CASPER, Wyo. — General Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across Natrona County.
Check the Elections tab on the Oil City News website for our latest coverage throughout the day.
How to vote in Natrona County
People in Natrona County wanting to cast a ballot on Nov. 8 can find their polling location by entering their address on Natrona County’s polling locater.
Voters can register on Election Day if they aren’t already registered. Identification is required to register to vote. Registered voters are also required to show ID when casting a ballot in Wyoming. Information on accepted forms of ID is available from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office.
Voters who have not yet returned absentee ballots can return those to the Natrona County Elections Office at 200 N. Center St., Room 154 until 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8. Absentee ballots cannot be accepted at polling locations.
More general voter information is available from the Natrona County Clerk’s Office.
What is on the ballot?
Local ballot issues
“One-cent,” also known as “fifth-penny,” tax renewal
Voters in Natrona County will be asked to weigh in on whether to renew the optional countywide 1% sales and use tax for another four years.
As Wyoming imposes a statewide 4% sales and use tax, the optional local 1% sales and use tax is sometimes referred to as either the “one-cent” or the “fifth-penny.”
The tax has generated over $200 million in revenue shared between Natrona County and the municipalities of Casper, Mills, Evansville, Bar Nunn, Midwest and Edgerton since it was first approved by voters in 1974.
The City of Casper anticipates its share of one-cent revenues will total around $64.5 million over the next four years should voters choose to renew the tax. The Casper City Council has approved a plan as to how those revenues would be used if the tax is renewed. Details about Casper’s plan for the money are available in this article.
Lodging tax renewal
Voters will be asked to consider renewing the local lodging tax. Lodging tax is imposed on people staying in hotels, motels, campgrounds and similar establishments.
The local lodging tax question will look a little different on the ballot this fall compared with years past due to Wyoming’s new statewide lodging tax. Wyoming’s new 5% statewide lodging tax structure took effect on July 1, 2021, after Governor Mark Gordon signed the lodging tax into law in March 2020.
Prior to the statewide lodging tax taking effect, local governments were able to impose local lodging taxes of up to 4%. Under the new law, local lodging taxes are capped at 2%. However, 2% of the 5% statewide lodging tax is distributed to counties in proportion to the statewide lodging taxes collected within that county.
Therefore, the question before Natrona County voters this fall will be whether to approve the 2% local lodging tax.
In Natrona, the lodging tax goes to support the Natrona County Travel & Tourism Council, which also operates under the name Visit Casper. That entity works to promote travel and tourism in the Casper area. The Natrona County Travel & Tourism Council approved a new budget for fiscal year 2023 in July that includes spending authority of up to $1,801,600, about $300,000 less than in its FY 2022 budget.
Further details regarding the local lodging tax ballot proposition are available in this article.
Statewide Ballot Issues
Voters will be asked to weigh in on two proposed amendments to the Wyoming Constitution during the General Election.
Constitutional Amendment A
The Wyoming Constitution allows the state to invest funds in equities as one way of generating revenue. While the state is allowed to invest funds in equities, the Wyoming Constitution prohibits counties and municipalities from doing so. Voters will be asked to consider changing that.
The ballot proposition reads as follows:
The Wyoming Constitution allows the state to invest state funds in equities such as the stock of corporations, but does not allow the funds of counties, cities and other political subdivisions to be invested in equities. The adoption of this amendment would allow the funds of counties, cities and other political subdivisions to be invested in equities to the extent and in the manner the legislature may allow by law. Any law authorizing the investment of specified political subdivision funds in equities would require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature.
A “FOR” vote on this ballot issue will support amending the Wyoming Constitution as proposed. While that would create a pathway to allow counties and municipalities to potentially invest in equities, action from the Wyoming Legislature would be needed before that could happen. A so-called supermajority vote in both the Wyoming Senate and Wyoming House of Representatives would be needed to pass legislation authorizing local governments to invest in equities.
An “AGAINST” vote on the Amendment A ballot issue will support leaving in place the prohibition on counties and cities from investing in equities.
Constitutional Amendment B
Voters will be asked to weigh in on an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to raise the mandatory retirement age for Wyoming Supreme Court justices and district court judges.
If the amendment passes, the retirement age will be raised to 75. If it fails, it will remain at 70.
While some states like South Dakota, Michigan, Arizona and New York have 70 marked as the mandatory retirement age for judges, others have higher retirement ages, and 19 states have no mandatory retirement age for judges, according to Ballotpedia.
