The Laramie Reporter 2024 Primary Election Guide

Republicans will nominate a Senate 10 candidate while also deciding their county commission nominee. City-dwelling voters of all stripes will narrow the field of city council candidates.

Albany County residents head to the polls today, casting votes in their party’s primaries, narrowing the field of Laramie City Council candidates, or both.

In most of deep red Wyoming, the winner of the Republican primary is likely to secure a General Election victory, making the primaries the most impactful election of the year. But while much of the state takes part in the struggle between Republican factions, several of Albany County’s most impactful races will be decided in November, in contests between Republicans and Democrats and between conservatives and progressives in non-partisan races.

The election today determines who will make it to those November showdowns.

How to find one’s precinct, sample ballot and polling place

Each voter must vote at their precinct’s designated polling place, which is determined by one’s address and can be found through the Wyoming Secretary of State’s “Find My Elected Representative” tool.

Sample ballots for any precinct in Albany County can be found through the Albany County Clerk’s website.

New voters may still register and vote in a party primary on Election Day, but crossover voting — changing one’s party affiliation at the polls to take part in a different primary — is now illegal. If a voter is already registered Republican, they can only vote in the Republican primary. If a voter is already registered Democrat, they can only vote in the Democratic primary.

Registered voters who are not affiliated with either party may still take part in non-partisan municipal elections for Laramie City Council seats — as long as they live within city limits.

All voters, Republican, Democrat or otherwise, must bring their ID to the polls.

State, county and local races on the ballot

A map showing Senate District 10 in red. The district extends from these inner boundaries with Senate District 9 to the edge of Albany County in every direction. // Source: Dave’s Redistricting

Senate District 10

About half of Albany County will get to vote for a state senator. The 2024 elections will decide Wyoming’s even-numbered senate seats, including Senate District 10, a geographically large district covering all of Albany County outside Laramie, as well as West Laramie and some other neighborhoods within city limits.

In the Democratic primary, Mike Selmer is running unopposed; his name will be the only one printed on Democratic ballots.

But in the Republican primary, voters have two options for Senate 10: Keith Kennedy or Gary Crum. The Laramie Reporter highlighted the candidates’ backgrounds, platforms and competing visions for the state as well as the collective $52,000 raised by Crum, Kennedy and Selmer.

House Districts 13, 14, 45 and 46

In this year’s local house races, all candidates are running unopposed in their respective primaries. Whether you’re a Democrat in House 13 or a Republican in House 46, you will find just one name printed on your primary ballot this year:

• In House District 13, Republicans have Shane Swett; Democrats have incumbent Ken Chestek.

• In House District 14, Republicans have Joe Giustozzi; Democrats have incumbent Trey Sherwood.

• In House District 45, Republicans have Paul Crouch; Democrats have incumbent Karlee Provenza.

• In House District 46, Republicans have incumbent Ocean Andrew; Democrats have Chris Lowry.

As always, voters are also free to write-in candidates for their party’s nomination. Voters who are unaffiliated with a major party will not be able to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary and will have to wait for the General Election to vote in their House race.

Albany County Commission

One of the Albany County Commission’s three seats is on the ballot this year. On the Democratic side, Laramie Mayor Brian Harrington is running unopposed for his party’s nomination. His campaign contributions show a broad base of support within his party, while his expenditures show he is saving the majority of that cash for the General Election.

On the Republican side, partisans have yet to definitively rally behind just one candidate and the race remains a four-way contest between largely self-funded candidates.

Those candidates are Chris Cleven, Troy Heien, Thad Hoff and Julie McCallister. The Reporter profiled Cleven, Hoff and McCallister, but Heien did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

Laramie City Council

All voters — Republican, Democrat, independent — living within city limits will get to take part in the Laramie City Council race for their ward. For independent voters not aligned with a major party, this is the only race appearing on their primary ballot.

The city is divided into three wards, as seen in the map below. In city council races, the primary is used to narrow the field to twice as many candidates as there are available seats.

Laramie’s three city council wards. // Source: City of Laramie

In Laramie City Council Ward 1, electors will be asked to vote for “not more than two” of the following: Sharon Cumbie, Roxie Hensley, Norbert Kriebel, Paul Montoya, William Bowling. The primary will eliminate one candidate; the four candidates with the highest vote tallies will advance to the General Election.

The Reporter examined the Ward 1 race, drawing on interviews, questionnaires, public appearances, campaign websites, social media accounts, previous reporting and voting records to highlight where the candidates agreed and differed. All but one of the Ward 1 candidates completed the Reporter’s questionnaire; their answers can be found here.

In Laramie City Council Ward 2, electors will be asked to vote for “not more than two” of the following: Jayne Pearce, Andi Summerville, Melanie Vigil, Jim Fried, Brett Glass, Brett Kahler. The primary will eliminate two candidates; the four candidates with the highest vote tallies will advance to the General Election.

The Reporter examined the Ward 2 race, drawing on interviews, questionnaires, public appearances, campaign websites, social media accounts, previous reporting and voting records to highlight where the candidates agreed and differed. All but one of the Ward 2 candidates completed the Reporter’s questionnaire; their answers can be found here.

In Laramie City Council Ward 3, electors will be asked to vote for “not more than one” of the following: Matt Lockhart, Shelley Hopkins Peterson, Bryan Shuster. The primary will eliminate one candidate; the two candidates with the highest vote tallies will advance to the General Election.

The Reporter interviewed Shuster for a feature coming after the Primary Election. Both Lockhart and Peterson agreed to complete the Reporter’s questionnaire and received the questions but neither submitted answers. Peterson stopped responding, while Lockhart said he “decided not to participate.”

“Many of these questions aren’t related to what the community has voiced as issues of concern at this point in time to me,” Lockhart writes in an email response. “I’m not discounting any of them, but I’m going to focus on issues such as affordable housing, parking downtown and supporting and growing our current local businesses while bringing in more industry.”

The questionnaire asked about both affordable housing and downtown parking, but it also asked about the city budget, the city’s relationship with the university, policing, LGBTQ+ inclusivity and climate change.

Precinct committee folks

Republican and Democratic voters will also be asked to select or write-in precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen. Those are separate categories on the ballot but they both do the same thing: staff the county party’s central committee.

Central committees are the decision-making bodies for the Albany County Republicans and the Albany County Democrats.