‘Year of the incumbent’ keeps Democrats in countywide offices

All seven countywide offices went to either the incumbents or the candidates endorsed by outgoing officeholders. The sheriff’s race saw a historic victory. Democrats took county clerk and coroner.

The general election Tuesday decided the next four years of county leadership, and the results show Albany County voters approve of their current leaders.

On the ballot were all seven countywide elected offices — county clerk, sheriff, coroner, attorney, assessor, treasurer and clerk of district court.

In all five races where an incumbent was running, the current officeholder retained their position. In the two races where no incumbent was running, the candidate endorsed by the current officeholder won.

Albany County Democrats Chair Carrie Murthy said it truly was “the year of the incumbent” for races across Albany County.

“To me, that feels like it’s a vote of confidence in our very strong leadership here in Albany County,” Murthy said. “We have lots of wonderful, dedicated elected officials who lead with integrity and civility, who have the knowledge and experience to do the job, who are committed to serving the community.”

Democrats keep county clerk and coroner, but welcome new faces

In the county clerk race, current Deputy County Clerk Kayla White, a Democrat, took 56% of the vote, defeating Republican Sue Reding. White has worked in the county clerk’s office for more than a decade under the guidance of the current clerk, Jackie Gonzales, who did not stand for re-election this year.

In the race for the coroner's office, Democrat Sally King defeated Republican Tiffany Reed by less than 70 votes.

Both White and King were endorsed by their predecessors.

A heated race for sheriff ends with a historic victory

In the race for the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, incumbent Democrat Aaron Appelhans defeated Republican Joel Senior in one of the most hotly contested local races.

The office had weathered several years of turmoil under former sheriff Dave O’Malley, who ultimately resigned in 2020. Appelhans was appointed to the office and immediately started making changes to its management structure and recruiting practices.

His tenure was marred by three inmate deaths occurring in a seven-month span between Sept. 2021 and April 2022 and the sheriff’s subsequent decision not to inform the public about any of the three deaths when they occurred. The deaths became a campaign debate topic in October and a WyoFile investigation published eight days before the election explored Appelhans’ decision not to inform the public.

Murthy said the story’s revelations led to some complicated feelings about one of the party’s most exciting candidates.

“No one wants to feel like a public official tried to hide something from the community, especially something that’s so tragic and serious,” She said. “I think it’s difficult for folks to understand what happened and why and why we didn’t know about it. Even with the lingering question, though, I think our county recognizes Sheriff Appelhans’ strong leadership. He took an office that had a lot of issues and multiple lawsuits. He’s made great strides in repairing community relationships.”

Murthy specifically praised his focus on hiring more inclusively and ramping up de-escalation training.

“I think it came down to: Is there room for improvement? Yes. Could the sheriff’s office improve their processes around how they handle and communicate a death that occurs under their watch? Yes. I think most folks in the community would agree there might be some changes needed,” Murthy said. “Is Sheriff Appelhans the right man for the job? Is he up to the task of making the improvements that are needed? I think the voters have spoken.”

Appelhans’ opponent, Joel Senior, faced his own criticisms — including for his belief that sheriffs can selectively enforce laws and refuse to enforce laws they deem unconstitutional. While Senior has disavowed extremist groups that echo this belief, the idea does serve as the core tenet of the Constitutional Sheriffs movement — a group with ties to other extremist groups like the Oath Keepers.

Ultimately, Albany County chose Appelhans for the job — a victory with deep historical significance for the Equality State. Upon winning the election Tuesday, Appelhans became the first Black man ever elected sheriff in the state of Wyoming.

Incumbents win assessor, attorney, treasurer and clerk of district court

Albany County Assessor Chelsie Mathews won her reelection bid, earning 59% of the vote and crushing her opponent, Democrat Shelley Leonard. Mathews is a Republican and ran as such, but she was a Democrat less than one year ago when her predecessor Grant Showacre resigned.

Mathews told the Laramie Reporter she briefly switched from Republican to Democrat in order to be considered for the vacancy.

When Showacre, a Democrat, resigned, it kicked off an internal party process to name potential successors. The party of the resignee submits three candidates to fill the vacancy and the county commission appointments a replacement from among those candidates. If Mathews had remained a Republican, she would have been ineligible for that appointment. Knowing her boss planned to retire, and with his blessing, she flipped parties, secured the appointment, and then flipped back in time to run as a Republican in 2022.

The move left Democrats without a candidate going into the August primary, but Leonard secured enough write-in votes during the primary to see her name printed on the general ballot.

In the races for attorney, treasurer and clerk of district court, the incumbents ran unopposed and all were re-elected by wide margins. In the race for Albany County and Prosecuting Attorney, Democrat Kurt Britzius earned more than 8,400 votes. There were 805 write-in votes cast for alternate attorney candidates — the highest number of write-ins for any countywide office.

Below are the full unofficial results for the seven countywide races on the ballot in 2022. Albany County Commission results were reported in a previous story. Winners are printed in bold.

Albany County Clerk

• Democrat Kayla White: 6,954

• Republican Susan Reding: 5,450

• Write-in: 10

Albany County Coroner

• Democrat Sally King: 6,060

• Republican Tiffany Reed: 5,957

• Write-in: 30

Albany County Sheriff

• Democrat Aaron Appelhans: 6,549

• Republican Joel Senior: 6,023

• Write-in: 23

Albany County Assessor

• Republican Chelsie Mathews: 7,069

• Democrat Shelley Leonard: 4,953

• Write-in: 14

Albany County and Prosecuting Attorney

• Democrat Kurt Britzius: 8,464

• Write-in: 805

Albany County Treasurer

• Democrat Tracy Fletcher: 9,019

• Write-in: 350

Albany Clerk of District Court

• Republican Stacy Lam: 9,284

• Write-in: 271