Democratic legislators fend off challengers in Laramie

LARAMIE—The yells and screams drew all eyes to the CNN broadcast projected on the wall of The Collective in downtown Laramie around 9 p.m. — but the exclamations were just over a falling Jenga tower.

As the evening wore on at the local Democratic Party gathering, more states went to former president Donald Trump, disappointing the initially upbeat party.

Frustration grew as Albany County still had no electoral results hours after polls closed. Rep. Ken Chestik left, frustrated with the slow pace.

Finally, around 10:30 p.m., the initial results trickled in. Rep. Karlee Provenza read them aloud as the remaining partiers gathered around. Rep. Trey Sherwood and Provenza were both leading their races, as were several other local-office Dems in the room.

The cheers were loud and in defiance of the Democrats' failures on the national stage.

By around 11 p.m., the unofficial results from all precincts were in: Provenza, Chestek and Sherwood would all be headed back to the Legislature this winter. They'd join two other Democratic colleagues from Teton County and a new one from Fremont County — growing their modest group to six.

"I think that Albany County demonstrated today that even when we turn out to vote, we still pick people who are invested in things that work for Wyoming," said Provenza, a research scientist with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and law from the University of Wyoming. "Overwhelmingly, we saw that attack mailers don't work here, so I think that that's incredible ... I'm just grateful that the people of Albany County said, 'No, not here, not now, not are not in our community.'"

Sherwood said that she, too, was grateful. The local outcome on Tuesday tells her that her district still believes in "civility and hard work and trusting the person, regardless of the letter behind their name," she said.

"I know that tonight the real work really starts, and that it will be a challenging session," she said. "But I am so, so ready for it, and I want to fight for my community in the way they showed up for me."

While Minority Whip Provenza dominated House District 45, garnering more than a 1,000 votes over Republican opponent Paul Crouch, Chestek and Sherwood had closer calls in their contests.

Chestek only won by 226 votes out of 3,654 total ballots cast in his House District 13 race against Shane Swett. Meanwhile, Sherwood won by a mere 195 in her 4,757-ballot race over House District 14 against Joe Giustozzi.

Sherwood's district is much larger, more conservative and more rural than Provenza's or Chestek's Laramie-specific districts. Still, she earned some Republican advocates with some constituents making "Republicans for Sherwood" signs.

Giustozzi, her opponent, previously didn't respond to WyoFile's request for an interview or return the WyoFile Election Guide candidate questionnaire.

He moved from Connecticut to Wyoming four years ago, he said in a video on his website. He'd done so "to escape the high taxes, the high cost of living in general, and to escape the liberal mindset and the oppressive local and state government that permeates everything back East," he said.

Sherwood raised about $16,660 compared to Giustozzi's $19,400 — $8,000 of which he loaned himself.

Meantime, Chestek's race was more Laramie-focused. While he raised about $11,000, according to campaign finance filings, Swett collected closer to $14,000.

Chestek is a retired UW College of Law faculty member, while Swett is a co-owner of a local towing company, according to the Laramie Boomerang .

Provenza's Republican opponent Paul Crouch moved to Laramie for political reasons, according to his website. He works for a trucking company as an "IT Infrastructure Architect."

The Wyoming Legislature is slated to begin on Jan. 14.

The results are considered unofficial until they are certified.