EVANSTON — The unofficial vote counts have been released by the Uinta County Clerk’s Office for the 2018 primary election. With several positions not even challenged, there won’t be much change in local representation, but there will be some.

Former mayor Joy Bell will face incumbent Kent Williams in November. Williams led the way with 697 votes, followed by Bell with 623. Brent Hatch received 525, and current city councilman Evan Perkes received 375. Michael Crichton rounded out the field with 170 votes.

Deborah Demander Reno will face Mikal Welling for the Ward 1 seat on the Evanston City Council. Welling got the most votes on Tuesday with 272, and Reno finished second with 181. Michael Searle got 172 votes, while Kendra West and Michael Odom received 148 and 55 votes, respectively.

Tib Ottley, who ran unopposed in Ward 2, will advance, along with Maurizio Mariotti and incumbent David Welling in Ward 3. Ottley received 805 votes, Welling 340 and Mariotti 196.

Democrat David Tanner will advance to face Republicans Eric South and Mark Anderson for two seats available on the Uinta County Commission. Incumbent Wendell Fraughton came up short of making the November ballot. Tanner received 439 votes. Incumbent Eric South saw 2,223 people voting for him, while Anderson tallied 2,141. Fraughton received 1,778.

With no Democrat on the ballot, Republican Sheriff Doug Matthews should be able to look forward to another term after defeating challengers Randy Chandler and Dennis Hutchinson. Matthews, the incumbent, notched 1,791 votes to Chandler’s 1,267 and Hutchinson’s 912.

Unchallenged Republican incumbents Loretta Howieson, Kerri Wright, Amanda Hutchinson, Terry Brimhall and Greg Crandall move on to the November ballots for county attorney, clerk of district court, county clerk, county treasurer and county coroner, respectively. All five should be safe in November as there were no Democratic challengers for any of the five offices.

County assessor Lori Perkins easily beat challenger Maryl Thompson in Tuesday’s primary. Perkins received 2,644 votes to Thompson’s 1,175.

Uinta County will send a new senator to Cheyenne for the next legislative session after Wendy Schuler ran away with the win in District 15. Schuler’s 1,245 votes bested Shaun Sims’ 885, Barnard’s 642, Eugene Joyce’s 404 votes and Jaraun Dennis’ 362.

Garry Piiparinen ran unopposed in House District 49, and he’ll move on to November after receiving 1,356 votes.

In HD 19, Uinta County sided with challenger Scott Heiner over incumbent Thomas Crank, though both Lincoln and Sweetwater counties also had a say in that race, which put Crank on top. He’ll move on to the general election after receiving 1,037 total votes to Heiner’s 877. 

HD 19 incumbent Danny Eyre received nearly triple the votes as his Republican challenger, Karl Allred. Eyre will move on to the general election after tallying 1,340 votes to Allred’s 520.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Liz Cheney dominated the polls in Uinta County and statewide. Barrasso received 74,217 votes statewide, crushing all five Republican challengers. Dave Dodson received 32,613 votes; John Holtz received 2,982; Charlie Hardy, who withdrew from the race just days before the primary, received 2,372; Roque “Rocky” De La Fuenta tallied 1,280 and Anthony Van Risseghem rounded out the field with just 869 votes.

“Bobbi and I are truly grateful for the support of so many Wyoming voters this primary campaign. I want to thank everyone who helped and stood with us,” Barrasso said in a statement Tuesday night. “As we have seen, elections make a real difference. The last two years I have worked to force real change in the federal government. Taxes are now lower, regulations that unfairly targeted our state are being reversed, and we have remade our highest courts.”

Barrasso will face Democrat Gary Trauner in November. Trauner ran unopposed in the primary and tallied 17,557 votes on Tuesday.

Cheney beat her fellow Republicans handily, receiving 75,110 votes statewide. Rod Miller received 22,024, and Blake Stanley received 13,293. November’s ballot will see Cheney versus Democrat Greg Hunter. Hunter received 10,329 votes to knock out his primary competitor Travis Helm, who tallied 6,527 votes on Tuesday.

