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Wyoming Life

Michael "Mike" Clifford Walter

Roxanne K. Scott

Kenneth Neil Cameron

Patt Earl Lynch

Becky Lee Mullens Costantino

BreAnna Marie Spaeth

Donna Lou (Durgin) Halvorsen

Michael Rustin Shaw

Glen Richards Evans

Bess Lee Arnold

Tary Rae Werts

Karlin I. Carlson

Charles Lewallen Potter

Duane Edwin Baumgartner

Everetta Diane Kuki

Linda Joy Jordan

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

This story will be updated as Cowboy State Daily correspondents take more exit polls. 

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s election day in Wyoming."}]

The Republican primary election tends to be the most decisive race in this red state, where GOP factions mark the biggest statewide divides.

The races for governor, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, U.S. House and one of Wyoming’s two U.S. Senate seats are all contested.

No race has garnered more coverage than the U.S. House race. The three biggest spenders and earners in that one are philanthropist Steve Friess, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, and Secretary of State Chuck Gray.

High-dollar political action committees have entered the fray, attacking Friess and Gray via mailboxes, TV and YouTube streams this month.

Also in that race are combat veteran Kevin Christensen, state Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, former Army Ranger David Giralt, former legislator Keith Goodenough and Sundance man Richard Dodson.

In an exit poll taken at 11 a.m. at Riverton’s polling station, Friess had won 13 votes, Giralt and Christensen each seven, Gray and Rasner each six, Balow four and Biteman three.

A Cowboy State Daily correspondent is taking another exit poll in Sheridan. This story will be updated to reflect the result. 

A smaller poll in Cody returned six votes for Christensen, five each for Gray and Friess, and four for Balow.

The winner faces Libertarian nominee Shawn Johnson, the Constitution Party's Jeff Haggit, and the winner of the Democratic primary contest between Elena Del Real and Lisa Kinney, in the Nov. 3 general election.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Governor's Race"}]

The governor’s race features 14-year state legislator Sen. Eric Barlow, Trump-endorsed Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, the Wyoming Republican Party state central committee-endorsed, retired Marine Corps Col. Brent Bien, and rodeo production professional Curt Blake.

[{"type":"text","text":"Like Bien, Barlow also served in the Marine Corps."}]

, the result of the state Republican Party leadership’s new 

, and whether a longtime legislator can overcome the forces working to 

An exit poll taken in Riverton at 11 a.m. showed 21 votes for Barlow, 20 for Degenfelder and 14 for Bien. The poll in Cody had 11 for Barlow, eight for Bien and one for Degenfelder.

The winner faces Democrat Kenneth Casner and Constitution Party nominee Rebecca Bextel in the general election.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Statewide Races"}]

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is vying for the upper chamber in a Senate run against public-lands advocate Sam Mead, former judge John Holtz, military veteran Jimmy Skovgard and business owner Jill Edwards.

The winner faces whoever wins the Democratic primary, James Byrd or Billy Benavidez.

The secretary of state race features a tough standoff between top spender Robert Short, who’s a Converse County commissioner, and Wyoming Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Williams, plus Hageman’s former military and veterans liaison CJ Young and Hudson man Qwenton Eagle Oviatt.

Williams’ public statements indicate a laser focus on Short, whom she derided multiple times at a Wyoming Public Television debate Thursday, and whom she continued to criticize as disconnected in 

Short is campaigning on the slogan “Make the Secretary of State’s office boring again” – a nod to the 

 involving current Secretary of State Chuck Gray.  

[{"type":"text","text":"The winner faces Democratic candidate Bryan McCarty."}]

In the treasurer’s race, Wyoming Freedom Caucus member and state Rep. Scott Smith, R-Lingle, challenges incumbent Curt Meier.

 over wind farms and data centers on state lands.

In the race for superintendent of public instruction, three men who have reveled in their campaigns’ relative lack of animosity took a joyful selfie onstage after their Thursday PBS debate.

Longtime legislator and former House Speaker Steve Harshman faces college professor and administrator Rep. Tom Kelly and former educator and gubernatorial policy advisor Chad Auer.

