With nine votes, residents in Ward II nominated Brian Hughes to campaign for Lisa Maes’ seat on the Green River City Council last week.
As of Tuesday morning, Hughes hadn’t accepted his nomination. Election results were certified by the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office Friday.
Hughes received 11.69% of the write-in votes tallied in Ward II. Others collecting more than one write-in vote were George Jost with four votes, Maes with three votes and Carol Ross, Daniel Wilson, Sherry Bushman, Willy Cargile, Mitchell Maser, Dean E. Bowers, Rosanna March, William R. Lewis and Nicholas Hastert receiving two votes.
During the Primary Election filing period, residents within the ward did not file for the Council seat, leaving only the write-in selection available to voters. In total, 77 write-in ballots were cast.
Other Green River City Council positions were not impacted by the Primary Election.
In Ward I, Sherry Bushman received 494 votes to incumbent Tom Murphy’s 400, though both proceed to the General Election in November. Bushman’s tally represented 55.07% while Murphy received 44.59%.
In Ward III, Robert Berg, running unopposed, received 808 votes, representing 98.78% of the votes tallied.
Sweetwater County Commissioners
Sweetwater County Commissioner Wally Johnson will be leaving the group in 2021.
Johnson fell behind incumbent Lauren Schoenfeld and challenger Mary Thoman in the Republican primary.
Thoman and Schoenfeld were initially only separated by one vote at the end of the election, with Schoenfeld receiving 2,634 and Thoman receiving 2,633 according to unofficial results. However, Schoenfeld’s official tally was changed to 2,620. Thoman’s total represented 30.75% of the votes tallied while Schoenfeld’s amounted to 30.58%
Johnson received 1,818 votes, 21.22% of those tallied, while Green River resident Mark Peterson ended the election with 1,437, or 16.77% of the total votes.
Johnson had been a member of the county commissioners since 2011, winning a special two-year term when voters approved an initiative to increase the number of commissioners from three to five. During much of that time, he served as the group’s chairman. Johnson also served one term as a commissioner from 2005-2008.
As ballots were being counted, Johnson said he didn’t mind if he made the cut or not, saying he could go on vacation. After the last precinct was reported, he congratulated Thoman while she attempted to console him after his defeat.
“You got it, congratulations,” Johnson said to Thoman.
Thoman said she is happy to have made it through the first round and looks forward to the next portion of the campaign. While the coronavirus pandemic did impact candidates’ ability to meet residents, Thoman said she felt the media provided a great means of allowing candidates to talk about their platforms.
“It’s been a pretty lively race, considering,” Thoman said.
House District 60
Republican Mark Baker and Democrat Lindsey Travis will face each other in November to determine who will replace Democrat John Freeman.
Baker defeated his Republican opponent Ted Barney by earning 626 votes to Barney’s 528. Baker’s amount represented 54.06% of the votes while Barney received 45.6%.
Travis received 302 votes to opponent Mike Burd’s 275. Travis received 52.34% of the votes to Burd’s 47.66%.
Travis issued a statement the morning after the election, thanking her supporters.
“Thank you to the voters of House District 60 and to everyone who helped with my campaign. Now it’s time to set our eyes on Cheyenne. Thank you as well to my Democratic opponent Mike Burd, who ran an admirable campaign. I look forward to working with him in the future to build a better Wyoming,” she said.
Barney, speaking after the votes were tallied, said he isn’t sure if he will seek election to another office in two years. However, he did make one observation about the race.
“Two Green River natives lost to non-natives,” Barney said.
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