Statewide and local races dominate as voters go to the polls

Voters across the United States will be heading to the polls Tuesday, if they haven’t already voted by mail, to participate in the 2026 General Election.

While 2026 is an off year for a presidential election and all county offices were decided in the Primary Election, there are several contested races of importance in Big Horn County including legislative, municipal and school board races, plus contested races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Also to be decided is the fate of Proposition One, which would cut property taxes by 50 percent but also slash revenues for local services by $92 million to $95 million annually, according to the Wyoming Department of Revenue.

The polls will be open Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In North Big Horn County, precinct polling places are: Lovell -- Community Center, 1925 Highway 310; Cowley -- Town Hall/Log Gym, 55 East First Street South; Byron – Town Complex, 35 South Pryor Street; Deaver – Town Hall/Community Hall, 113 First Avenue West; Frannie – Town Hall/Community Center, 305 Fifth Street.

Statewide races

There are two contested races for federal office in Wyoming. In the race to replace retiring Cynthia Lummis in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman won the Republican nomination in August and will face former Laramie County State Senator James Byrd, the Democratic nominee, in the General.

Hoping to replace Hageman in the U.S. House are Secretary of State Chuck Gray, the Republican nominee, Democratic nominee Lisa Kinney of Laramie, Libertarian Shawn Johnson of Thermopolis and Constitution Party nominee Jeffrey Haggit of Mountain View.

Three are vying to replace Mark Gordon in the Governor’s mansion: GOP nominee and Campbell County state senator Eric Barlow, Democratic nominee Ken Casner of Elk Mountain and Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel of Jackson.

Hoping to replace Gray as Secretary of State are Republican nominee Robert Short of Douglas, Democratic nominee Bryan McCarty of Worland and Constitution Party pick Tamara Trujillo of Cheyenne.

Republican State Senator from Casper Steve Harshman and Democratic nominee Ana Cordova of Cheyenne are on the ballot for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

State Auditor Kristi Racines and State Treasurer Curt Meier, both Republicans, are unopposed for their respective office.

Wyoming Legislature

GOP nominee R. J. Kost is unopposed on Tuesday after winning the Republican nomination for Wyoming Senate District 19, but there are multiple contested House races. Incumbent State Rep. Dalton Banks of Cowley, the Republican nominee for House District 26, has a challenger in the form of Democrat Ralph Nieder-Westermann of Greybull, who accepted a write-in nomination.

Incumbent Rep. Martha Lawley of Worland, the GOP nominee for House District 27, is being challenged by Democratic nominee Theresa Livingston, also of Worland. And there are two candidates to replace the retiring Rep. John Winter for House District 28: Republican Allen Hogg of Meeteetse and Democrat Larry Alwin of Thermopolis.

County offices

All races for Big Horn County offices were settled with an all-Republican slate of candidates in the Primary. Unopposed on Tuesday’s ballot will be county commission nominees Jared Boardman of Frannie and Mike Laird of Greybull, coroner Mike Jameson, attorney Marcia Bean, sheriff nominee Craig Shidler, clerk Lori Smallwood, treasurer Nicole Vigil, assessor Cozette Winters and clerk of district court Serena Lipp.

Town races

There are three contested town council races and one contested mayoral race in North Big Horn County. A contest developed in Cowley when KJ Blackburn accepted a write-in nomination to challenge filed candidate Steve Winters. Mayors Tom Newman (Lovell), Allan Clark (Byron), Bill Camp (Deaver) and Garret Frescoln (Frannie) are unopposed.

In Lovell, there are four candidates for Town Council: incumbents Dan Anderson and Bob Mangus and challengers Jeff McCollam and Jason Sumaya for two seats on the council. In Byron, incumbents Shae Abraham and Brandon Hessenthaler are facing a challenge from Taliesha Beech to retain their seats, and in Cowley, incumbent Scott Crosby will be joined on the ballot by Rose Ames, Bryan Baird and Dexter Woodis for two council seats.

Deaver Town Council candidates Shauna Crouch and Kayla James (four-year seat) and Kelly Spann (two-year seat) are unopposed Tuesday, as are Guy DeSantis and Keara Poole (four-year seat) and John Ellis (two-year seat) for the Frannie Town Council.

School board

In Big Horn County School District No. 1, there are two contested school board races. Hunter Allen of Byron, Hiedi Christensen of Cowley and Holly Michaels of Burlington are vying for two at-large seats on the board, and Thomas Bridges and Emily Leonhardt are on the ballot for one designated Cowley seat on the board. Craig Jones is unopposed for the designated Burlington seat on the school board.

There also contested races for the Lovell (District Two) school board. Incumbents Marianne Grant, Danny Jolley and Kyle Leithead are joined on the ballot by Ben Walker for three four-year seats on the board, while Ryan Felkins is unopposed for a two-year seat on the board.

There is no race for the North Big Horn Hospital Board and one fewer candidate than allowed. Incumbent Bruce Morrison is up for re-election for an at large seat on the board, and with Todd Simmons not running for re-election, having moved to Cody, there is an extra seat open. Both John Bernhisel and Russ Kemp have expressed interest in receiving write-in votes for the position.

Brett Crosby is unopposed for the designated Byron-Cowley seat on the hospital board, as is Garret Frescoln for the Deaver-Frannie seat.

Other boards on the ballot are Byron, Cowley, Deaver-Frannie and Lovell cemetery boards, the Shoshone Conservation District Board, Fire District One (Lovell) and Five (Deaver-Frannie) boards and the North Big Horn Senior Citizen Service Board.

Also on the General Election Ballot are renewals of the North Big Horn Hospital District 3-mill levy and the Town of Lovell 2 percent lodging tax for hotels, motels and other lodging.