State Sen. Eric Barlow defeated Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder in the Wyoming Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. Degenfelder ran with the endorsement of President Donald Trump, while Barlow centered his campaign on the management of public lands and school funding.
The primary result followed several other recent losses for candidates backed by Trump. In Minnesota, former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost his gubernatorial primary the previous week. On the same Tuesday as the Wyoming vote, two Trump-backed candidates in Florida, Rep. Cory Mills and House candidate Catalina Lauf, were also defeated. Additionally, a Trump-endorsed candidate in Michigan lost to an opponent who had already withdrawn from the race.
Barlow, a rancher and fourth-generation resident of Wyoming, focused his platform on three primary areas: protecting public lands, funding public schools, and increasing access to healthcare in rural communities. In contrast, Degenfelder’s campaign emphasized her endorsement from Trump. Supporting groups and Degenfelder’s own campaign messaging characterized Barlow as too liberal for the state.
The results in Wyoming and other states indicate a shift in the success rate of presidential endorsements in Republican primaries. Earlier in the year, Trump-backed candidates including Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra, and South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette lost their respective primary bids. These outcomes suggest that local issues or individual candidate platforms, such as Barlow’s focus on land management, can outweigh the influence of a national endorsement in certain jurisdictions.
The loss for the Trump-backed candidate in Wyoming provides a data point for party strategists evaluating the weight of national endorsements versus localized campaigning. While the general election date was not reported, Barlow will now represent the Republican ticket in the race to lead the state’s executive branch. Degenfelder will remain in her current role as Superintendent of Public Instruction, as the source did not report an immediate change to her current term.
What happens next: Barlow proceeds to the general election as the Republican nominee. The specific date of the general election and the identity of his Democratic opponent were not reported. Following his primary win, the focus shifts to whether his platform regarding public lands and rural health will remain central to his general election campaign.