The winner faces the Democratic nominee, either Sergio Maldonado or Ana Cordova.

[{"type":"text","text":"Around Wyoming"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The Legislature features a few key races this cycle."}]

The New York Times on Friday featured the state Senate race between House Speaker Chip Neiman and the incumbent, former Senate President Ogden Driskill.

They’re both Republicans. Both ranchers. Both residents of the northeast Wyoming corner near Devils Tower. 

But the race is anthemic of the larger divide between the Freedom Caucus, of which Neiman is a member, and its Republican critics, of which Driskill ranks among the fiercest.

Rematches have surfaced between Casper-based Republicans Rep. Julie Jarvis and former Rep. Jeanette Ward, the Converse/Natrona county district’s Rep. Kevin Campbell and 2024 challenger Edis Allen, and Green River Republicans Rep. Marlene Brady and former Rep. Tony Niemiec.

The Virginia PAC Make Liberty Win has stayed busy attacking candidates and supporting others.

It spent more money attacking 34-year legislator Sen. Cale Case than anyone else: $14,177.

In the fight for a district encompassing Lander and the Wind River Indian Reservation, Case faces challenger Lisa Wilson.

She moved to Wyoming because she fell in love with its ideals of “hard work, self-reliance, faith, and a deep respect for freedom,” 

Case, a libertarian-leaning Republican, said he correctly anticipated a well-funded opposition this year.

In Sublette County, former House Speaker Albert Sommers is running to win back his seat after he forsook it to run unsuccessfully for the state Senate two years ago.

He faces fellow Republicans Bill Winney – 

 - and Matt McGinness, who earlier toyed with running for the U.S. House.

[{"type":"text","text":"Oh, And This Weird Market"}]

The political betting markets Kalshi and Polymarket both favor Gray to win the House race as of Tuesday morning, with Friess in second and everyone else, starting with Christensen, in the single digits. They favored Friess in the first half of August. 

, though they favored Degenfelder before that point, with Bien a distant third.

Anything can move the markets from an out-of-stater’s whim to a pollster’s keen insight or a news headline.

[{"type":"text","text":"These race outcomes might judge both markets’ accuracy.  "}]

Cowboy State Daily is featuring live election coverage starting after the polls close at 7. 

Election day 8 18 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Wyoming 2026 Primary Election: Here's What We're Seeing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It's primary election day in Wyoming, where GOP contests tend to decide statewide races. The U.S. House race has been particularly nasty while the gubernatorial contest has been combative but not as extreme. We're doing some exit polling ahead of our live coverage.

Wyoming 2026 Primary Election: Here's What We're Seeing

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Newcastle man accused of beating a woman, chasing her through an apartment parking lot with a knife and then pointing a revolver at her has been bound over to District Court on three felony charges.

The confrontation allegedly continued all the way to jail, where authorities say he kicked a Weston County sheriff's lieutenant in the stomach.

Kealob James Dondero, 27, faces two counts of aggravated assault and battery and one count of causing bodily injury to a peace officer stemming from the Aug. 1 confrontation.

His case was bound over to District Court on Friday. Dondero faces a potential maximum of 10 years in prison on each count. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Screaming And Yelling"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The incident began with screaming in the street."}]

Shortly before 9 p.m. Aug. 1, a Newcastle police officer was dispatched to an apartment complex after an anonymous caller reported hearing "lots of screaming and yelling coming from the street," wrote Officer McKinzie Parrish in a probable cause affidavit.

When Parrish arrived, a woman told police she had been fighting with her boyfriend, Dondero, who had been drinking.

[{"type":"text","text":"Police reported seeing injuries to her left knee, lip and left big toe."}]

The woman told investigators Dondero had "put hands on me" both inside and outside the apartment.

The woman said she had been asking Dondero to go home to Keystone, South Dakota, for about two days. That night, she told him he needed to leave and Dondero began drinking, wrote Parrish.

