Wyoming native Julie Jarvis upset freshman Wyoming House Rep. Jeanette Ward of Casper for the Republican nomination in House District 57.
Jarvis won the primary 623 to 485, collecting 54% of the 1,114 total votes Tuesday night.
Jarvis said she was in shock.
“I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go,” said Jarvis. “I’m feeling honored and excited at the opportunity to serve my community.”
She said she ran to discover the local Casper community’s needs and shared beliefs. She said she’s “excited at the opportunity to see if I can make it happen.”
Ward directed Cowboy State Daily to a statement posted Tuesday evening to her Facebook page.
“I’m grateful to the Lord Jesus for the last two years I have been able to serve Him and the people of Wyoming in House District 57,” wrote Ward. “Unfortunately I did not win reelection tonight. I called Julie Jarvis to congratulate her, and I pray she will serve the people and do what is righteous.”
That Gravel Pit
Jarvis released an April campaign announcement video criticizing Ward for allegedly being more focused on national talking points than local concerns such as a gravel mine slated to open at the base of Casper Mountain.
Ward voted against Senate File 44, a bill that had an amendment added to it that would have stopped some development of the pit.
“This is one example of how our representative isn’t listening to our local community or people, the majority have no voice,” Jarvis said.
Ward told Cowboy State Daily at the time that she hasn’t taken a position on the pit, which isn’t in her district.
“My opponent started out her campaign with slanderous lies about my position on the gravel pit controversy,” she said
Out In The Community
Jarvis also criticized Ward as contentious and counterproductive, saying, “Wyoming is a political circus that has forgotten how decisions impact local people.”
The Wyoming House has been contentious in the past couple years with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus (a socially-conservative group Republicans) and the Wyoming Caucus, galvanizing against each other and criticizing each other publicly.
Jarvis cast Ward as authoritarian.
“Cheyenne is supposed to be a place where we find solutions,” said Jarvis in her campaign video, adding that she would “give a voice back to local people” if elected.
Masks, Vaccines And Women’s Rights
Ward debuted as a post-COVID legislator with health-freedom goals, sponsoring a bill attempting to remove any influence of the World Health Organization over Wyoming and another criminalizing discrimination against people who refuse to wear masks or be vaccinated. Both bills failed narrowly to clear the House.
She continued the theme in 2024, and sponsored the What is a Woman Act, which sought to define the word “woman” biologically for state policy purposes. Women’s rights activist Riley Gaines endorsed that bill personally while visiting the University of Wyoming in 2023. The bill failed its introductory vote.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
