Republicans sweep Wyoming’s statewide elected offices

Republicans once again swept the field of Wyoming’s statewide elected offices in Tuesday’s general election. While two incumbents will remain in their current offices, newcomers will fill the secretary of state and state superintendent of public instruction posts in January. 

Short, who far outspent opponents, clinches secretary of state post

Republican Robert Short, a Converse County commissioner, will become Wyoming’s next secretary of state. He faced two opponents — former Republican state representative Tamara Trujillo, who ran as a Constitution Party candidate, and Worland Democrat Bryan McCarty.  

“I said I was going to be the short guy on the ballot, and apparently people actually remembered that,” Short, who is tall, said Tuesday night at a Casper election party hosted by Sen. Eric Barlow, who won the race to be Wyoming’s next governor. 

“I’m going to make the office boring again.”

In the Republican primary, Short spent nearly 10 times more than his competitors. Notable figures like former Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield, former Wyoming GOP Chairman Diemer True and billionaire philanthropist Molly Hughes donated to Short’s campaign. Short beat out three Republican candidates, including Wyoming Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Williams, in the primary election. 

The secretary of state oversees elections, registers businesses, records and maintains many state records and sits on various boards. The secretary is also the first in line for gubernatorial succession.

Current Secretary of State Chuck Gray didn’t run for reelection, choosing instead to seek Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat. 

Longtime educator and lawmaker will be next state superintendent

Steve Harshman, a Casper Republican and educator who has served in the Legislature since 2003, clinched the vote to become Wyoming’s next State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He faced Democrat Ana Cordova. 

Harshman has decades of experience as a high school history and physical education teacher, and more than 40 years as a football, wrestling and track coach. As state superintendent, Harshman will lead the Wyoming Department of Education. 

At Barlow’s Tuesday night election party in Casper, Harshman described a moment on the campaign trail when he and his wife, Becky, were driving back to Casper from Shoshoni one evening as the sun set. 

“She goes, ‘You know, this campaign has really kind of renewed my faith in our state and our country.’ And I just thought, you know, there’s so much noise out there,” Harshman said. “But when you actually talk to Wyoming people, it was just so refreshing. People are so good, so generous in this state. And so it was really a blessing to run for this office, so I appreciate that.”

Harshman said he traveled to all 48 school districts, putting 16,000 miles on his car in the process.

The current superintendent, Megan Degenfelder, ran for governor but lost to Barlow in the August Republican primary.  

Incumbents take treasurer and auditor

Republicans Curt Meier and Kristi Racines, Wyoming’s current state treasurer and state auditor, respectively, will both serve another four years. They were unopposed in the general election. 

Meier served 23 years in the Wyoming Senate before running for treasurer in 2018. He beat Lingle Rep. Scott Smith, a Wyoming Freedom Caucus member, in the Republican primary election. As treasurer, Meier has played a key role in making investment returns Wyoming’s top source of revenue. 

“We want to bring professionalism back all the way into our office and have professionals, not politicians, make the decisions that we have with oversight and guidance,” Meier said Tuesday night at Barlow’s election party.

The state auditor acts as the state’s head of accounting. First elected auditor in 2018, Racines debuted a website — WyOpen.gov — that provides state expenditure data to the public. The website was enshrined into law in 2025. Racines thanked the people gathered at Barlow’s election night party for their “support, for caring, for believing in Wyoming, for believing in a process that is messy, sometimes gross, sometimes unpleasant, but you cared enough to do it.” 

WyoFile reporter Maggie Mullen contributed to this story.