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2002 Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction election
	Blankenship: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% ; Emmons: 50–60% 60–70%
Superintendent of Public Instruction before election; Judy Catchpole; Republican	Elected Superintendent of Public Instruction ; Trent Blankenship; Republican

2002 Wyoming Secretary of State election
	Meyer: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% ; Brossman: 50–60%
Secretary of State before election; Joseph Meyer; Republican	Elected Secretary of State ; Joseph Meyer; Republican

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Wyoming on Tuesday, November 5, 2002. All of the state's executive officers—the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction—were up for election.

Gubernatorial election

Republican Governor Jim Geringer was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Following a competitive primary, former State House Speaker Eli Bebout emerged as the Republican nominee. He faced Democrat Dave Freudenthal, the former U.S. Attorney. Despite the state's strong Republican lean, Freudenthal was able to narrowly defeat Bebout, winning 50% of the vote to his 48%.

2002 Wyoming gubernatorial election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Dave Freudenthal	92,662	49.96%	+9.51%
	Republican	Eli Bebout	88,873	47.92%	−7.68%
	Libertarian	Dave Dawson	3,924	2.12%	−1.83%
Majority			3,789	2.04%	−13.10%
Turnout			185,459
	Democratic gain from Republican

Secretary of State

Republican Joe Meyer, the incumbent Secretary of State, ran for re-election to a second term. He won the Republican primary unopposed and was originally challenged by retired attorney Jim Fagan, the Democratic nominee. However, shortly after winning the Democratic nomination, Fagan dropped out of the race, citing his lack of endurance for the contest.^[2] After Fagan's withdrawal, Meyer's only opponent was Libertarian Dennis Brossman, whom he was able to handily defeat with 82% of the vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jim Fagan, retired attorney

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Fagan	30,918	100.00
Total votes			30,918	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Joe Meyer, incumbent Secretary of State

Results

Republican Primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Meyer (inc.)	81,476	100.00
Total votes			81,476	100.00

General election

Results

2002 Wyoming Secretary of State election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joe Meyer (inc.)	139,721	82.44%	+22.24%
	Libertarian	Dennis Brossman	29,751	17.56%	+17.56%
Majority			109,970	64.89%	+44.48%
Turnout			169,472
	Republican hold

Auditor

Incumbent State Auditor Max Maxfield, a Republican, ran for re-election to a second term. He faced State Senator Mark O. Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Harris launched a vigorous campaign against Maxfield, attacking the incumbent for a data breach in the Auditor's office^[4] and for delivering a no-bid contract to a Virginia-based security company.^[5] In a boost to his chances with the conservative electorate, Harris was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund, which gave him an A+ rating and had previously awarded him the Defender of Freedom Award.^[6] Maxfield ultimately ended up winning re-election over Harris in a landslide, winning 67% of the vote to Harris's 33%.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Mark O. Harris, State Senator from Sweetwater County

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark O. Harris	31,104	100.00
Total votes			31,104	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Max Maxfield, incumbent State Auditor

Results

Republican Primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Meyer (inc.)	80,829	100.00
Total votes			80,829	100.00

General election

Results

2002 Wyoming Auditor election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Max Maxfield (inc.)	119,857	66.76%	−33.24%
	Democratic	Mark O. Harris	59,668	33.24%	+33.24%
Majority			60,189	33.53%	−66.47%
Turnout			179,525
	Republican hold

Treasurer

Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis ran for re-election to a second term. No candidate filed to oppose her, and she won re-election entirely unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Cynthia Lummis, incumbent State Treasurer

Results

Republican Primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cynthia Lummis (inc.)	79,557	100.00
Total votes			79,557	100.00

General election

Results

2002 Wyoming Treasurer election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cynthia Lummis (inc.)	152,583	100.00%
Total votes			152,583
	Republican hold

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Judy Catchpole, a Republican, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Competitive primaries developed on both sides. In the Republican primary, Trent Blankenship, the Superintendent of the Carbon County School District 1, and Jim Twiford, the former President of the State Senate emerged as early frontrunners. High school teacher Neil Waring and retired university professor John Mingle were also candidates. The Wyoming Education Association endorsed Waring in the Republican primary. The WEA criticized Twiford's legislative record, specifically pointing to millions of dollars in cuts to the education budget under his leadership.^[7]

From there, the Republican primary heated up, with Blankenship and Twiford attacking each other's records. Blankenship accused Twiford of misrepresenting his credentials and for his record in the legislature. Twiford, meanwhile, argued that Blankenship's school district "is flat broke under his leadership," with the district hemorrhaging administrators.^[8] In the end, Blankenship narrowly edged out Twiford, receiving 37% of the vote while Twiford won 33%, Waring won 20%, and Mingle won 10%.

