Voters across Wyoming, Florida, and Alaska headed to the polls yesterday for a series of hard-fought primary battles for governor, state senate, and state house.
Wyoming
Governor
Governor Mark Gordon (R) is stepping down after serving two terms as Wyoming’s head of state. There was some speculation that Gordon would challenge the state’s two-term limit, which may have been successful since the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled twice that term limits on legislators and other elected positions are unconstitutional. Four candidates were arrayed in the Republican primary to replace Gordon: Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, State Senator Eric Barlow, former Marine Corps Officer Brent Bien, and Curt Blake.
Degenfelder and Barlow were the frontrunners in the race, but despite his opponent’s Trump endorsement, Barlow pulled away as the victor with approximately 45% of the vote. After serving in the Marines, Barlow earned his veterinary degree and returned to Wyoming, where he continued the family ranching operation. He entered politics in 2012 when he was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives, where he served five terms, including as Speaker of the House, before moving to the senate. Barlow’s campaign highlights his work advancing energy independence, rural health care access, and water infrastructure. His priorities include limited government, policies that bolster the state’s economy, and efforts to strengthen Wyoming’s communities.
On the Democratic side, Ken Casner ran unopposed. A third-generation Wyoming native, he has 27 years of military service and has owned and operated a small business since 1998. Casner's campaign message centers on strengthening opportunities for Wyoming’s working class, supporting local communities, and ensuring that government remains accountable.
The Cook Political Report rates the race as Solid Republican, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates it Safe Republican.
Treasurer
Incumbent State Treasurer Curt Meier defeated challenger Scott Smith in the Republican primary with approximately 68% of the vote. Meier served 24 years in the Wyoming State Senate before being elected State Treasurer in 2018. During his legislative career, he held leadership positions and served on key budget, taxation, transportation, and finance committees. As treasurer, he has emphasized conservative fiscal management, strong investment returns, government accountability, and protecting taxpayer dollars. Meier’s 2026 campaign centers on protecting and growing Wyoming’s public investments, strengthening the state’s long-term financial position, and maintaining conservative fiscal policies.
With no Democratic candidate advancing to the general election, Meier’s reelection is effectively assured.
State Legislature
Seventeen (17) of 31 state senate seats are up for election in 2026, including a special election in Senate District 6, while all 62 state house seats are up for election. The senate has seven Republican incumbents leaving their seats, including President of the Senate Bo Biteman (R), who is running for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat. The house has 17 open seats, with 10 incumbents leaving to pursue other offices and seven retiring or otherwise not seeking reelection.
An intraparty fight has erupted between Wyoming’s traditional, business-friendly Republicans and the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus already has a majority in the house. After several of its priorities stalled in the upper chamber during the 2026 budget session, Freedom Caucus leaders sought to expand their influence in the senate. To this end, several Freedom Caucus members primaried incumbent Republican senate members, including the marquee battle between current (soon to be former) House Speaker Chip Neiman (R) and current Senate President Ogden Driskill (R).
One senate incumbent and 13 house incumbents – including Majority Leader Scott Heiner (R) – lost their primaries. A handful of Freedom Caucus members lost their bids against fellow Republicans including Freedom Caucus founder and House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Bear. Driskill narrowly defeated Neiman 52% to 48% declaring the outcomes as a "solid rejection of what the Freedom Caucus has done and how they operate."
Florida
Governor
The Republican primary for governor consisted of a crowded pool of 11 candidates to replace term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis (R). Trump-endorsed US Representative Byron Donalds and Lt. Governor Jay Collins were the leaders of the pack ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
Ultimately, Donalds won with approximately 47% of the vote, placing him one step closer to the governor’s mansion. Donalds was elected to Florida’s 19th Congressional District in 2020 and previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020. Donalds has positioned himself as a staunch conservative, advocating for Second Amendment rights, school choice, border security, limited federal overreach, and the full implementation President Trump’s agenda. With Republicans holding the office for nearly three decades, Donalds is heavily favored in the general election race.
The Democratic primary featured six candidates, but former Republican congressman and recent Democratic party convert David Jolly easily secured the party’s nomination with 61% of the vote. Jolly represented Florida’s 13th Congressional District from 2014 to 2017. In 2018, he left the Republican party and became an independent before officially registering as a Democrat in April 2025. Jolly is critical of the state's long-time Republican trifecta, arguing it has exacerbated the increasing costs of living and inadequate public-school funding. He hopes to build a coalition of Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans who dislike the divisiveness of current state politics and are seeking change across the board.
The Cook Political Report labels this race as Solid Republican and Sabato’s Crystal Ball labels this race as Likely Republican.
Attorney General
The Republican and Democratic primary for attorney general were both cancelled, advancing incumbent Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) and former state Senator José Javier Rodriguez (D) to the general election.
Uthmeier was appointed to the position by Governor DeSantis in January 2025 and is running for his first full term in office. Prior to his time as attorney general, he worked as Governor DeSantis’ Chief of Staff. He served as counsel to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and was later appointed by Trump as senior advisor and counsel to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Uthmeier’s campaign priorities include strengthening consumer protections, particularly as they relate to children’s online safety, combatting illicit substance use, advancing parental rights, and increasing investments in law enforcement recruitment efforts.
