A state legislator of nearly 24 years has won the Republican nomination for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Steve Harshman, who also served two terms as state House Speaker, defeated challengers Rep. Tom Kelly and former gubernatorial policy advisor Chad Auer.
Harshman, 63, faces the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 3 general election.
Kelly had been endorsed by the Wyoming Republican Party’s central committee, and is a favorite, though not an official member, of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
Though Harshman has been a frequent foe of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus in the House, this race didn’t see the animosity that surfaced in others, like the U.S. House and Secretary of State’s race, where some candidates openly derided others.
After their last debate Thursday in Riverton’s Central Wyoming College, the three men smiled for a farewell selfie, which Auer sent to Cowboy State Daily and posted to social media.
More About Harshman
Harshman was born in Wyoming, raised in the small Natrona County town of Midwest, and has taught and coached for decades in the state’s public schools.
A husband of 39 years and a father to four children, he holds a double major bachelor’s degree from Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, and his master’s degree of exercise physiology and exercises science from Western Oregon University, he said.
During House floor debate, while proper nouns are generally disallowed, Harshman’s fellow House members call him “the good coach.”
He told Cowboy State Daily when he declared for office that he’s “been really blessed to help, really, thousands of kids cross the finish line” to graduation.
He also worked in the traditional energy sector in the past, and said that has informed him about “what powers this state and has built our schools.”
Auer
Auer, 54, served until recently as a policy advisor to the governor.
He served two decades in educational leadership and as a teacher, principal and school improvement administrator before earning his law degree from the University of Wyoming, says Auer’s biography.
He also has a master’s degree in education administration and a bachelor’s degree in biology.
He served previously as the mayor of Firestone, Colorado, and held other community leadership roles.
Kelly
Kelly, 56, spent 10 years as a public-school teacher, paraprofessional, or mix of the two jobs.
He has six children. Most of those are adults, but one is a special needs child currently in public school, said Kelly in prior interviews with Cowboy State Daily.
He also has a master’s degree in education and a Ph.D. in political science.
Kelly describes himself as a refugee from bad policies, saying he fled the left-leaning state of Illinois for Colorado, until Colorado became “just Illinois with mountains.”
He came to Wyoming in 2019 with his family, but felt that if Wyoming “went” to the political left there was nowhere left to flee.
“So I ended up in public office,” said Kelly.
