Republican secretary of state candidate Robert Short, a Converse County commissioner, has outspent his competitors by about $360,000 ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, campaign finance reports show. 

Short has so far raised a whopping $429,521 for his campaign, $401,645 of which he has already spent. His largest expenditures paid for consulting services, advertising and polling. 

This amount of money is unusual for a secretary of state campaign. That being said, the last election cycle in 2022 also saw a jump in spending in the race for the state’s elections chief. Current Secretary of State Chuck Gray reported more than half a million in contributions ahead of the primary election in 2022, while his main opponent, Tara Nethercott, reported more than $300,000 in contributions. 

Short raised $122,870 through individual donations, including from notable figures like Wyoming Treasurer Curt Meier, former Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield, former Wyoming GOP Chairman Diemer True and billionaire philanthropist Molly Hughes, who donated $500, $1,000, $500 and $2,500, respectively. He also received an in-kind donation — a non-financial contribution — from Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson for catering at fundraisers. 

About half of Short’s money comes from $221,600 in loans. 

Short grew up in Glenrock and studied electrical engineering and computer science. He has built businesses across the energy, agriculture, retail and tourism sectors. Short first served as a Converse County commissioner in 2014 and has also been the vice president of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association.

Secretary of state candidate Rachel Williams of Park County gives her speech during the Wyoming Republican State Convention on Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Douglas. (Dan Cepeda for WyoFile)

Trailing Short, secretary of state candidate Rachel Williams, a Cody Republican and head of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, reported raising $44,590 and spending $41,195. Williams has represented Park County in the Wyoming House since 2021. She was the main sponsor of two major anti-abortion bills, both of which were struck down in court. Williams, a retired cop, supports banning “ballot harvesting” — the practice of gathering and submitting absentee or mail-in ballots. Gray and wealthy donors from Teton County such as Carleen and Daniel Brophy and Karen and John Kemmerer have backed Williams with donations of $250, $5,000 and $4,800, respectively. 

Republican candidate for Wyoming Secretary of State CJ Young on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during a candidate forum at the Albany County Public Library in Laramie. (Mike Vanata for WyoFile)

Meanwhile, CJ Young, a Cheyenne Republican and the former Elections Division director under Gray, reported $45,097 in contributions and spent $39,242. Young, who grew up in Carbon County and earned a law degree and master’s in public administration from the University of Wyoming, worked as the policy planning manager for the Wyoming Department of Corrections before joining Gray’s office in 2023. He left that post in 2025 to work as a field representative for U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. Young left that position in May to run for secretary of state. 

Republican candidate for secretary of state Qwenton Eagle Oviatt on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during a candidate forum at the Albany County Public Library in Laramie. (Mike Vanata for WyoFile)

Lander Republican Qwenton Eagle Oviatt, an academic advisor at Central Wyoming College, reported $2,156 in contributions and overspent that amount by $1,356. Oviatt earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and environment and natural resource management from the University of Wyoming. After college, he worked in Antarctica supporting scientists. He later became an entrepreneur, founding his own contracting and painting firm and another company with his father that manufactured flare stacks and waste gas burners.

Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary will face Bryan McCarty, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, in November’s general election. McCarty is unopposed in the primary election. His campaign finance report wasn’t posted on the secretary of state’s website before publishing time. The primary election is Aug. 18 with early voting already underway.

Maya Shimizu Harris covers public safety for WyoFile. She was previously a freelance writer and the state politics reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune.

Join the Conversation

2 Comments

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. SOS thankless job ask chuck gray.

    Short has run state wide already,Williams is well liked,low turnout in the primary
    Could benefit Williams,coattails Degenfelder & hageman !

    Reply

  2. It’s not that Robert Short has raised a “whopping” amount of money, the real story is how Rachel formerly-known-as Rodriguez Williams raised such a dismal amount. The donors have seen right through Rodriguez’ whitewashing of her middle name to appease the crusty white bread DumbFreedom Carcass and MAGA’t types who only want people without ethnicity to be put in power. I predict that even in her home county, Rodriguez will lose by a “whopper” amount of votes

    Reply