Wyoming:
State Treasurer Mark Gordon defeated 5 other candidate to emerge as the GOP’s nominee for Governor.
Gordon defeated national GOP donor Foster Freis, who received a late endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Tuesday’s results are colored by one of the most negativity-laden campaigns in the history of Wyoming politics. Debates on the campaign trail were, at times, combative, and a deluge of negative campaign ads from unknown sources flooded everything from the airwaves to Wyomingites’ Instagram feeds.
The night before the election, robocalls from an unknown group called Wyoming Friends of Coal disparaging Gordon were quickly denounced by industry group leaders. On Instagram, another advertisement from a group called “Never Trumpers Revealed” specifically targeted Hageman, who was among a group of Republicans attempting to change the rules around the party’s nomination process after its voters chose Donald Trump as its nominee for president.
State Treasurer Mark Gordon, and candidate for the more moderate/establishment wing of the GOP, won the #WYGOV primary last night. He defeated anti-establishment lawyer Harriet Hageman and self-funding social-conservative billionaire Foster Friess #WyomingPrimary #WYpol pic.twitter.com/hBTAIDXgup
— Matthew Isbell (@mcimaps) August 22, 2018
Gordon will face Democrat Mary Throne in November.
Republican Senator John Barraso easily withstood a primary challenge businessman Dave Dotson. Dotson spent one million dollars of his own money to challenge Barraso as a Washington connected insider.
Prior to last night’s primaries the 0ptimus forecast model rated Wyoming as a Safe GOP Hold.
Alaska:
Former US Senator Mark Begich collected the Democratic nomination for Governor, while former State Senator Mike Dunleavy took the GOP nod. Both will be running against incumbent independent Governor Bill Walker.
Alyse Galvin won the Democratic nomination for the state’s sole House seat.
She will face long-time incumbent Bill Young in a race prior to last night 0ptimus’ model ranks as a Safe GOP Hold.
Up next on Tuesday, August 28th:
Arizona, Florida, and runoff race in Oklahoma.
We’ll have previews during the week of the key races and we’ll be unveiling a new way for you to follow elections here at DDHQ.