GOP sweeps contested Laramie County legislative races

CHEYENNE — Unofficial results posted just before midnight showed a GOP victory across the board in Laramie County’s contested races for the Wyoming Legislature, including Rep. Jared Olsen’s successful jump to the Senate, replacing Sen. Affie Ellis, R-Cheyenne.

Olsen announced his campaign for Ellis’ seat in late March, after the Republican Cheyenne senator said she would not be seeking another term.

Following the WTE's press time, the Laramie County Clerk's office posted final unofficial results.

Out of the 14 local legislative races in Laramie County, six were contested in the general election. In Senate District 4, Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, went unchallenged in both the Republican primary and general election. In SD 6, Darin Smith came out as the top Republican in a hotly contested race during the primary election and remained unchallenged in the general election.

Republican incumbent Reps. Landon Brown, Clarence Styvar and Danielle Singh from Cheyenne also kept their seats in House Districts 9, 12 and 61, respectively, and remained unchallenged in the general election.

Two of Cheyenne’s longest-serving Republican lawmakers, Reps. Dan Zwonitzer and David Zwonitzer, were ousted in the primary by their Wyoming Freedom Caucus-endorsed opponents Ann Lucas (HD 43) and Steve Johnson (HD 8), respectively. Neither Lucas nor Johnson faced a Democratic opponent in the general election.

Finally, in HD 44, Lee Filer beat incumbent Rep. Tamara Trujillo, R-Cheyenne, who has voted consistently with the Wyomining Freedom Caucus, in the August primary and had no Democratic challenger in the general election.

Senate District 8

Marguerite Herman (D), 2,463

Jared Olsen (R), 3,441

SD 8 was the only local race for the Wyoming Senate with both a Republican and Democratic candidate.

Olsen, 37, who currently represents HD 11, went up against Democratic opponent Marguerite Herman and took the open seat in the Senate.

“I’m honored to have the vote of SD 8 and their support, and I’m gonna take that with a great responsibility as I go into the Senate to represent everyone in my district to the best of my ability,” Olsen told the WTE. “(With the budget session coming up) I think it’s going to be really important for the state of Wyoming to have experienced people in the Legislature to deal with that.”

House District 7

Jordan Evans (D), 1,456

Bob Nicholas (R), 2,791

Rep. Bob Nicholas, 66, has served in the Legislature since 2011. In the primary election in August, he bested his sole Republican challenger, Wyoming GOP Executive Director Kathy Russell. Nicholas has previously told the WTE that he aligns with the Wyoming Caucus, a group of Republicans who are not in line with the very conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

Tuesday night, Nicholas went toe to toe with Democratic candidate Jordan Evans, chair of the Laramie County Democratic Party, for the general election and retained his seat in the House.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle was unable to reach Nicholas for comment.

“I just want to say congratulations (to Nicholas), and while we disagree about the best way to approach many issues, he’s a representative that loves Wyoming, and I trust he will continue to serve us well in the Legislature,” Evans told the WTE. “I thank him for running a very clean and issues-focused campaign.”

House District 10

John Eklund (R), 3,956

Tim Forbis (I), 865

Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne, nearly went unchallenged following the primary elections for HD 10. At the last minute, Cheyenne resident Timothy (Tim) Forbis successfully petitioned to run as an independent candidate for this district. However, on Tuesday night, Eklund retained his seat in the House.

“I’ve appreciated (the voters) and enjoyed my district immensely,” Eklund told the WTE. “There’s going to be a turnover in leadership that I’m not used to … but there’ll be agriculture issues we’ll work on, and I look forward to working on those issues.”

House District 11

Sara Burlingame (D), 1,481

Jacob Wasserburger (R), 1,774

Jacob Wasserburger, 32, is a precinct committeeman for the Laramie County GOP who won Tuesday’s general election for HD 11. Wasserburger pulled off a win against local advocate Sara Burlingame, and will replace Olsen as the representative of this district.

“I strongly campaigned on the fact that I was concerned about property taxes and parents having the right to choose what’s best for their kids’ education,” Wasserburger said. “I would like to say thank you to everybody that’s given me their hope and trust and electing me for the job.”

House District 41

Gary Brown (R), 2,039

Jen Solis (D), 1,852

Gary Brown won against his Democratic challenger, Jen Solis, after ousting incumbent Rep. Bill Henderson, R-Cheyenne, in the August primary with 54% of the vote.

The WTE was unable to get a comment from Brown.

House District 42

Rob Geringer (R), 3,269

Bob Ray (D), 853

Rob Geringer, 51, is a business owner and son of former Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer who won the fight for a seat in the House against his Democratic opponent, Bob Ray. Geringer barely scraped out a win against incumbent Rep. Ben Hornok, R-Cheyenne, in the August primary election by less than two percentage points.

Geringer told the WTE he thoroughly enjoyed learning about the issues most important to residents in southwest Laramie County.

“I’ve just really been focused on the impact of the federal government on our state and protecting our legacy industries,” Geringer said. “We need to do everything we can to support those industries and the hardworking folks in those industries.”