Cheyenne Roundup is back for a special series previewing Wyoming’s primary election. This week, we’re looking at the state Legislature, where the hardline Freedom Caucus is hoping to grow its majority in the House and add to its allies in the Senate.
Wyoming’s primary election is on Aug. 18.
Maggie Mullen: This is the Cheyenne Roundup: Decision 2026, a look at the candidates vying for Wyoming’s top elected positions, from Wyoming Public Radio and WyoFile.
Jordan Uplinger: I'm Jordan Uplinger with Wyoming Public Radio.
MM: And I'm Maggie Mullen with WyoFile. Wyoming’s primary election is on August 18th. And even though it’s not a presidential election year, this is a big election for the Equality State. One of our U.S. Senate seats is up for grabs. So is Wyoming’s single U.S. House seat.
JU: All five of the top state elected positions will be on the ballot. That’s governor; secretary of state, who oversees businesses and elections; the superintendent of public instruction, who oversees public education; the state auditor, who is Wyoming's chief accounting and payroll officer; and the state treasurer, who is the state's chief banker and investment officer.
MM: Not to mention the state Legislature. All 62 state House seats are on the ballot, and about half of the state Senate seats, too.
JU: We’ll be looking at all of the contested races in this series, starting with the Legislature, our state lawmakers.
Quick framing note here: We’re going to talk mostly about Republicans, because there aren’t any districts where Democrats will run against each other in the primaries. Meanwhile, third party and independent candidates won’t file to run for office until mid-August.
MM: Another thing we won’t know until just before the primary is how much candidates were able to fundraise. Campaign finance reports are due exactly a week before the primary.
JU: With that in mind, a big thing to watch this year is whether a certain group of Republicans can hold onto the majority they won in the state House two years ago.
MM: That’s the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which bills itself as the genuine conservative voice of the Republican Party. It rose to power in the statehouse after forming in 2020. It has championed budget cuts as well as legislation to cut residential property taxes, repeal many gun-free zones, expand a school voucher program and require residents to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.
JU: There are a handful of races that will determine whether the Freedom Caucus gains or loses power. In the primary, the caucus will attempt to win control of the Senate and bolster its numbers in the House. We'll break down which races to watch.
MM: Plus some info about how to vote.
JU: Plus that. Diving in!
MM: Really quick, a little disclaimer: When we say Freedom Caucus, that includes lawmakers who are officially members of the group as well as those who regularly vote alongside the caucus.
JU: Our newsroom has had some questions about how to tell which candidates are aligned with the Freedom Caucus or not. We’ve looked at how lawmakers vote, who the caucus endorsed and then on the caucus’ website, which lists a handful of their members. So we’ll be watching to see if the Freedom Caucus endorses candidates again this year.
MM: By my count, if the group retains the roughly 36 votes it has come to count on in the House, via members and allies, and gains at least six more in the election, it will secure a supermajority in the lower chamber. That’s a powerful voting bloc big enough to overcome the two-thirds vote required to successfully introduce bills during a budget session.
JU: But we saw some pushback to their goals earlier this year, when the Senate – which is comparatively a more moderate body, even though Republicans still have a supermajority – rejected steep budget cuts to the University of Wyoming and dismantling the state’s primary economic development agency that the Freedom Caucus had pushed for.
MM: I want to start with a rematch that really exemplifies this fight for the balance of power we’re talking about. This is a Natrona County House District. Jeanette Ward, a former lawmaker and firebrand for the caucus, will challenge Republican Representative Julie Jarvis, who took on Ward in 2024 and ousted her.
JU: More likely, we’re going to see Freedom Caucus members and allies defending the seats they already have. And that includes lawmakers in positions of leadership, so heavy hitters.
MM: Like former caucus Chair John Bear. He also chairs the House Appropriations Committee. This is the budget boss committee, so pretty influential. Bear is running for a fourth term. Douglas Moore, an energy industry manager, is running against him. It’s the first time Bear will have a primary opponent since he first ran in 2020.
JU: And no Democrats have filed to run, so unless there’s a wildly successful write-in or third-party campaign, whoever wins the primary will win the seat.
