Wyomingites will choose a new U.S. House representative and a U.S. senator this year. The fields are crowded. Maggie Mullen and Jordan Uplinger tease apart the nuances of candidates’ campaign promises.
Wyoming’s primary election is on Tuesday, 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.
JU: We are in the final days of campaigning. Today is Aug. 7, and we’re looking at two races that will decide Wyoming’s representation in Washington, D.C.
MM: That’s right, Congress and the Senate. And these are shaping up to be crowded fields.
JU: That’s partly because we’re seeing a bit of a domino effect. Current Senator Cynthia Lummis announced right around Christmas that she wouldn’t seek a second term. A week later, Harriet Hageman — our current U.S. rep — announced she’d be seeking Lummis’ seat. And then a slew of current office holders announced they’d try and run for Hageman’s seat.
MM: Let’s stick with the Senate race. Four other Republicans are running. They are: Jill Edwards, a massage therapist from Laramie; Jimmy Skovgard, a former Army National Guard member and a newcomer to politics pledging to set term limits; there’s also John Holtz, a Laramie attorney who’s run for U.S. Senate three times before; and Sam Mead, a tech worker who was formerly head distiller for the family business, Wyoming Whiskey, and nephew of former Governor Matt Mead.
JU: And two Democrats are running. Billy Benavidez is a political newcomer and works at a golf club in Sheridan. He says he wants to serve one term and then retire. He faces James Byrd, a former state representative and son of the first Black woman to serve in Wyoming’s Legislature.
MM: Jordan, you and WyoFile's editor-in-chief Josh Wolfson were at a July 8 U.S. Senate candidate forum our newsrooms hosted with the League of Women Voters.
JU: Yep, all the candidates were there except Republican Jill Edwards.
MM: My colleague Angus Thuermer covered the forum for WyoFile. He focused on how the candidates want to address gaps in healthcare and, specifically, whether the federal Rural Health Transformation Program enacted last year will solve the state’s cost and access problems.
JU: Harriet Hageman touted the program, saying while we haven’t seen its impact yet because the state legislature only just finalized how to spend the funds, it’s a “wonderful” step in the right direction.
Harriet Hageman: The Wyoming plan will be implemented by the state of Wyoming, which is how this was intended to operate. So do I think it's going to be transformative? I do.
MM: Her optimism clashed with Sam Mead’s view that the program would not transform Wyoming’s rural healthcare landscape.
Sam Mead: This is a bigger problem than just rural health. It’s the fact that our entire health insurance industry is broken, and until we fix that, we are not going to make any improvements on the burden it places on people.
JU: Jimmy Skovgard called for a state-run fund that negotiates for better pricing.
Jimmy Skovgard: Have that fund either negotiate on our behalf for the entire state of Wyoming so that we can get decent healthcare and coverage across Wyoming, not just for you and me, but for every single Wyomingite.
JU: Skovgard added that might mean undocumented immigrants end up on Wyoming’s insurance plan, but he said we’re already paying for their care in emergency rooms.
MM: John Holtz outlined problems that could lead to Wyoming losing rural hospitals, like how hard it is to attract providers.
John Holtz: Years ago, I remember people coming to me when I was a judge in Douglas and said, "John, can you have dinner with us tonight? We've got a doctor who's thinking of moving here," 'cause we were-- I said, "Sure," -- trying to talk doctors into coming there because we were short.
JU: Jill Edwards has said healthcare is a priority issue.
MM: You also asked the candidates about the balance of power, specifically how they’d approach vetting and approving a president’s picks for appointed roles.
JU: Harriett Hageman said she would work with nominees to make sure Wyoming’s interests are top of mind. She also said Congress has “actually abdicated” its lawmaking responsibilities to executive branch agencies.
MM: Sam Mead said the appointees should be some of the best minds in the world and said, “That’s not the case now.”
JU: Jimmy Skovgard talked about an allegiance to the Constitution superseding an allegiance to the will of the president.
MM: John Holtz said he would "ask the Lord for guidance."
JU: Switching over to the Democrats. On healthcare, James Byrd echoed some of the Republicans, saying Big Pharma and Big Insurance don’t see a profit opportunity in Wyoming, so they “bypass us.”
James Byrd: If that rural hospital were to close or that rural clinic were to close, the first thing that closes right after that is the diner and then the store down the street and then the other store because those people aren't there spending any money.
MM: Billy Benavidez said the federal government's past approaches to healthcare haven't worked.
Billy Benavidez: Come up with something new, vibrant. Let the market dictate what needs to happen using capitalism, the old school word of capitalism, in healthcare, and let's see what happens. 'Cause the other two options we've done has not worked.
JU: For balance of power, James Byrd said the shift from lawmakers to the president is “not what our founding fathers wanted.” Congress “does nothing but sit on its thumbs and acquiesces to the executive." And he specifically called out Trump’s appointees. He said we “ have amateur hour in Washington, D.C.” and that they’re serving their own interests and making money off their appointments.
MM: Billy Benavidez called for the balance to return “to the old-school days.” He suggested looking at how rules and regulations were drafted 100 years ago. For nominees, he said, “You gotta trust the president, 'cause God put him there."
JU: Let’s move over to the House race, where a dozen candidates announced runs to take over Hageman’s seat.
