GILLETTE — Wyoming State Rep. Abby Angelos won the Republican nomination for Senate District 33 in Cambell County, beating challenger Dwayne Dillinger by nearly 400 votes.
The final vote was 2,054 in favor of Angelos, with Dillinger securing 1,657 votes.
Dillinger didn’t return Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.
Angelos said she’s “very excited” with the victory.
"The voters of Campbell County had made their voices heard, and it's an honor to earn their trust to represent them in Cheyenne,” she said.
As to first priorities upon stepping into her new role, Angelos said she plans to continue pushing forward the conservative agenda on behalf of her constituents.
"Obviously, they appreciated the promises that I kept and made and did in the House, and I'll continue those in the Senate," she said.
Angelos is married with three children and runs a gunsmithing business with her husband.
In the Wyoming Legislature, she serves on the House Appropriations Committee and voted unsuccessfully to defund the Wyoming Business Counsel and to reduce the University of Wyoming’s state budget, among other efforts.
Angelos has formerly told Cowboy State Daily that she is not a member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, and that her conservative views long predate the caucus, though she generally votes with them.
Bring The Senate Back
She has said she sees the Senate as drifting from conservative principles and wants to bring the Republican platform back to that chamber.
On the budget, she credited the conservative House majority with getting its work done.
The Legislature’s failure to pass a supplemental budget in 2025 may have unsettled some constituents, she acknowledged in an earlier interview with Cowboy State Daily, but called the 2026 full budget successful, citing funding for the Veterans’ Home in Buffalo and a program for people with developmental disabilities as big wins.
Not every priority made it in, she said, but the Legislature managed to slow the growth of government — an outcome she felt went underreported.
Who’s Dillinger
Dillinger is executive director of Campbell County Parks and Recreation and plans to retire at the end of this year.
Born and raised in Laramie, Dillinger has deep roots in Gillette from spending summers there. He’s served Campbell County for 35 years, becoming parks director in 2020.
Dillinger says he chose the Republican Party because growing up around ranching and agriculture shaped his conservative values.
The backbone of his campaign had been focused on strengthening the energy and agriculture sectors as well as the ties between colleges and universities.
Additionally, he ran on a promise of promoting the state and creating opportunities that help today’s kids grow into young families here.
Dillinger is married, has two adult sons and several grandchildren.
Had he been elected, he said one of his top priorities is expanding Highway 59 to four lanes.
He sees it as a key revenue driver and wants to reinvest those funds into Campbell County’s infrastructure, improving safety for everyone who travels that road daily.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
