Youth + experience

Voelker, Gualtieri lead in Newcastle City Council votes

Weston County voters selected local officials, filled school board and municipal seats and rejected a proposed property tax exemption Tuesday in the 2026 general election.

Unofficial results from all eight Weston County precincts showed a total of 2,554 ballots cast. The votes show voters returning incumbent county commissioners to office, while contested races for Newcastle City Council and Upton municipal offices drew attention. 

Newcastle voters selected three city council members from four candidates, choosing a combination of youth and experience.

Wyatt Voelker, new to Weston County politics and a 2017 Newcastle High School graduate, led the field with 660 votes. 

“The poor retention of young people moving back to Newcastle is the most pressing issue facing voters,” Voelker said in a written response
to News Letter Journal questions posed to candidates and published in NLJ’s special election issue on Oct. 22. He currently serves on the board of the Newcastle Country Club. 

Voelker was followed in votes by Pam Gualtieri, a former Newcastle mayor and city council member who was a write-in in the general election. Garnering 579 votes, she will return to the council following Tuesday’s election. Joining Voelker and Gualtieri on the city council will be incumbent Don Steveson, with 459 votes. John Butts received 406 votes. 

In the Weston County Commissioners race, incumbents Garrett Borton received 1,799 votes, Nathan Todd received 1,771 and Vera Huber received 1,686. All three secured the available seats.

Incumbent Sheriff Bryan Colvard received 2,120 votes in his uncontested race.

In the county clerk’s race, Amber Green received 1,965 votes to Tricia Baumann’s 496.

Green, who currently serves as county clerk, secured the position following nearly two years of controversy surrounding the office. The turmoil began with election irregularities in 2024 and continued through investigations, criminal charges against a former clerk and changes in leadership.

Other incumbent county officials returned to office, including Michael Stulken with 1,894 votes for county attorney, Susan Overman with 2,260 for treasurer, Kara Lenardson with 2,310 for assessor, Scott E. Beachler with 2,307 for coroner and Riki Kaiser with 2,239 for clerk of district court.

In Upton, primary write-in Ty Kennedy received 200 votes in the mayoral race, defeating Tiffany McMillan, who received 155.

Four candidates competed for two seats on the Upton Town Council. Kelly Wozney, also a primary write-in, led with 211 votes, followed by Joe Watt with 174. Tom Johnson received 137 votes and Ryan Barber received 135.

Four seats were available on the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees. Sean Crabtree received 1,469 votes, Scott W. Johnson received 1,281, Richard Joe Prell received 1,238 and Jason Jenkins received 1,199.

In Weston County School District No. 7, three candidates sought three at-large positions. Justin D. Mills received 482 votes, Mark Mitchell received 420 and Ty Miller received 380.

Republican Chuck Gray received 1,607 votes in Weston County’s U.S. House race, compared with 381 for Democrat Lisa Kinney, 226 for Libertarian Shawn Johnson and 157 for Constitution Party candidate Jeffrey Haggit.

In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Harriet Hageman received 2,077 votes to Democrat James Byrd’s 395.

Weston County voters gave Troy Claycomb 987 votes in Wyoming House District 1 and J.D. Williams 1,208 votes in House District 2.

In Senate District 1, Ogden Driskill received 936 votes, while Cheri Steinmetz received 1,207 votes in Senate District 3.

In the governor’s race, Republican Eric Barlow received 1,903 Weston County votes, followed by Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel with 439 and Democrat Kenneth Casner with 148.

Other statewide results included Robert Short with 2,046 votes for secretary of state, Kristi Racines with 2,249 for state auditor and Curt Meier with 2,237 for state treasurer.

In the superintendent of public instruction race, Republican Steve Harshman received 2,162 votes to Democrat Ana Cordova’s 240.

Weston County voters rejected Initiative 1, which proposed establishing a homeowner property tax exemption for primary residences.

The measure received 1,435 votes against and 1,030 in favor, with 89 undervotes and no overvotes reported.

All five judges on the retention ballot received more yes votes than no votes in Weston County.

The results reflect only votes cast in Weston County and do not determine outcomes in statewide or multicounty races.

All results remain unofficial pending certification. Results will be updated online as they are certified.