Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray vanquished eight competitors Tuesday to win the Republican primary for the state’s at-large House seat, putting him on a glide path to succeed Rep. Harriet M. Hageman next year.

But the power of President Donald Trump’s endorsement suffered another setback in the Cowboy State, with his preferred candidate for governor falling in the Republican primary.

In the House contest, Gray had 25 percent of the vote to 20 percent for his nearest rival, conservative activist Steve Friess, The Associated Press reported, with more than 95 percent of the vote counted early Wednesday morning.

The rare open seat in a staunchly red state drew a large crowd of GOP contenders that also included former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, state Senate President Bo Biteman, businessman Reid Rasner and Army veterans Kevin Christensen and David Giralt.

Gray enters the general election as an overwhelming favorite to prevail over Democrat Lisa Kinney, a former state senator, for a deep-red seat that has remained in Republican hands since Dick Cheney flipped it in 1978. 

Gray served three terms in the Wyoming House before his election as secretary of state in 2022. During his time in the Legislature, he was a key backer of the state’s voter ID legislation. He also amplified false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election, accusing Democratic winner Joe Biden and “the radical Left” of “trying to steal our elections,’’ according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

This is not Gray’s first bid for the House. He briefly launched a primary challenge to Rep. Liz Cheney in 2021 before dropping out after Trump endorsed Hageman to take on his high-profile intraparty critic. 

Hageman, who easily defeated Cheney four years ago, handily won the GOP nod Tuesday in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis. She’ll next face Democratic former state Rep. James Byrd. 

In the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mark Gordon, Republican state Sen. Eric Barlow defeated three other candidates, including the state superintendent of public instruction, Megan Degenfelder, who had Trump’s endorsement.

With more than 95 percent of the vote in, Barlow led Degenfelder, 45 percent to 30 percent, the AP reported. 

In the general election, Barlow will compete against military veteran Kenneth Casner, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Degenfelder’s defeat came on the same night that two Trump-backed House candidates lost primaries in Florida. Embattled Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his bid for renomination, while conservative activist Catalina Lauf came up short in her campaign for the Southwest Florida seat Rep. Byron Donalds vacated to run for governor.

Alaska

Alaska has emerged as a surprise battleground state in the fight for control of the Senate. That is in large part due to the candidacy of Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola, a prodigious fundraiser who is challenging two-term Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.

As of 10:30 p.m. Alaska time, Peltola and Sullivan were both projected to move on to the general election, according to the AP, with 66 percent of votes counted in the state’s all-party primary. Under Alaska’s election rules, the top four candidates from the primary will advance to the November election, which will be decided by ranked choice voting.

The other two positions remained uncalled, but among the House hopefuls in contention was Daniel S. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher and a Republican Trump critic whose candidacy the senator’s allies charge is a Democratic scheme to confuse voters and give Peltola an edge.

In the race for the state’s at-large House seat, Republican freshman Rep. Nick Begich and independent Bill Hill have advanced to November, the AP reported, with the other two spots uncalled as of publication time.

Begich’s uncle, former state Sen. Tom Begich, was among two Democrats projected by the AP to move on to November, along with former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. A crowded field of mostly Republican candidates and a handful of independents, including former Gov. Bill Walker, were battling for the remaining two spots in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy.