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Park County's contentious primary election season came to a close on Tuesday, with Republican voters generally picking more moderate candidates.
The following reflects unofficial results, as they have yet to be certified. Complete results can be viewed on the Park County Elections website.
Wyoming Legislature
In Senate District 19, Republican voters across the northern Big Horn Basin signaled that they want to reelect former Sen. R. J. Kost of Powell. They chose Kost over state Rep. and Wyoming Freedom Caucus member Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, by a tally of 2,752 votes (53.3%) to 2,395 (46.4%).
Hoeft did well in Park County, picking up 1,513 votes (56.1%) in the Powell area to Kost's 1,180 votes (43.7%). However, Kost had a dominant showing in his native Big Horn County -- collecting 1,572 votes (63.9%) to Hoeft's 882 (35.8%) to carry the district.
In House District 25, which Hoeft currently represents, Powell Mayor John Wetzel defeated Matt Legler, who'd received Hoeft's endorsement. Wetzel received 1,276 votes (51.7%) to Legler's 1,177 (48.1%).
Over in Cody, voters ousted state Rep. Nina Webber, another Freedom Caucus member, in favor of hotelier Quin Blair. In the House District 24 race, Blair nearly doubled up the incumbent, receiving 1,844 votes (65.7%) to Webber's 951 votes (33.4%).
The Freedom Caucus is also losing a seat in House District 50, as Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, made an unsuccessful bid for secretary of state.
Cody attorney David Hill won the Republican primary in HD 50 with 1,557 votes (55%) over Levi Asay (1,263 votes, 44.6%). Hill will face Libertarian candidate Carrie Satterwhite of Ralston in the general election.
Over in House District 26, which includes the Garland area, Rep. Dalton Banks of Cowley earned 69.5% of the vote (1,938 ballots) over challenger Addison Aagard (644 votes, 24.7%) to head toward a third term.
Meeteetse rancher Allen Hogg had a strong showing in Park County and picked up 1,525 votes (49.1%) across House District 28 to best fellow GOP candidates Marshall Keller (828, 26.6%), Carlin Jones (594, 19.1%) and Roland Luehne (150, 4.8%).
County races
In the 10-way Republican race for three Park County Commission seats, incumbent Scott Steward (4,779 votes), current Treasurer Barb Poley (4,208 votes) and incumbent Lloyd Thiel (3,554 votes) topped the field.
They were trailed by Sen. Dan Laursen (2,541), Karin Richard (2,230) and Tim Lasseter (2,146), who ran as a conservative bloc, and then Andrew Whitlock (1,946), former Commissioner Bucky Hall (1,719), Duncan Bonine (1,075) and Joseph Baugher (216).
In a heated race between coworkers, Deputy Park County Attorney Ericka Smith of Powell finished well ahead of fellow Deputy Marina Tucker of Cody. Although Tucker had the backing of outgoing County Attorney Bryan Skoric, Smith picked up 5,237 votes (63.4%) to Tucker's 2,994 votes (36.3%).
Voters decided to stick with institutional experience in the contests for county clerk and treasurer. First Deputy Treasurer Anne Lawler of Powell easily turned back Powell City Councilman Troy Bray's bid to replace Poley, with Lawler receiving 5,995 votes (72%) to Bray's 2,303 (27.7%). Similarly, First Deputy Clerk Hans Odde is poised to succeed his retiring boss, Colleen Renner, after defeating Jimmy Rush by a more than two-to-one margin. Odde received 5,952 votes (68.8%) to Rush's 2,680 (31%).
Powell City Council
This year featured an unusually crowded field of candidates for the Powell City Council. Primary voters winnowed the crop of contenders in two different wards.
In Ward 1, Steve Nickles led a five-way race by receiving 153 votes (38.8%) and he's set to compete against Holly Cole (88 votes, 22.3%) in November's general election. Crystal Reese nearly picked up the second slot, receiving 84 votes (21.3%), and the close margin may trigger an automatic recount.
David Bryan (41 votes/10.4%) and Jim Core (25/6.4%) rounded out the Ward 1 field.
In Ward 2, Councilwoman Kristy Fields received 380 votes (63.6%) to John Sinskie's 217 votes (36.3%), but that was effectively just a test run for a winner-take-all rematch in November; fellow Ward 2 Councilman Zane Logan was unopposed.
Meanwhile, in a four-way race for Ward 3, Justin Waterworth and Councilman Tim Sapp nearly tied for the top spot. Waterworth received 134 votes while Sapp got 133, according to the unofficial results. They'll advance to November's general election, while Lupe Bickford (90 votes, 22.8%) and Freedom Bontadelli (34/8.6%) were eliminated.
Though Powell had multiple contested council races, the City of Cody had just one, where Ward 1 Councilman Don Shreve picked up 557 votes (64.7%) over challenger Dan Schein (300 votes, 34.8%). They'll compete again in November.
While there were no taxes on this ballot for Powell area residents, voters in the Cody Conservation District once again rejected a new property tax to fund the district, with 64.6% of voters saying no.
According to the unofficial figures from the county clerk's Office, 10,060 residents participated in the election, which would put it as the second-best turnout ever for a county primary.
Below are the updates provided as results came in.
