Wyoming
Conservative Firebrand Bouchard Won’t Run For Reelection To Wyoming Senate
When Wyoming historians years from now look through news archives about today’s state Legislature, state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, will likely catch their attention a few times, for better or worse.
During his eight years in the Legislature, Bouchard has openly and sharply criticized leadership and those who oppose his legislative efforts on social media and in the press. But after two terms, Bouchard announced he won’t run for reelection, and is endorsing Cheyenne resident Darin Smith for his seat.
“I never thought of elected office as a lifetime position,” Bouchard said in a Wednesday afternoon press release. “I’m proud of winning four hotly contested races in District 6. And I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished for my district and for the state. But now it’s time for someone new.”
Bouchard is stepping aside after recently reaching a personal watermark, having passed his first bill into law during the 2024 legislative session. This bill prohibits medical practitioners from providing any transgender care to minors in Wyoming.
He also was a firm Second Amendment advocate, fought COVID-19 restrictions and blocked Medicaid expansion efforts.
Bouchard was stripped of his interim committee positions in 2023 for his behavior.
He said Smith will continue his conservative voting legacy, if elected. Bouchard believes that Wyoming is at a political crossroads and may turn into Colorado if left unchecked.
“Now, more than ever, we need legislators who will fight for our conservative principles,” Bouchard said. “As I retire from the Senate, I believe Darin Smith will be that fighter.”
Who’s Smith?
Smith is an eastern Laramie County resident who has past campaign experience.
He finished fourth in the 2016 Republican U.S. House primary that was won by former congresswoman Liz Cheney and ran a short-lived campaign for the same seat in 2020. He also worked on the 2018 campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Foster Friess and is a past chairman of the Laramie County Republican Party. His wife Alicia Smith is a member of the Laramie County School District No.1 board.
In a Tuesday press release, Smith wasted no time stepping in where Bouchard left off, offering a similar viewpoint that there are illegitimate Republicans in the state Legislature. Although Wyoming has the most Republican-dominated legislature in the country, Smith said there’s an ongoing joke in conservative circles that Wyoming is the reddest state with the bluest legislature.
“For the last 20 years Wyoming has been in an economic purgatory when we should be the leader in of industry in the region,” Smith said. “At the same time, we have allowed liberal forces to chip away at our families and our Wyoming values. The Wyoming Legislature is packed with liberal politicians masquerading as Republicas.”
After selling a successful investment firm in 2005, Smith was an executive with conservative nonprofits like the Family Research Council and Christian Broadcast Network.
The Race
With Smith’s entry into the race, there are now six Republicans running for SD 6, by far the most crowded primary race in the state so far. These candidates are Laramie County GOP Chair Taft Love, Cheyenne resident Kim Withers, Wheatland residents Eric Johnston and Gary Bjorklund, and Pine Bluffs resident Marc Torriani.
SD 6 makes up eastern Laramie County and all of Platte County.
Bouchard was first elected in 2016, beating current state Rep. Dave Zwonitzer by five votes in the Republican primary that year.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
Wyoming
Measles confirmed in Teton County, Wyoming, as summer crowds flock to parks – East Idaho News
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
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GILLETTE, Wyo. — As the Aug. 18 primary election approaches, County 17 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 County 17 Election Tracker.
Scott Smith (R), Wyoming state treasurer
What are the most crucial challenges your constituents are facing?
Everywhere I go many Wyoming citizens are concerned that our government is selling out our state lands to the highest bidder for crony capitalism. Some are concerned about Data Centers, Commercial Wind Generators, or nuclear waste storage. The biggest concern is the resources these outfits are taking, secondly, they are concerned about health issues related to living nearby, and lastly they are concerned with cost associated with these projects being passed onto the taxpayer.
If elected, how will you address these challenges?
One of the things that many people don’t know is that the State Treasurer sits on the State Land and Investment Board. (SLIB) The same issues that concern our citizens are the same reasons that I have decided to run for this office. The SLIB has voted to lease state lands to a hydrogen plant in Converse County that would take eight gallons of our valuable water to produce one gallon of hydrogen jet fuel using wind and solar generation to power the plant. These same elected officials have sold off $100 million of our state lands to the federal government. I believe that some things are not for sale. As Treasurer you can count on me to count the cost and listen to the people in the public testimony. If we are going to accept some of these projects the citizens need to have the benefit, like lower utility costs.
What qualities/qualifications do you possess that have prepared you to meet these challenges?
My bachelor’s degree is in Business Administration with an emphasis in management and marketing. I will be a leader in the state treasurer’s office that creates a positive work environment that will allow our investment team to create higher returns on the people’s money that the state invests. I would like to work with the legislature to use these interest earnings to buy down the people’s property taxes to alleviate part of the burden inflation has caused on the average citizen. My day job, I work as a bookkeeper and work with numbers day in and day out and have corrected some inefficiencies to help small businesses become more profitable. I plan to do that within the state office and make those profits available to the legislature to reduce the tax burden for the people. I have also served in the Wyoming House of Representatives for Goshen County and I have served on the Appropriations Committee and I am familiar with the massive state budget.
Related
Scroll down for a list of fireworks restrictions across Wyoming.
I usually don’t buy fireworks for the 4th of July. I go places to watch them. But since this year is the 250th anniversary of our nation, I was going to purchase a small arsenal and have a blast, pardon the pun.
But this has been a very dry year, as happens now and then in the cycles of weather. So I figured I’d wait until things were wet again and just hold my personal celebration a little late.
Many towns across Wyoming have canceled their July 4th fireworks due to the drought. They don’t want you firing off any either.
Based on 2026 reports, several Wyoming towns and counties have canceled or significantly restricted Fourth of July fireworks displays due to high wildfire risks, drought conditions, and Stage 1 fire restrictions.
Canceled/Restricted Public Displays (2026)
- Gillette/Campbell County: The CAM-PLEX fireworks show was postponed, and the county is maintaining a Stage 1 fire restriction due to extreme drought.
- Douglas: The Volunteer Fire Department canceled the 4th of July fireworks show due to fire concerns.
- Newcastle: Fireworks show canceled due to high fire danger, according to a June 27 report.
- Pine Haven: Canceled its Fourth of July fireworks display, according to a June 27 report.
- Riverton: Passed a resolution banning personal fireworks within city limits on July 4, with only a limited, designated area for public displays at the Honeycutt Softball and Saban Baseball Complex.
- Teton County: Fireworks have been historically canceled, and fire officials are urging residents to only attend official, professional displays due to extreme fire danger (confirmed for 2026).
City-Wide Personal Fireworks Bans (2026)
- Cheyenne: Consumer fireworks are prohibited within city limits, despite the county lifting restrictions, with only small novelties allowed.
- Casper: Fireworks are prohibited within city limits and in unincorporated Natrona County.
Key Locations Under Restrictions (2026)
- BLM Land: Fireworks are prohibited on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming.
- Weston County: A county-wide ban covers Newcastle and Upton due to high drought conditions.
Even little Chugwater, Wyoming, population 175, has banned fireworks inside its little town limits.
At the State Capital in Cheyenne, however, they will go right ahead with a fireworks display, right over the capital building itself. Dry weather be dammed.
Weird Fireworks Names You’ll Find In Wyoming
Just some of the odd names we found while shopping.
Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods
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