Vote on Tuesday

Contested races mark General Election in North Big Horn County

In what is being billed as the most important presidential race in a generation, voters across the United States will go to the polls – with many already having voted – on Tuesday in the 2024 General Election.

Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. Polling places are the community center in Lovell, the town complex in Byron, the log gym in Cowley, the community hall in Deaver and the old school building (town hall) in Frannie.

The too-close-to-call battle between current Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump that has divided a fractured nation has generated the most national interest, along with party control of the U.S. Senate and House, but locally, several contested races have piqued interest.

On the state level, U.S. Senator John Barrasso is being challenged for his Senate seat by Democrat Scott Morrow of Laramie, and U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman is facing a three-way challenge from Democrat Kyle Cameron of Cheyenne, Libertarian Richard Brubaker of Riverton and Constitution Party candidate Jeffrey Haggit of Mountain View.

Locally, although both State Rep. Dalton Banks and Big Horn County Commissioner Bruce Jolley are unopposed, there are multiple contested races for school board and town council.

There are ten candidates for four seats on the Lovell School Board. Incumbents Dan Anderson, Stacy Bair, Deb Fink and Rebecca Moncur are being challenged by Lance Anderson, Tyler Angell, Ryan Felkins, Kyle Leithead, Keith McIntosh and Tess Peterson.

In District One, there are seven candidates for four seats on the school board. At large board member Holly Michaels is facing a challenge from Wendy Fuller, and Taliesha Beech and AJ Rasmussen-Dickson are vying for the designated Byron board seat being vacated by Don Hatch, who did not seek re-election.

Jared Boardman is unopposed for his designated Deaver- Frannie seat, but recently appointed Burlington trustee Craig Jones is being challenged by Julie Michaels.

In town council races, Lovell council incumbents Ray Messamer and Carol Miller are being challenged by Michael Grant and Gareth Robertson, and in Cowley, incumbents Rob Johnson and Dexter Woodis are being challenged by Max Lewis and June Minchow.

In Byron, incumbent councilwoman Karma Sanders is facing a challenge from Mike Brightly and Toby Turnupseed. Stephanie Wagner is on the ballot but has withdrawn from the race.

Deaver incumbent council members Aspen Beall and Nick Loftus are unopposed, but there is a race in Frannie among Shang Clendenen, Guy Desantis II and Roger Ganoung. Desantis and Ganoung are incumbents.

There will be two new members of the North Big Horn Hospital Board. Incumbent David Winterholler is joined by Max Lewis on the ballot for an at large seat, and Pat Crumrine is unopposed for the designated Lovell seat on the board.

There are no contested races for area cemetery district boards, the Shoshone Conservation District board, the North Big Horn Senior Citizen District board and the Lovell and Deaver-Frannie fire district boards.

There are two propositions on the ballot. Wyoming Constitutional Amendment A proponents promise that the amendment will save taxpayers money by authorizing the legislature to create a subclass of owner-occupied primary residences and separate residential real property into its own class for the purpose of property tax assessments. The idea is to separate owner-occupied residences from commercial and investment properties and vacation rentals.

Also on the ballot is the renewal of the 1-mill levy to financially support the North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center through the Senior Citizen Service District.