“I’m honored by the trust Wyoming Republicans have once again placed in me to serve as our state’s lone representative in Congress,” Cheney said Tuesday night in a statement. “I thank my opponents for their willingness to step forward and participate in our process on behalf of the people of Wyoming. My family and I are grateful for the many members of Team Cheney who generously spent their time helping to volunteer and get the vote out across our state. 

“I also want to congratulate our strong slate of Republican candidates on their nominations,” Cheney continued. “I look forward to campaigning with them in the general election as we fight to continue to build upon the progress that is being made to cut taxes and regulation, expand Wyoming’s energy, mining and ag industries and restore America’s strength and power around the world. I am honored to serve Wyoming and grateful for the support and trust Wyoming’s voters have placed in me. I will never stop fighting for our beloved state.”

The highly-contested governor’s race was the source of some complaints, both here in Uinta County and other areas of the state. Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson, who oversees local elections, said several people called her throughout the day on Tuesday to complain about a man campaigning near City Hall. Seyed Yadegari was holding a Foster Friess sign for much of the day as hundreds of cars drove past him to the Machine Shop or Roundhouse to vote.

Hutchinson said, however, that since Yadegari was more than 100 yards from the polling place, he was not violating campaigning rules. Friess himself was asked to leave the Cam-plex grounds in Gillette after he was seen campaigning in the parking lot of the polling place around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Gillette News Record.

Friess led the way for governor in Uinta County, but fellow Republican Mark Gordon won by more than 9,000 votes statewide, receiving a total of 38,915 votes on Tuesday. Friess finished second with 29,817 votes; Harriet Hageman received 25,027; Sam Galeotos tallied 14,531; Taylor Haynes received 6,509; and Bill Dahlin received just 1,762 votes.

“Jennie and I are incredibly humbled by the results of tonight’s election,” Gordon said in a press release Tuesday. “From the very beginning, our campaign has been driven by, and for, Wyoming people. Tonight, Wyoming people spoke [loud and] clear. They saw through the anonymous attacks and out-of-state attempts to influence this race. They spoke up for Wyoming. Jennie and I are honored to have earned the faith and trust of so many Wyoming people. We have been overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of support we have received from all across Wyoming.”

Gordon will face Tuesday’s winning Democrat, Mary Throne, in November. Throne won the primary in a landslide after receiving 12,944 votes compared to Michael Allen Green’s 2,391, Kenneth Casner’s 1,213 and Rex Wilde’s 1,201 votes.

Republican Edward Buchanan ran unopposed for secretary of state. After receiving 94,510 votes Tuesday, he’ll move on to the general election where he’ll face Democrat James Byrd. Byrd also ran unopposed and received 16,751 votes in the primary.

Kristi Racines will advance after beating fellow Republican Nathan Winters, 59,462 votes to 39,841, in the primary for state auditor. Democrat Jeff Dockter, who ran unopposed and received 16,326 votes, will face Racines in November.

In a fairly close race for state treasurer, Republican Curt Meier will advance. He received 51,293 votes to Leland Christensen’s 46,017 and Ron Redo’s 4,773 votes. With no Democrats challenging, Meier appears to be Wyoming’s next treasurer.

Incumbent Republican Jillian Balow was unchallenged in the race for superintendent of public instruction. She tallied 92,010 votes in the primary and, without a Democratic challenger, looks to have earned another term as the state’s top education official.

Bear River has two seats available on the town council, but nothing should change there. Incumbents Margaret Huggins and Brian Stokes were unopposed and received 119 and 115 votes, respectively.

Incumbent Lyman Mayor Bronson Berg ran unopposed and tallied 377 votes. Tansy Shelton and Andrew Spray ran unopposed for two seats on the Lyman Town Council. Spray received 318 votes and Shelton received 304.

Three Mountain View residents were on the ballot for two spots on the Mountain View Town Council. Jacob Porter led the way with 158 votes; Bryan Ayres received 149 and Sarah Butters tallied 115. They’ll all advance for a rematch in the general election.

Voter turnout was slightly down from the 2014 mid-term primary election. Of the 8,900 registered voters in Uinta County, 4,646 (52.2 percent) voted in this year’s primary. Four years ago 55 percent of registered voters made it to the polls.