As expected, Park County will continue to be represented by an all-Republican delegation in the Wyoming Legislature.

Last week, the GOP nominees for the six House and Senate seats on county ballots each cruised to victory.

The winners included: R.J. Kost of Powell in Senate District 19; Quin Blair of Cody in House District 24; John Wetzel of Powell in House District 25; Dalton Banks of Cowley in House District 26; Allen Hogg of Meeteetse in House District 28; and David Hill of Cody in House District 50.

The local results underscore the shakeup that the Legislature underwent in this election cycle: Rep. Banks is the only incumbent among the group, though Kost previously served in the Senate.

Wetzel, Blair and Kost were unopposed after winning Republican primary races in August and Banks, Hogg and Hill faced challengers, but each of them received more than 80% of the vote.

House District 50

Hill, a Cody attorney, drew 3,213 votes (85.2%) to turn back a challenge from Libertarian Carrie Satterwhite of Ralston (523 votes, 13.9%).

Asked for his reaction to the high percentage, Hill said he’d felt good about his overall odds heading into the election, “but I was really grateful that the people of House District 50 had confidence in me to vote for me to that level.”

He also expressed appreciation to Satterwhite and to his primary opponent, Levi Asay, who both reached out with well wishes on Election Day.

Satterwhite’s vote percentage was down from the 16.9% she garnered in 2022, when she ran against Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams.

Hill made his own bid against Williams in 2024 and came up short, but the seat opened up last spring, when Williams launched an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for Secretary of State.

Hill will replace her in January and take over the responsibility of representing the eastern side of Cody, Clark, Heart
Mountain and Ralston.

Looking toward the upcoming session, he said the state will need to face “a lot of issues — with how it’s going to deal with utilities and electricity, how it's going to handle healthcare, how it’s going to handle our water.”

Although a citizen’s initiative to halve property taxes on residents’ homes failed, Hill sees a continued need to look at the issue.

“Even though [Proposition 1] failed, it’s something that is obviously on a lot of people’s minds still, and it’s still important for people to see tax relief and the Legislature probably needs to do something,” he said. “It can’t just ignore that there’s still a lot of people who have concerns about it.”

House District 25

The City of Powell and the surrounding area, meanwhile, will soon be represented by Wetzel, the city’s current mayor. As the only candidate on the ballot, Wetzel picked up 2,543 votes, or 95.3% of the total. He will replace Rep. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, who made an unsuccessful run for Senate District 19.

Wetzel said he tracked multiple items on election night, and was pleased to see the failure of Proposition 1.

“We can now not have to go to Cheyenne and worry about funding local [government] organizations and get on with more important work to do,” he said.

Wetzel said he believes the Legislature has already addressed the property tax issue by offering a 25% exemption on primary residences and limiting annual increases to 4%.

“If we need to revisit reducing property taxes, we will,” he said, “but right now I believe the system in place will work.”

Wetzel plans to resign his position as mayor early next year, when he takes the House seat.

Senate District 19

In the state Senate, the Powell area will be represented by Kost, who held the seat from 2019-2022.

Kost lost to Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, in the 2022 election, but the position opened up when Laursen declined to seek reelection. Thanks to strong support in the Big Horn County portion of SD 19, Kost defeated Rep. Hoeft in the primary.

In last week’s election, Kost was the only candidate on the ballot and received 95% of the vote. He expressed gratitude and it’s now time “to get to work focusing on our district, the Big Horn Basin, and the State of Wyoming.”

House District 24

The western part of Cody, the North and South Forks and the northern half of Yellowstone National Park are getting a new representative in Quin Blair.

The unopposed Blair received 96.5% of the 3,140 votes cast to officially replace Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, who he defeated in the primary.

Blair described himself as deeply humbled by the support and said he’s looking forward to hearing from constituents ahead of the session.

“I promise to work hard on your behalf, draw on the knowledge and experience of those here at home, and cast my votes with your best interests at heart,” he wrote on Facebook.

House District 26

Rep. Banks won his third term representing Garland, Frannie, Cowley, Byron, Lovell and Greybull with a win over Democrat Ralph Nieder-Westermann.

Banks received 81.6% of the more than 3,100 votes cast between Park and Big Horn counties; Nieder-Westermann — a Greybull resident who directs Wyoming LifeLine — garnered 18.2% after a late entry to the race.

Banks said he was “honored and humbled” by the support.

“There is a lot of important work ahead, especially for our future generations,” Banks said in a Facebook post. “I look forward to continuing to stand up for the values that make Wyoming and House District 26 such a great place to call home.”

House District 28

In sprawling House District 28 — which stretches from just south of Cody all the way to Moneta — Hogg earned the nod from voters across four counties.

The Meeteetse rancher picked up 86.3% of the 3,833 votes cast in the race. His Democratic opponent, Larry Alwin of Thermopolis, received 13.1%; that was down from the 17.7% Alwin got in his 2024 campaign against Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis.

In a Facebook post, Hogg expressed thanks for voters’ support.

“Now it’s time to get to work for the great people of my district and the state of Wyoming,” he wrote.

Hogg is replacing Winter, who decided not to seek a fifth term. With Hogg’s election, the Legislature will now include six Park County residents.

The delegation will be among dozens of new faces in the Capitol next year following a tumultuous primary that saw the ouster of multiple members of the more conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

Winter, Hoeft and Webber are among the caucus members who will be leaving the Legislature in January.