Unofficial results from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office show that in contested statewide races, Steve Harshman won the largest vote share, 71.3% comprising 136,744 votes, to win Superintendent of Public Instruction.
His Democratic opponent Ana Cordova finished with 45318 votes, or 23.6%.
Lowest vote share among statewide winners in Tuesday’s general election went to Chuck Gray, the current Secretary of State whom voters elected Tuesday night to be Wyoming’s lone U.S. House representative.
Gray finished at 99,891 votes, or 51.1%.
His opponent, Democratic U.S. House nominee Lisa Kinney, finished at 61,684 votes (32.2%). Libertarian Shawn Johnson won 13,665 (7.1%) and Constitution Party nominee Jeff Haggit won 7,960 (4.2%).
Kinney won a higher percentage than any Democrat has in that race in more than a decade.
After Harshman, the highest vote-getter of the night was Eric Barlow, the Wyoming's next governor.
Barlow won 128,480 votes (67%) while facing two challengers: Democrat Ken Casner (27,469 votes at 14.3%) and Constitution Party nominee Rebcca Bextel (31,438 votes at 16.4%).
Though Harshman’s share was greater, Barlow is the only statewide candidate to win every Wyoming county, and he did so with more than 59% in each.
The last gubernatorial candidate to win every county in the general election was Matt Mead, a Republican, in 2010. Before that, Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, did it in 2006.
Teton County gave Barlow his lowest share at 59.3%, and Weston his highest at 76.4%.
In Harshman’s race, Cordova won Teton County.
After Harshman and Barlow, Robert Short performed the best at 124,924 votes (65.2%) to win secretary of state.
Democrat Bryan McCarty secured 43,872 (22.9%) to place second, followed by Constitution Party nominee Tamara Trujillo (15,504 votes at 8%) in third.
In her run for U.S. Senate, current U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman won 122,157 votes (63.7%) to Democrat James Byrd’s 65,097 (34%).
A former legislator, Byrd performed better than any Democrat in a statewide race.
Kristi Racines and Curt Meier ran unopposed for Auditor and Treasurer, respectively, and they're not part of this analysis.
Big Night For Constitution Party
Bextel fared the best among third-party candidates.
Because she won more than 10% of the vote, the Constitution Party will be a major political party with its own primary election going into the 2028 cycle.
So, rather than nominate candidates at a small convention, the party will declare its nominations pursuant to a vote of Wyomingites registered within the Constitution party.
If the party fails in 2028 to win at least 10% of the vote share in the race for governor, secretary of state, or U.S. House, then it will revert to being a minor party for 2030.
Trujillo also won more than 10%, but secretary of state is not a qualifying race for major party status.
Bextel in a Wednesday text comment thanked those who voted for her, reiterated her claim that Barlow is a "Democrat" and said, "it is clear that there are many misinformed voters still out there who blindly voted for an R."
She said she also questions "the machines."
"Wyoming is a special place, but sadly it will be chipped away at for the next four years. Hopefully we will survive it in tact," added Bextel.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