[{"type":"text","text":"The woman said the  two argued inside the residence."}]

Dondero allegedly got in her face and she tried to push him away. He responded by kicking her in the chest hard enough to send her flying backward "about 5 feet," according to the affidavit.

Then, she told police, he punched her in the face two or three times and stomped on her foot.

[{"type":"text","text":"A full-length mirror and a plate were broken during the fight, she said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Knife"}]

The woman said she fled the residence to get away from him when he pulled a knife from a block in the kitchen.

As she was leaving, she saw Dondero cutting himself in the abdomen with the knife. He then allegedly pointed it at her.

[{"type":"text","text":"Dondero followed her outside, where three men arrived at the residence."}]

Witnesses say he threatened to kill the woman, challenged the three men to fight and threw several of her belongings and a pizza around the parking lot and street.

Then, still holding the knife, he allegedly chased her through the apartment parking lot.

[{"type":"text","text":"She told police she was afraid he would try to attack someone else."}]

Investigators later reported finding what witnesses identified as the same knife in the back driver's-side seat of Dondero's vehicle.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Revolver"}]

The woman told police that as Dondero walked away from the property he pulled out a revolver and aimed it at her. 

Then, without pulling the trigger, Dondero allegedly simulated firing three rounds at her.

The woman said she "slid into my door 'cause I didn't know at this point."

[{"type":"text","text":"Police began searching for Dondero."}]

At one point, officers believed he had ditched the firearm behind the apartment complex. K-9 Buster was deployed to track for evidence, and officers spent about 30 minutes searching the Warren Street area, but they did not find the revolver.

[{"type":"text","text":"At about 9:42 p.m., wrote Parish, Dondero returned to the residence."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Four Taser Cartridges"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Officers arrived about two minutes later."}]

Because police were told Dondero had a revolver, Parrish ordered him to get on the ground three times.

[{"type":"text","text":"Police say Dondero didn't comply."}]

Parrish fired her Taser but wrote she did not immediately see neuromuscular incapacitation. She fired a second cartridge as another officer fired two of his own.

"After being hit four times by cartridges, Dondero fell to the ground," says the affidavit.

Officers grabbed him, secured his hands behind his back, and handcuffed him.

As Dondero continued arguing and cursing officers, Parrish noticed an approximately 3-inch gash on the left side of his stomach.

[{"type":"text","text":"She asked Dondero what caused it and whether he wanted medical attention."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I don't know what you're talking about,\" he reportedly responded."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Dondero was taken to the Weston County Detention Center."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The confrontation, authorities say, still wasn't over."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"At The Jail"}]

Dondero allegedly continued yelling, using profanity and arguing with officers after arriving at the jail.

Authorities say he pulled away from an officer while being taken into the booking area and repeatedly refused directions to sit down.

[{"type":"text","text":"Officers eventually decided to place him in an observation cell."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Dondero continued resisting as they walked him there, wrote Parrish."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Once inside the cell, Lt. Jason Jenkins moved to shut the door."}]

Before he could, police say Dondero kicked Jenkins in the stomach, causing him pain.

Jenkins shut the door and repeatedly instructed Dondero to turn around so officers could remove his handcuffs, but Dondero refused. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Jenkins and another officer eventually entered the cell, wrote Parrish. "}]

Dondero allegedly tried to kick the cell door closed on them as they came inside.

The officers took him to the ground, removed his handcuffs, and left the cell.

Dondero made his initial appearance Aug. 4, when his bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety.

He will next appear in Weston County District Court for an arraignment where he is expected to make a plea. 

Dondero is represented by attorney Derek Allen Thrall. District Court Judge Stuart Healy III has been assigned to the case.

Kealob dondero 8 18 26

<title>Newcastle Man Accused Of Chasing Woman With Knife, Pointing Revolver, Kicking Cop | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 27-year-old Newcastle man accused of chasing a woman with a knife and pointing a revolver at her was tased with four cartridges during his arrest. Police say the violence continued at jail, where Kealob James Dondero kicked an officer in the stomach.

