Candidate Filing For Wyoming Primary Election Starts Thursday
Candidates for city, county, state, and federal offices in Wyoming can officially begin filing to run in the August primary election on Thursday [May 12].
The filing period runs through May 27.
Candidates for state office file with the Wyoming Secretary of State. The only federal office on the ballot in 2022 is Wyoming's lone congressional seat, currently held by Republican Liz Cheney.
But even though the official filing period for the 2022 election doesn't open until Thursday, that race has already seen a considerable amount of candidate activity.
Former President Trump has made defeating Cheney a priority, and several candidates announced in 2021 that they were running against Cheney. Some of those candidates dropped out when Trump endorsed Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman for congress. Hageman is a one-time Cheney ally who finished third in the state's 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary election.
State Senator Anthony Bouchard has also been actively campaigning for the seat.
Wyoming's five statewide elected offices--Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction--are all on the ballot as well. Of those offices, at least three incumbents--Governor Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, and Treasurer Curt Meier--have already publicly announced plans to run for re-election. All three are Republicans.
In the Wyoming legislature, senate seats from odd-numbered districts and all Wyoming House Seats will be on the ballot this year. Wyoming Senators serve four-year terms while house members face elections every two years.
Across Wyoming, a number of local and county offices--including such offices as local city council seats, county sheriff's, and county commissioners--are on the ballot. The candidates for county office, including County Commission, County Coroner and Sheriff--file with their county clerk, while candidates for city council, mayor, and other city offices file with the city clerk in whatever city they are running in.
By law, Wyoming municipal offices are non-partisan. That means candidates running for mayor or city council do not formally affiliate with a political party and are not nominated by a party. But candidates for county commission, sheriff, and other county offices may run as candidates of a political party and typically do so, although that is not always the case and is not required by law.
Wyoming's primary election is slated for August 16.
The major political parties, the Republicans and Democrats, will choose their nominees for office that day.
Those candidates then move on to the Nov. 8 General election.
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