Rodriguez is a seasoned attorney, previously serving as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor from 2024 to 2025. He was in the Florida House from 2012 to 2016 and in the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2020, where he served as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. His key campaign priorities include strengthening consumer protections by holding corporations accountable, combatting corruption and fraud in the public and private sectors, and mitigating consumer scams.
Chief Financial Officer
In the Republican primary, incumbent Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia defeated his lone challenger, small business owner Frank Collige, with approximately 61% of the vote. Ingoglia was appointed as Chief Financial Officer by Governor DeSantis in July 2025 and is seeking his first full term in office. Prior to his time in office, he served in the Florida Senate from 2022 to 2025. Ingoglia was the chair of the Republican Party of Florida from 2015 to 2019. Throughout his time in office, Ingoglia has worked to promote smarter budgeting practices, improve financial literacy, increase efficiency in state spending, and strengthen emergency response systems.
Former state Senator Annette Taddeo and attorney Earle Ford competed in the Democratic primary. Taddeo came out victorious, securing approximately 66% of the vote. Serving in the state senate from 2017 to 2022, Taddeo sat on the Banking and Insurance Committee throughout her tenure. Outside of politics, Taddeo is the founder and owner of LanguageSpeak, a language services firm providing translation and interpretation services. Taddeo’s key campaign priorities include lowering insurance costs, strengthening consumer protections, and increasing transparency through statewide audits and fiscal reports.
State Legislature
Twenty (20) out of 40 state senate seats are up for election and all 120 state house seats are on the ballot this year. A total of seven senate incumbents and 27 house incumbents did not file for reelection. The house is expected to see turnover in leadership as current Speaker of the House Daniel Perez (R) has been nominated to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil. House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois (R), Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman (D), and House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D) are not seeking reelection, however, Driskell is running for state senate.
Alaska
Governor
With Governor Mike Dunleavy (R) unable to run for reelection thanks to term limits, 17 candidates – 12 Republicans, two Democrats, and three Independents – were on the non-partisan primary ballot vying to replace him. The top four vote-getters in the primary will advance to the general election, regardless of party. As a result, the general election ballot can feature multiple candidates from the same party.
Notable names on the primary ballot included former state Senator Tom Begich (D), former state Senator Click Bishop (R), former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (R), former state Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum (R), state Senator Matt Claman (D), former Attorney General Treg Taylor (R), former state Senator Shelley Hughes (R), businesswoman Bernadette Wilson (R), and former state Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D).
At the time of this publication, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D) and Tom Begich (D) led the primary field, advancing with 21.7% and 20% of the vote, respectively. The race for the remaining two slots has not yet been officially called. Bernadette Wilson (R) currently holds third place with 10.5%, followed by Dave Bronson (R) in fourth with 8.4%. Treg Taylor holds fifth place, with 7.5%. However, thousands of ballots remain to be counted, so the final list of four candidates may not be settled for some time.
Begich (D) served in the Alaska State Senate from 2017 to 2023 and chaired the Alaska Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. His campaign centers on lowering energy prices, strengthening education, increasing access to affordable healthcare, reducing housing costs, growing high-paying jobs, and prioritizing Alaska's fisheries. Kreiss-Tomkins (D) served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023, first winning in 2012 by unseating a Republican incumbent by just 32 votes. His campaign platform includes lowering energy costs by supporting development of all energy sources, including renewable, hydro and natural gas. He also supports a moratorium on all new data centers until comprehensive regulation is passed, banning cell phones in classrooms, expanding Medicaid, reinstating campaign contribution limits for state elections, and promoting telehealth access.
Based on their current placement in the vote tallies, Wilson (R) and Bronson (R) appear likely to advance from the primary. Wilson is a small business owner who launched a commercial waste management company in 2016. She is not a newcomer to Alaska politics, however – her great-uncle, Governor Wally Hickel, served two terms as Alaska’s governor. Education is a central pillar of her campaign, and she supports increasing transparency and accountability in schools, along with funding and programs such as Educational Savings Accounts and Backpack Funding. She also supports efforts to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska. Bronson previously served as the Mayor of Anchorage from 2021 to 2024. His career includes experience as both a commercial airline pilot and a U.S. Air Force Pilot. His proposed policies include adopting a 10-year rolling average oil price to set state revenue assumptions for budgeting purposes, improving transportation accessibility across Alaska, bringing modern small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to the state, expanding parental choice in education, and reforming the Permanent Fund through a modern endowment model.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report have both rated this race as Likely Republican. Leading up to the primary election, candidates on both sides of the aisle were already weighing their general election strategy. On the Democratic side, it was reported that Kreiss-Tomkins and Begich quietly discussed several scenarios for what might happen once primary votes were counted, including whether one of them should step aside if both made it to the final four. Talks were more public on the Republican side, where Wilson pledged nearly a year ago to drop out after the primary if she wasn’t the top Republican vote-getter, and called on other Republican candidates to make the same commitment.
It remains to be seen whether all four primary finishers will stay in the race through November, or whether candidate withdrawals will shape the general election outcome.
State Legislature
Half of Alaska’s 20 state senate seats and all 40 state house seats are up for election in 2026. While Republican lawmakers outnumber Democrats in both chambers, each is organized by multiparty coalitions rather than strict party lines. Five house seats and three senate seats are open races.