Election edition tops misleading campaign material

Our readers will find the 2026 Primary Election Edition in this week’s Chronicle. We’re running it a couple of weeks earlier than in past years since many people like to vote early by absentee ballot.

The first section of the election edition is printed and presented to readers as the fourth section of this week’s issue. This section contains responses from county candidates for sheriff, commissioner and coroner, plus Wyoming Senate and House candidates and the governor’s office.

Unfortunately, economics prevent us from printing the second section, which includes the U.S. Senate and House races, secretary of state, treasurer and superintendent of public instruction.

That second election section can be found online only at www.lovellchronicle.com, along with the first section.

Why?

You know the dozens of printed campaign flyers flooding your mailbox? Apparently, some consultant has convinced most of the statewide candidates that mailed flyers – obnoxious as they may be – are the way to go in 2026, along with streaming video and other methods of reaching Wyoming voters.

Newspaper readers, who vote at an extremely high percentage, are left out in the cold, and thus, we have made the decision to not print the second section. But it is available online. Some newspapers, including the Powell Tribune, have all of their campaign material online and do not print an election section.

However you consume the candidate information, we urge readers to carefully read the candidate responses to questions posed by our staff that are designed to get to the heart of what’s important in each office. There are myriad choices and difficult decisions to be made this year.

We are dismayed by the scurrilous and misleading messages sent to voters from unaccountable out-of-state sources, not to mention the previously unheard-of decision by the state Republican Party to endorse GOP candidates ahead of the primary via a skewed litmus test candidates must pass. This is wrong in every sense of the word and leaves some excellent candidates hanging as not being Republican enough. Phooey on that.

Eric Barlow a liberal? Come on! R. J. Kost pro-abortion? Wrong and ridiculous.

There is also a quite vicious social media campaign savaging some candidates for sheriff, which is sad to see in Big Horn County.

Thus, we urge our readers to read the candidate responses in this week’s paper, both in print and online. And if you need some help, we’re happy to assist at our office and send the information directly.

Here’s to well-informed voters in Wyoming.