Wyoming Rep. Barry Crago of Buffalo won the Republican primary race to fill the Senate District 22 seat of Sen. Dave Kinskey, who did not run for re-election.
Crago beat his opponent state Rep. Mark Jennings of Sheridan by 704 votes Crago had a combined total of 2,852 from both Johnson and Sheridan counties. Jennings’ two-county total was 2,148, according to unofficial results released late Tuesday.
Crago prevailed in Johnson County, where the split was 1,930 to 1,138. Even though Jennings won in Sheridan County, 1,010 to 922, it wasn’t enough for him to top Crago’s final tally.
Already Rivals
Crago and Jennings were already somewhat rivals in the Wyoming House. Crago is a prominent member of the mainstream Republican Wyoming Caucus, while Jennings is one of the founding members of the more conservative Freedom Caucus.
Crago stumped for the construction of a new veterans’ home in Buffalo during this year’s Legislative budget session. But his efforts failed. The proposed $69 million for the project was slashed at one of the last stages in the budget process.
Crago did not return calls from Cowboy State Daily late Tuesday.
Jennings has also had previous ambitions that fell short.
He ran for House speaker in 2020 and 2022, narrowly losing to Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, in the most recent race.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