In the Democratic primary, Kathy Emmons, the Director of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance, emerged as the early frontrunner, earning the endorsement of the WEA.^[7] The candidates largely agreed on the issues, with all of the Democrats opposing charter schools,^[9] and with Emmons and Shoults favoring increased audits of mining companies.^[10] Hoffman ended up decisively winning the primary, winning 52% of the vote to Wiederspahn's 31% and Shoults's 17%.

In the general election, Blankenship argued that Emmons had no roots in Wyoming and had no experience in the state's public school system. Emmons disputed Blankenship's characterization, pointing out that she had worked for the Wyoming Department of Health and had run pre-school programs for developmentally disabled students throughout the state.^[11] The ideological contrasts between the candidates were not significant, however, with both Blankenship and Emmons agreeing on the need to raise teacher pay^[12] and to maintain the usage of individualized education plans,^[13] though they disagreed on the philosophy of leasing school trust lands.^[14]

Blankenship ended up narrowly beating Emmons, winning 53% of the vote to her 47%. Despite losing, she was the second-strongest performing Democrat in the 2002 elections behind Freudenthal, and managed to win in ancestrally Democratic and higher-populated areas throughout the state.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Kathy Emmons, Director of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance^[15]
Richard Wiederspahn, Dildine Elementary School principal^[16]
Christopher Shoults, high school language arts teacher^[15]

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathy Emmons	17,312	51.77
	Democratic	Richard Wiederspahn	10,393	31.08
	Democratic	Christopher Shoults	5,734	17.15
Total votes			33,439	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Trent Blankenship, Superintendent of the Carbon County School District 1^[15]
Jim Twilford, former State Senate President
Neil Waring, Glenrock High School teacher^[17]
John Mingle, retired university professor^[17]

Results

Republican Party primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Trent Blankenship	28,162	36.50
	Republican	Jim Twiford	25,629	33.22
	Republican	Neil Waring	15,623	20.25
	Republican	John Mingle	7,742	10.03
Total votes			77,156	100.00

General election

Results

2002 Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Trent Blankenship	95,672	53.23%	−4.02%
	Democratic	Kathy Emmons	84,056	46.77%	+4.02%
Turnout			179,728
	Republican hold

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Statewide Candidates' Abstract -- Official General Election Results -- November 5, 2002" (PDF). Wyoming Secretary of State. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
^ Barron, Joan (September 30, 2002). "Choices limited in general election". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Statewide Candidates' Abstract -- Official Primary Election Results -- August 20, 2002" (PDF). Wyoming Secretary of State. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
^ Barron, Joan (September 20, 2002). "Account of payroll problem questioned". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A14.
^ Barron, Joan (September 30, 2002). "Maxfield wants Harris' apology". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A14.
^ Barron, Joan (September 27, 2002). "NRA backs Harris for auditor". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. B1, B2.
^ ^a ^b "Sniffin, Hickey, Freudenthal get teacher union endorsements". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. July 16, 2002. p. B1.
^ Luckett, Bill (August 14, 2002). "Blankenship, Twiford trade harsh remarks". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. B1.
^ Strother, Holly (July 17, 2002). "School chief hopefuls debate". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A14.
^ Strother, Holly (June 9, 2002). "Minerals audits split candidates". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. B1, B2.
^ Barron, Joan (September 13, 2002). "Candidates spar over experience". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A4.
^ "Emmons, Blankenship: Raise teacher pay". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. September 17, 2002. p. B2.
^ Strother, Holly (October 7, 2002). "Candidates say IEPs valuable". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A8.
^ Strother, Holly (October 17, 2002). "Wyoming school funding needs change". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A1, A12.
^ ^a ^b ^c Strother, Holly (June 7, 2002). "Candidates united on vocational education". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. A3.
^ Barron, Joan (April 18, 2002). "Wiederspahn in superintendent race". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. p. B1.
^ ^a ^b "Waring eyes superintendent post". Casper Star-Tribune. Casper, Wyo. May 4, 2002. p. B1.