Newcastle Man Accused Of Chasing Woman With Knife, Pointing Revolver, Kicking Cop

Kerry Drake

Education

Laramie County Community College President Joe Schaffer on Monday announced plans to change the school's name to Wyoming State College and said the reason boils down to one word: Survival.

Schaffer, who has been at the helm of the Cheyenne two-year school for nearly 15 years, said the rebranding could cost close to $1 million but it is nevertheless crucial to future success. 

Since the school began the project four years ago, it has spent about $280,000 

for legal work, preparatory work, consultants, surveys, and polling.

“We’ve had thousands of voices in this process,” Schaffer told Cowboy State Daily in an interview after the announcement.

The move is necessary to attract more regional students, he told more than a hundred LCCC employees, alumni and other supporters at a reception. The change also will prevent potential out-of-state students from confusing it with the city of Laramie and Larimer County, Colorado.

Half of Wyoming survey respondents said “Laramie County” creates confusion about the college’s location, Schaffer said.

“There is a brand-reality gap between what we’ve accomplished and what we offer, and what our name communicates, especially the farther we get out of Laramie County,” he said. “While our name has served us incredibly well for nearly 60 years, we’ve grown beyond it. The name change is not cosmetic, it’s a perception reset.”

The most expensive portion of the next steps will be changing the signage on the buildings and entrances to the college, Schaffer said. 

“The good news is we can manage it over time and as we’re able to,” he said.

LCCC’s Board of Trustees will consider officially adopting the new name at its Sept. 16 meeting. If approved, it would go into effect in July 2027.

Schaffer cast the name change as something the institution needs for its very survival amid tough economic times and lower enrollment in higher education throughout the country.

Between now and 2041, he noted, Wyoming’s annual high school graduate population is projected to drop by 1,700, or 22%. Schaffer said “the numbers just aren’t there” unless the college takes a more regional approach to recruiting students.

“Southern Oregon University could very well be the first public university to face closing as a result of enrollment declines and financial pressure,” he said. “That is truly the environment we are facing. 

“There will be winners and losers in higher education. And those that win will continue to create a pipeline of talent for the communities they serve, and for those that don’t, many communities will struggle.” 

Schaffer said many people do not realize that LCCC offers bachelor’s degrees in selected applied fields with workforce needs, residence halls, and 30 certification programs, including a 16-week course for data center workers.

At Schaffer's annual “State of the College” address to the full campus Monday morning, “Wyoming State College” was met with applause. It was again during the public announcement in the afternoon in the Clay Pathfinder Building.

“People seem excited,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I think the recommended name will resonate well with people, especially here in southeast Wyoming.”

“I think it’s a step up,” Larry Atwell, former executive director of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, said of the new name. “They’re doing a lot more, they are a state college, they draw from across the state. It should be just one level below the university.”

There are no plans to change the athletic teams’ name, the Golden Eagles, or the blue-and-gold logo colors. Schaffer said they are both extremely popular and would unnecessarily add to the cost of the rebranding.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"LCCC Lost First Vote"}]

The first time Laramie County voters were asked to approve the proposed community college in 1966, they rejected it.

“The community said we don’t need it, we’ve got the university close, why would we waste taxpayer dollars on that?” Schaffer said.

But proponents won on their second try in May 1968. Opponents still tried to block the project. They delivered J.O. Reed, the first Board of Trustees’ chairman, a cease-and-desist order as he climbed onto the backhoe during the groundbreaking ceremony.

Reed merely stuffed the sealed envelope in his pocket and ground was broken according to plan. He didn’t realize what he was given until after the ceremony.

“That obstinance, that stubbornness to go against people who said ‘we don’t need this’ is embedded in our culture and our roots,” Schaffer said. “And it’s been what’s created an amazing institution.”

Initially classes for 1,200 students were conducted at various locations throughout the city, but a three-building campus southeast of Cheyenne opened in the fall of 1969. Twenty-two buildings have been added since.