MM: Another one to watch: Representative Scott Heiner, who’s the majority floor leader and a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, has a challenger in his race to continue representing a district that covers parts of Sweetwater, Lincoln and Uinta counties. Kenneth Roberts is taking him on. Roberts is a longtime district court clerk.
JU: Here’s an interesting one out of House District 58: Representative Bill Allemand, a Freedom Caucus member, is facing a challenge from Barr Nunn’s Mayor Peter Boyer.
MM: That’s right, my colleague Dustin Bleizeffer reported Allemand and Boyer actually used to be allies. But their relationship soured last year over a proposed nuclear microreactor manufacturing project. Boyer was open to the project. Allemand wasn't. They're both conservatives but differ on economic development at a time when Wyoming is reckoning with large-scale industrial proposals — like data centers, wind, solar and nuclear.
JU: A wrinkle in this race is that Allemand was arrested and charged with drinking and driving in December. He is fighting the charge.
MM: Just about every caucus member or ally who is seeking reelection will face at least one challenger. I covered that in a story we’ll link to in this episode’s show notes. You can also check out WyoFile’s election guide to see who is facing off against who.
JU: You’ll find my breakdown on social media – check the show notes.
MM: So these are some examples of the Freedom Caucus defending seats in the House. But the caucus is also going on the offense and will try to gain seats in the Senate. Earlier this year, caucus leadership said some of its top legislative priorities failed because they didn’t have enough support in the upper chamber.
JU: So by the numbers: Seventeen of the Senate’s 31 districts will be on the ballot this year. To gain a majority, the caucus needs to win at least 14 of those races to bolster the two Senators it endorsed in 2024 — namely, Tim French out of Cody and Laura Pearson from Kemmerer. Neither is up for reelection this year, so any wins in the following races will put the caucus closer to controlling the Senate.
MM: The marquee competition will be between Senator Ogden Driskill and Speaker of the House Chip Neiman in Senate District 1. Driskill has represented the district for 15 years and is seen as a more old-school Wyoming Republican compared to Neiman, who is a Freedom Caucus member.
JU: Here’s one with a bit of a domino effect: Abby Angelos is leaving her seat in the House representing Gillette to run for Senate. She’s a reliable Freedom Caucus vote. She’ll square off against Dwayne Dillinger, executive director of Campbell County Parks and Recreation. They’re both trying to fill the seat currently held by Senator Eric Barlow, who is running for governor.
MM: Also, Sheridan Rep. Ken Pendergraft, a caucus member, is running for a Senate seat currently held by Senate President Bo Biteman, who is running for U.S. House. Pendergraft will face political newcomer Melissa Butcher, a local business owner, in the primary.
JU: There’s a couple of others, but let’s pivot to higher office. The Freedom Caucus’s current chair, Representative Rachel Rodriguez-Williams from Cody, is running for secretary of state as Rachel Williams, no Rodriguez, while Representative Scott Smith from Lingle is running for state treasurer. We’ll have more on those statewide office races in two weeks!
MM: Let’s end with some logistics. The primary is on August 18th. And a reminder: Wyoming has closed primaries, meaning you can only vote for candidates of the party you’re affiliated with. If you haven’t registered to vote, you can do that up to and on election day. However, if you’re already registered, you cannot change your party affiliation. Early in-person voting starts July 21.
JU: If you’d rather vote by mail, you can do that. Contact your county clerk by phone, mail or in person and they’ll set you up. Absentee ballots go out on July 21st for most voters. Uniformed and overseas citizens will get their ballots on July 2nd. You can return your ballot by mail or in person, but your county clerk's office must receive it no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
MM: Be advised you do need to bring an ID to vote. Our websites list which IDs are acceptable. So does the Secretary of State's website. You can also call your county clerk.
JU: WyoFile has a sweet election guide on its website. And if you want to vibe check the candidates, catch the forums we’re hosting with the League of Women Voters. More info, and video recordings, on our websites.
MM: Thanks, as always, for listening to the Cheyenne Roundup: Decision 2026, a preview of Wyoming's primary election races, from Wyoming Public Radio and WyoFile.
JU: Make sure to like this episode and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
MM: Editing and producing by Nicky Ouellet and Tennessee Watson. Special thanks to Audio Library of the West.
JU: Keep following our politics and state government reporting at wyomingpublicmedia.org and wyofile.com. Thanks for listening.
