CASPER, Wyo. — As the Aug. 18 primary election approaches, Oil City News is introducing candidate questionnaires to help voters make informed decisions at the ballot box.

Every candidate in the primary field was sent the same three questions and given a limit of 500 words, which could be distributed among their answers as they saw fit. To ensure a fair and direct line to the community, all responses are published exactly as submitted, without edits or alterations.

Candidates were asked:

• What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
• If elected, how will you address these challenges?
• What qualities or qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?

Questionnaires are being published on a rolling basis online through Aug. 11. They will be accessible via the Oil City News Election Tracker.

Additionally, Oil City News will mail a comprehensive print voters guide directly to all Natrona County households in mid-July, featuring all questionnaires received by July 6.

Steve Harshman (R), Wyoming superintendent of public instruction

What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?

Wyoming is blessed and full of abundance.  We are the best place to work, live and raise a family. We also have challenges that include the escalating cost of living, healthcare access and young people leaving our state.

If elected, how will you address these challenges?

As your State Superintendent I bring a record of solving problems with an eye on the future. As a member of the State Loan and Investment Board I will continue my work to grow our investments, to invest in ourselves and build infrastructure in our communities to lower the costs of housing. I have been the leader of property tax reform which keeps money in our pockets.

We will soon be training Physician Assistants in our state to produce more caregivers in our communities. I worked on this for years and it will soon benefit all of our communities. I championed the bill that permanently endowed our suicide prevention iniatives. Wyoming is now making progress in this area.

As a parent of four kids, I am focussed on our future. As a state leader I have promoted innovation, smart development and diversification. After the clean air act was passed in the early 70’s Governor Hathaway and the state loan and investment board went out and recruited the coal industry to Wyoming. Thank Goodness. I was the lead author of the Hathaway scholarship and insisted we honor a war hero and visionary leader who said yes to Wyoming’s future! I will say yes to our future as well!

What qualities/qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?

I was born and raised in Natrona County. My Dad was an electrician who worked in the oil and gas business in Midwest and later Wright. I am the only candidate in this race who has worked on an oil rig and a ranch. I am a product of Wyoming public schools, my four kids are products of our schools. I have been blessed to serve as a lifelong teacher and coach and to serve our people in the Wyoming Legislature where I protected our rights, balanced budgets and kept our taxes low. As your Superintendent I realize our schools are the heartbeat of our communities, and the cornerstone of our republic. I realize every child has potential and working together we can unlock that potential. Wyoming has the highest percentage of kids enrolled in our public schools at 93%. Fifteen states test every junior on the ACT, Wyoming was #1 two years ago and 2nd last year. Our kids are always in the top 10 joining the military, our kids are patriots. Our 4th grade reading scores are some of the best in the nation. I understand most of our kids are blue collar and looking for promising careers in the trades. I authored the Hathaway scholarship. I saved the career technical education program at UW when they were going to close it. I will continue to work for our kids and our schools so our kids and grandkids can stay right here in Wyoming and live the American Dream!

Related

JACKSON, Wyo. (WyoFile) — After confirming a case of measles in an unvaccinated adult in Teton County, Wyoming, health officials are warning the public about possible exposure at locations in Grand Teton National Park and Jackson.

The news comes as summer crowds flood the region with tourists from around the world.

The public may have been exposed between June 17-25 at several locations in Teton County, according to the Wyoming Health Department. They include restaurants in Grand Teton National Park’s Colter Bay Village on June 17-18; a Colter Bay convenience store on June 20 and the Target in Jackson on June 25.

“We are asking people who may have been exposed to watch for measles symptoms for 21 days past the exposure date and consider avoiding crowded public places and high-risk settings such as daycare centers,” State Health Officer Alexia Harrist said in a press release.

Monitoring is especially critical for people who have not been vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, according to the health department.

It marks Wyoming’s second confirmed case of the highly contagious infection in 2026. Wyoming went 15 years without a confirmed case of measles until last year.

Resurgence

Health officials confirmed Wyoming’s first 2026 case in May. An adult patient in Fremont County who did not have a confirmed vaccination status caught the disease, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 — indicating no endemic transmission for 12 months or more. But it re-emerged in recent years primarily due to declining vaccination rates and increased public health skepticism. Those trends spawned during the COVID-19 pandemic and have persisted during the second Trump administration.

The neighboring state of Utah is one of America’s 2026 measles hotspots, with 499 cases reported so far this year.

RELATED | Anguished parents. Doctors in tears. Utah’s long measles outbreak takes a toll

A vaccination rate of 95% is necessary for community immunity to prevent measles outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In 2025, Wyoming’s proportion of kindergarten students who had completed the MMR vaccine was 93.6%, the CDC reports. That rate is higher than Colorado, Utah and Montana for the same year.

However, it’s declined overall since 2012-13, when Wyoming’s kindergarten vaccination rate was above 97%. It fell to 90.2% in 2020-21 before inching back up to the current 93.6%.

A measles case had not been reported in the state since 2010 until July 2025, when the health department confirmed measles in an unvaccinated child from Natrona County. By year’s end, 13 more cases were confirmed. The majority involved unvaccinated children and adults.

Along with being extremely contagious, measles can cause severe complications like pneumonia and brain swelling and can leave lasting impacts on the immune system. One to three out of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from complications, according to the CDC.

RELATED | The US is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. Here’s why that matters

RELATED | Measles is not the only disease on the rise. Mumps also may be making a comeback