Wyoming very narrowly passed up the chance to have two women at the top of the ticket in November, following in its grand tradition of being the first state in the nation to give women the vote and the first to elect a woman governor. But, Wyoming Republicans chose former US attorney Matt Mead in a squeaker over state auditor Rita Meyer.
Mead earned 30,272 votes statewide, according to unofficial results. That was enough to push the former U.S. attorney ahead of State Auditor Rita Meyer, who got 29,558 votes, and Fort Bridger rancher Ron Micheli, who earned 27,592 votes.
State House speaker Colin Simpson earned 16,673 votes.
That's Colin Simpson, as in son of Alan Simpson, whose Wyoming coattails have apparently petered out. Simpson could have just been too moderate for Wyoming's Republican primary voters. Meanwhile, former state party chair Leslie Petersen easily earned the Democratic nomination. The challenge for her? Keeping the seat in Dem hands, though outgoing governor Dave Freudenthal doesn't necessarily always fit the bill as a Dem (witness his plan to sell off state-owned land within Grand Teton National Park). Peterson is vowing to "continue the moderate path set by outgoing Gov. Dave Freudenthal."
If a Dem is going to win higher office in Wyoming, it's likely to be the govenor's seat. Three out of four of the state's most recent governors have been Dems. One of them, Mike Sullivan, told me once that Wyoming doesn't have a problem with Dems, they just like to keep them close to home where they can keep an eye on them.
This was the only real high profile race in the state. WY-AL incumbent Cynthia Lummis had only a nominal primary challenge.