Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray squeaked by in winning the Republican ticket for the U.S. House race in November.
He’s set to face off against former state Sen. Lisa Kinney, who won the Democratic bid in a landslide.
“This was a spirited race, but the primary is over,” Gray said in a statement. “Now is the time to come together, because what unites us is far greater than anything that divided us during this campaign.”
The Republican bid was particularly contested. As of 10:48 p.m. time, the Associated Press called the Republican primary for Gray. A founding member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Gray currently has 25.4% of the vote. Conservative activist Steve Friess and military veteran Kevin Christensen were on his heels with 20.4% and 17.6% respectively.
In an email newsletter, Friess conceded the election, encouraging voters to support Gray in the general election.
“The socialist left would love nothing better than to watch Wyoming Republicans spend the next three months mad at each other. Let us not give them the satisfaction,” Friess said.
Christensen said he was disappointed by the results but that his campaign helped drive the conversation in a positive direction.
“Nobody at the start of the race was talking about public lands and other key issues that I think were important to the people of Wyoming,” Christensen said.
Trailing behind the three frontrunners was former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, Casper entrepreneur Reid Rasner, Casper U.S. Army vet David Giralt, current state Senate president Bo Biteman, former state legislator Keith Goodenough and Sundance certified technical trainer Richard Dodson.
Balow told Wyoming Public Radio that she ran “not to do politics as usual.”
“It was about really fighting for Wyoming’s future, and I’m proud of the race that I ran,” she said.
Candidates fundraised over $8 million in this race, including self-loans to the tune of over $1 million by Friess, Rasner, Gray and Frank Chapman, who dropped out of the race earlier this summer.
As for the Democratic primary, as of 10:47 p.m., Kinney won 77.9% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race for her before 9 p.m. Lander political newcomer Elena Del Real received 22.1%.
In an acceptance speech at a Cheyenne event Tuesday night, Kinney said she’s excited to give the Wyoming Republican Party some competition.
“We should not just relinquish our seat,” Kinney said.
Wyoming’s sole U.S. House seat is currently filled by Rep. Harriet Hageman, who on Tuesday won the Republican bid for the open U.S. Senate seat, which Sen. Cynthia Lummis is vacating.
