Mike Schmid, a La Barge oilman aligned with the Freedom Caucus, won the Republican primary for House District 20 in Sublette County, a seat that has held significant power the last few years.
Cat Urbigkit, a Boulder rancher and writer, lost, garnering 1,023 votes to Schmid’s 1,755 in the primary race held in Sublette and Lincoln counties.
"I’m pretty excited,” Schmid said. “We did it with the help of the district and got them behind us. I’m pretty happy and looking forward to serving them.”
Schmid said he’s also looking to serve in the Legislature to find a solution to the property tax issue. “That’s the No. 1 issue,” he said.
“No. 2, I’d like to work on wildlife issues and stop weaponizing wildlife to move political issues for special interests,” he added.
Urbigkit wanted to replace former Wyoming House Speaker Albert Sommers, who left the post to run for the state Senate primary race in Senate District 14 in Sublette County – which he lost on Tuesday.
Schmid, a former Wyoming Game and Fish commissioner and owner of a La Barge oil drilling company, generally espoused more conservative viewpoints than the relatively moderate Urbigkit.
Schmid lost to Sommers in the last primary election by 720 votes.
A rancher and a writer based in the Big Sandy area near Boulder, Urbigkit considered herself a limited-government Republican.
Although Urbigkit said she agreed with and supports Sommers on most issues, they don’t agree on everything. Urbigkit said she carries more of a Libertarian streak.
Urbigkit has spent most of her life in Sublette County and was a journalist, funding the Sublette Examiner newspaper and writing for the Pinedale Roundup.
Urbigkit left the newspaper business to write nonfiction books and was the owner and editor of a national sheep industry magazine until recently. She also has been a popular weekly columnist for Cowboy State Daily.
She is also a former chairperson of the Sublette County Republican Party and a current precinct committeewoman. She also serves on the Sublette County Predator Management Board.
She’s never run for the Legislature before but lost an election for county commissioner about a decade ago.
Schmid was a vocal critic of a much-coveted, $10 million Wyoming Shooting Complex about 7.5 miles south of Cody in Park County.
“That puts it out of reach for a lot of people,” Schmid told Cowboy State Daily in July.
Money for the shooting complex can’t be touched until the Wyoming Legislature says so. Schmid hopes to add his voice to that discussion.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