Schaffer called the new name clear and concise. “It anchors us in Wyoming,” he said. “‘State’ anchors us to the capital city. It’s elevated, it recognizes the breadth of what we offer and what we do.”

Schaffer called his recommendation “future-proof” and one that will last beyond the college’s next half-century. 

He’s also surprised the name hadn’t been scooped up by any of the other Wyoming community colleges when they went through their own rebranding processes.

“Believe it or not it’s ownable,” Schaffer said. “The fact that no one has claimed that was a bit of a shock to us.”

For the audience he divided the suggested names into three categories. Schaffer said the first, which included “Southeast Wyoming College” and “Cheyenne Community College,” were safe and fit the mold.

The second batch all conveyed a sense of place: “Frontier College,” which the president said he “actually kind of liked,” and “College of the High Plains.” But Schaffer said it was the third category, which took “a strategic position and solved our problem” where “Wyoming State College” was selected.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cost Is Top Concern"}]

In a video LCCC shared in December to explain the name-change process, Schaffer said the No. 1 concern people ask about is the expense.

“They say, ‘Isn’t this going to cost a lot of money at a time when we’re saying we need to be more frugal with our resources? We’re asking more from our state and community, is this a good investment?’” he said.

Schaffer explained two types of costs: Ongoing costs of helping the institution succeed, and the opportunity cost of not doing something.

He said LCCC spends about $900,000 a year on academic scholarships.

“We could take a million dollars and for one year we could invest in these areas,” Schaffer said. “And after that one year those scholarship funds are gone and we’ll have to find funds to hire the faculty and staff to do the work that we can do. 

“But that same investment to change the brand, change the name, reinvigorate what people think and say about us, will stay with us for decades.” 

Schaffer said the college is on track to have its sixth consecutive fall enrollment increase, and said the number of graduates has set records the past two years.

He also said the college is bucking the “brain drain” trend that’s seen about  two-thirds of Wyoming-born residents leave the state by the time they turn 30.

“We have 62% of our graduates working in Wyoming after they graduate, not including those who go on to the University of Wyoming,” Schaffer said. “We bring them here, we keep them here.”

College name change 2026 lccc change 1197 8 18 26

<title>Laramie County Community College Picks "Wyoming State College" As New Name | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Laramie County Community College Picks "Wyoming State College" As New Name

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Tourism

[{"type":"text","text":"Some places just aren't a good fit for RVs and motorhomes. "}]

The Needles Highway in South Dakota’s Custer State Park, near Mount Rushmore, is one of them.

Denise Yelton and Todd Beaver discovered that during an excursion in Custer recently when a motorhome intended to thread the Needles Eye Tunnel found itself fraying halfway through.

Yelton and Beaver, who have been “full-time RVers” since April, decided to take an early-morning drive on the Needles Highway on Friday. They departed in their Jeep Gladiator, leaving their 38-foot Holiday Rambler Nautica parked at the campground.

“We left early because we knew the highway would get really crowded with Sturgis,” Yelton told Cowboy State Daily. “When we got to the tunnel, we pulled over because I wanted to record a video of my husband coming through the tunnel.”

When they pulled off the road, the Freedom Elite motorhome behind them kept going. That’s when disaster struck.

A couple was videotaping the Needles Eye Tunnel in South Dakota’s Custer State Park on Friday when a motorhome tried to thread the narrow opening and became stuck. "I think he just thought he could get through," they said.

Wyoming Obituaries For
July 29th, 2026

July 29

Michael "Mike" Clifford Walter, 74

Roxanne K. Scott, 64

Kenneth Neil Cameron, 72

Patt Earl Lynch, 86

Becky Lee Mullens Costantino, 75

BreAnna Marie Spaeth, 35

Donna Lou (Durgin) Halvorsen, 75

Michael Rustin Shaw, 42

Glen Richards Evans, 81

Bess Lee Arnold, 93

Tary Rae Werts, 76

Karlin I. Carlson, 21

Charles Lewallen Potter, 88

Duane Edwin Baumgartner, 94

Everetta Diane Kuki, 90

Linda Joy Jordan, 77