Rock Springs Fire Chief James Wamsley ousted first-term state Rep. Darin McCann on Tuesday, flipping Wyoming House District 48 just two years after McCann rode an upset of his own into the Legislature.
Wamsley won the Republican primary with 812 votes, or 59.27%, to McCann’s 552, or 40.29%, looking at unofficial Sweetwater County results.
McCann’s Short Stay
For McCann, Tuesday’s loss turns the tables on an upset he pulled off just two years ago.
McCann, a physician assistant and former Green Beret, stunned then-state Rep. Clark Stith in the 2024 Republican primary, defeating the veteran Rock Springs lawmaker 617-490.
Afterward, McCann told Cowboy State Daily he was relieved the bruising primary was finished.
“Glad it’s over with,” he said.
McCann had run in part on frustration with Sweetwater County’s incumbent lawmakers, whom he accused during that campaign of misleading voters.
“Part of the reason I got in the race is all of the deceit going on with the incumbents in Sweetwater,” McCann told Cowboy State Daily in 2024. “They’re all blowing smoke and mirrors.”
CheckGate
McCann’s lone term also put him in the middle of one of the 2026 legislative session’s biggest controversies: “CheckGate.”
The controversy erupted after conservative activist Rebecca Bextel handed campaign contribution checks to McCann and three other Republican lawmakers on the House floor after adjournment Feb. 9, two days before the recipients voted on whether to introduce a bill Bextel supported.
McCann later told a special House investigative committee he did not consider the check a bribe and that it had no bearing on his vote.
“I didn't see a problem with it,” McCann told the committee. “It did not sway my vote at all.”
His stay in House District 48 will now end after one term.
Public Safety
The victory puts Wamsley, a longtime firefighter and Rock Springs fire chief, on track to trade some of his time at the firehouse for the Wyoming Capitol — but not all of it.
During the campaign Wamsley expressed that he plans to remain fire chief if elected and believes he can balance the two jobs.
Public safety is one area where he said he wants to put that experience to work in the Legislature.
Wamsley pointed to “ideas tried and proven in other areas” that could strengthen 911 service, for example.
His campaign also focused on practical, conservative solutions reflecting Sweetwater County values, supporting Wyoming’s core industries, protecting local control, maintaining access to public lands and expanding opportunities for families and businesses.
'Anything To Help'
Wamsley’s experience in public safety has made him a familiar voice during emergencies in Rock Springs.
When lithium-ion battery fires began cropping up around Sweetwater County this spring, Wamsley warned Cowboy State Daily that people shouldn’t leave the increasingly common batteries charging unattended.
Once a lithium-ion battery enters what’s known as thermal runaway, he said, things can go bad extraordinarily fast.
“It’s swift and dramatic,” Wamsley said.
His advice was simple: Don’t plug in a lithium-ion appliance and then leave for dinner, work or bed.
When two Rock Springs residents risked themselves climbing a cliff to rescue a stranded cat in 2024, Wamsley said his firefighters would have gone after the animal if needed.
“We really will do about anything to help,” he said.
But even a cat on a cliff can turn into a public safety problem. Wamsley said firefighters have to make sure “the rescuers don’t have to be rescued.”
It’s that kind of practical public-safety experience Wamsley said he wants to take with him to Cheyenne.
Two years ago, voters in the district tossed an incumbent and sent McCann to Cheyenne. On Tuesday, they did it again.
This time they chose a fire chief.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
