appelhans writes in the letter read by Gosar. “A lot of out-of-state money is going to pour into Wyoming this election cycle, and it won’t be on our side.”

Laramie City Council

Races for Laramie City Council are non-partisan, but the convention Saturday nonetheless featured some updates on those coming contests.

The last election saw three young progressives join the council; some Democrats are hoping this election will see the same.

• Rayne Goins, a 24-year-old with the Young Democrats of Wyoming, announced she will seek to represent Ward 1.

• Councilor Erin O’Doherty, whose term ends this year, said she hopes not to run for reelection. The two-term councilor said there might be younger progressive candidates seeking to represent Ward 3, but who were not present or ready to announce.

The final day for registered voters to switch parties is May 13; first-time or otherwise currently unregistered voters may register with either party beyond that point.

Candidate filing begins May 14 and closes May 29. The primary election will be Aug. 18, with the general election scheduled for Nov. 3.

Information on registering to vote can be found on the Albany County Clerk’s website.

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