Candidate information
Here are the names that will appear on General Election ballots for local, state and federal offices, according to the Natrona County government’s website. Asterisks denote an incumbent.
Click the links to see candidate responses to questionnaires sent out by Oil City News.
Local Races
Natrona County Commission (four-year terms, three seats available):
- Jim Milne (R)*
- Dallas Laird (R)
- Peter C Nicolaysen (R)*
- Tom Radosevich (D)
- Shawn Johnson (L)
Natrona County Commission (two-year term, one available):
- Steve Freel (R)
Natrona County Coroner (four-year term):
- James Whipps (R)*
Natrona County Sheriff (four-year term):
- John Harlin (R): The former deputy sheriff was appointed in 2021 by the Natrona County Commission.
Natrona County Treasurer (four-year term):
- Tom Doyle (R)*
Natrona County Assessor (four-year term):
- Tammy Saulsbury (R)
Natrona County Clerk (four-year term):
- Tracy Good (R)
Clerk of District Court (four-year term):
- Jill Kiester (R)
Casper College Board of Trustees (four-year terms, three available):
Natrona County School District Board of Trustees (four-year terms, four seats available):
- Fatima Bujosa
- Kevin Christopherson
- Tina Dean
- Jenifer Hopkins
- Darren R Hopman
- Ryan W Landmann
- Debbie Mccullar*
- Joseph Porambo
- Renea D Redding
- Mary Schmidt
- Kianna Smith*
- Michael Stedillie
- Bernie Studer
- Lisa Cornia Taylor
- Arthur Youngberg
City of Casper
Casper City Council
The new Ward Map is available here.
Ward I (four-year term):
- Gena Jensen
- Jai-Ayla Southerland (appointed in 2021)
Ward II (four-year term):
Ward III (four-year terms, two available):
City of Mills
Mills City Council (four-year terms, two available):
- Franklin A. Bever
- Cherie Butcher
- Darla R. Ives*
- Timothy Sutherland
Mills City Mayor (four-year term):
- Seth M. Coleman*
- Leah Juarez
Town of Bar Nunn
Bar Nunn Town Council (four-year terms, two available):
- Steven Clark*
- Tim Ficken
- Tyler Martin
- Kimberly S. Zahara
Bar Nunn Town Mayor:
- Peter Boyer
Town of Evansville
Evansville Town Council (four-year terms, two available):
- Greg Flesvig
- Joseph A. Knop*
- Candace Machado*
Evansville Town Council (two-year unexpired term):
- Walt Berens
- Dacia Edwards*
Evansville Town Mayor (four-year term):
- Chad Edwards*
- Steve Krohn
Special districts
Natrona County Fire Protection District Directors (four-year terms, two available):
- Steven Garrett
- Dean A Jackett
- Tony Kiser
Casper Mountain Fire District Directors (four-year terms, two available):
- Stewart “Stew” Anderson
- Johsua Bray
- Kaycee Klein
Casper Mountain Fire District Directors (two-year unexpired terms, two available):
- Mickale Bell
- Julie Bradley
- Anthony A M Garcia
- Ashlyn Gracia
- Ginelle Gracia
Natrona County Conservation District (four-year terms, two available):
- Andrew C Anderson
- Tammy L Cobb
Federal and State of Wyoming races
(Federal) U.S. Representative (two-year term):
- Harriet Hageman (R)
- Lynnette Grey Bull (D)
- Richard Brubaker (L)
- Marissa Joy Selvig (C)
Wyoming Governor (four-year term):
- Mark Gordon (R)*
- Theresa A. Livingston (D)
- Jared J. Baldes (L)
Secretary of State:
- Chuck Gray (R)
State Auditor:
- Kristi Racines (R)
State Treasurer:
- Curt Meier (R)*
Superintendent of Public Instruction:
- Megan Degenfelder (R)
- Sergio A. Maldonado Sr. (D)
Seventh Judicial District Attorney:
- Dan J. Itzen (R)*
Wyoming State Senate (four-year seats)
Senate District 27:
- Bill Landen (R)
Senate District 29:
- Bob Ide (R)
Wyoming House of Representatives (two-year seats)
House District 62:
- Forrest Chadwick (R)
House District 57:
- Jeanette Ward (R)
- Robert Johnson (D)
House District 58:
- Bill Allemand (R)
House District 59:
- Kevin C. O’Hearn (R)*
House District 56:
- Jerry Obermueller (R)
House District 38:
- Tom Walters (R)
House District 37:
- Steve Harshman (R)
House District 36:
- Art Washut (R)*
House District 35:
- Tony Locke (R)
