House Bill 0037 would fundamentally change how several county officials are elected in Wyoming by removing political party labels from the ballot and shifting those races to a nonpartisan election system.
The bill is sponsored by Representative Chestek and co-sponsored by Representatives L. Brown and E. Campbell, along with Senators Pappas and Rothfuss.
HB0037 applies to a wide range of county offices, including county clerk, treasurer, assessor, coroner, sheriff, county and prosecuting attorney, district attorney, and clerk of the district court.
Currently, there are a number of elections in Wyoming that are nonpartisan:
- Municipal Races including Mayor and City Council
-
School Board Trustees:
Currently nonpartisan, though there has been recent legislative debate
(e.g., Senate File 98 in early 2025) about making them partisan.
-
Judicial Retention Elections
-
Community College Trustees
- Special Districts
Under the bill, candidates for these offices would no longer run as Republicans or Democrats on the ballot. Instead, they would be nominated through nonpartisan primary elections, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election. Ballots would be restructured so county offices appear on a separate nonpartisan ballot, and write-in candidates would still be required to meet a minimum vote threshold in the primary to advance.
While the bill removes party labels from the ballot, it does not fully remove political parties from the process. When vacancies occur, party affiliation would still play a role if the prior officeholder was affiliated with a political party. In those cases, county party central committees would continue to submit nominees to county commissioners, and if commissioners fail to act, a district court judge would appoint a replacement tied to the former officeholder’s party. Only when the prior officeholder had no party affiliation would the appointment process be fully nonpartisan.
Supporters of nonpartisan elections often argue the approach reduces straight-ticket voting and encourages voters to focus on qualifications rather than party identity. Critics may question whether removing party labels reduces transparency for voters, whether the hybrid vacancy process undercuts the bill’s stated goal, and whether a statewide mandate is appropriate for offices that are deeply local in nature.
The Open Range Record contacted Representative Chestek by text and email with questions about the intent and implications of HB0037. No response was received by publication deadline.
As written, HB0037 removes party labels from county ballots while leaving political parties embedded in the appointment process—raising questions about whether the change meaningfully increases transparency for voters.