Wyoming Republicans chose Eric Barlow as their nominee for governor on Tuesday in the Wyoming Republican gubernatorial primary, putting the former state House Speaker and current state Sen. into the general election. He will face Democrat Kenneth Casner on Nov. 3 after a four-way primary that ended with Megan Degenfelder second, Brent Bien third and Curt Blake with less than 1,000 votes as 26% of the total was counted.
Barlow’s win matters because Mark Gordon is leaving office after two terms, and he had considered seeking a third term before deciding against another bid. That left the race open at the top of a ballot where Wyoming Republicans hold every statewide elected office.
Eric Barlow and Kenneth Casner
Barlow enters the fall race as the Republican nominee against Kenneth Casner, giving Wyoming voters a general-election matchup that was set only after Tuesday’s primary. The nomination also places Barlow in a contest that sits alongside other open-seat races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction.
For voters, the immediate change is simple: the Republican field is closed, and the general election now turns to Barlow’s campaign against Casner. The winner will inherit an office being vacated by Gordon after two terms.
Megan Degenfelder and Donald Trump
Degenfelder entered the Republican gubernatorial primary with Donald Trump’s endorsement, but that backing did not change the outcome. She finished second behind Barlow, while Bien placed third in the four-way race.
The result shows that the endorsement did not settle the nomination in a contest shaped by multiple Republican candidates. Barlow’s path was decided inside the primary itself, not by the outside support attached to Degenfelder.
Curt Blake and the vote count
Curt Blake, a professional bull rider, was still in the race as the count stood at 26% and had received less than 1,000 votes. That detail leaves a sharper reading of the result: Barlow was winning while the field remained fractured enough for one candidate to trail far behind even before all ballots were counted.
What voters know now is the nomination and the matchup. What they do next is settle the governor’s race on Nov. 3, when Barlow and Casner compete for the office Gordon is leaving behind.