MM: One dropped out, saying the field was too crowded. That’s Frank Chapman, a lawyer and owner of the Heart Six Ranch in Moran. He told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle he wasn’t willing to spend “irresponsibly” to win the seat.
JU: Yeah, it’s been a pricey race. More than $7 million as of the last reporting deadline. Chapman was among four candidates who loaned their own campaigns more than $1 million, including Steve Friess, Reid Rasner and Chuck Gray.
MM: My colleague Mike Koshmrl reported this is a change from previous competitive Republican primary races in Wyoming. In 2016, for example, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney raised $2.2 million for her winning campaign. Nearly three-quarters came from individual contributions. Then in 2022, Cheney was ousted by Hageman, who raised $5.7 million. Ninety percent of that was individual contributions, and Hageman didn’t report any self-loans.
JU: With Frank Chapman out, that still leaves nine Republicans and two Democrats in the race.
MM: There could be more. Third party and minor party candidates won’t file until the day before the [primary] election. We won’t see their names on ballots until the November general election.
JU: We’ve seen the Republicans struggle to differentiate themselves in forums and debates, though subtle differences in policy positions have emerged. At a recent debate Wyoming Public Media hosted with Wyoming PBS, Cowboy State Daily and the Sheridan Press, candidates were given 15 seconds to respond to a two-word prompt, like this one about:
Claire McFarland, Cowboy State Daily: Donald Trump.
JU: Here’s businessman Reid Raisner:
Reid Raisner: Best president ever.
JU: Steve Freiss, a conservative activist from Jackson:
Steve Freiss: He saved the Republican Party. He made it once again the party of the working man.
JU: Jillian Balow, former state superintendent of public instruction:
Jillian Balow: Executive officer, president and part of a check and balance with Congress.
JU: Richard Dodson, an IT professional:
Richard Dodson: America was already great. We didn't need to make it great again.
JU: Kevin Christensen, a three-decade Army vet and Apache [helicopter] pilot:
Kevin Christensen: He's our president, and as a person who spent his life serving his country, I'll always honor him as my president.
JU: David Giralt, a former Army ranger and Lummis staffer:
David Giralt: Leader of the Republican Party and priorities, setting forth a good generation – setting good – setting forth good priorities for the next generation.
JU: Chuck Gray, Wyoming’s current secretary of state:
Chuck Gray: American hero.
Jordan: And Bo Biteman, current Wyoming Senate president:
Bo Biteman: He gave us America first. I will take that fight to Congress. And a man whose Republican Congress has hung him out to dry by stonewalling his agenda.
MM: When it comes to policy, let’s look at public lands. We did a survey asking WyoFile readers about the most important issues in this election. Public lands rose to the top.
JU: To start, nobody at a forum we hosted together openly supported selling off federal lands.
MM: And when we asked about Trump and Hageman’s efforts to roll back a rule that maintains roadless areas on 3.3 million acres of national forest lands in Wyoming, the candidates were mostly on the same page. Steve Friess, David Giralt, Chuck Gray and Bo Biteman all said: Get rid of this environmental protection, and prioritize local decision-making. Reid Rasner said he supports Hageman and her work to rescind the rule.
JU: Jillian Balow said it depends on location and ways the land would be used. Kevin Christensen was the only one who wanted to modify the roadless rule, but not rescind it.
MM: Richard Dodson said there’s got to be a middle road.
JU: Did he mean to hit that pun?
MM: Sure did. He was talking about balancing competing interests, like access for recreation, access to resources, but also making sure we don’t ignite more fires by driving hot cars through dry grass.
JU: So with a race this big, and not great polling happening in Wyoming, we’ve got a question about the idea of majority and who will win this nine-way primary.
MM: I guess it’s worth pointing out that it’s not super unusual for a candidate to win with a plurality – AKA, less than 50% of the vote. But candidates could split this race and the winner could emerge with less than a quarter of the votes.
JU: In some states, that would trigger a runoff election. But that’s not how Wyoming’s primaries work.
MM: That’s something the Wyoming GOP has wanted to change. Earlier this year, the party issued a resolution calling for runoff elections if nobody wins a majority. That’d be for any federal office and the five statewide offices. The party said it was “critical that this resolution be addressed by the 2026 Legislature, as a critical election will take place in 2026.”
JU: According to reporting by Maggie, a few Republican lawmakers have brought bills in recent years trying to legislate this change. But they haven’t gone anywhere.
MM: As we are wont to do, let’s end on some news you can use.
JU: The primary is on Tuesday, Aug. 18. For those of you voting absentee, you can hand deliver or mail it back. Bottom line, your ballot needs to be at your county’s election office by 7 p.m. on election day.
MM: For your vote to count, remember to sign the ballot envelope where it reads “Signature of Elector.”
JU: You can also register to vote up to and even on election day. Check with your county clerk about where to go and what kind of documents you need.
MM: Check out WyoFile’s election guide for candidate surveys. Their answers focus on who they are and how they want to do the job if elected.
JU: And Wyoming Public Media’s “How do I vote?” button has a handy breakdown of dates to remember and phone numbers for your county clerk.
MM: Thanks, as always, for listening to the Cheyenne Roundup, your preview of Wyoming’s top primary elections, 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 Chris Rynders.
JU: Keep following our politics and state government reporting at wyomingpublicmedia.org and wyofile.com. Thanks for listening.
