CHEYENNE — The primary election is Tuesday, and municipal elections are on the ballot, including Cheyenne mayor and six of the nine seats on City Council.
Constituents can vote now through Tuesday.
Mayor
The race for Cheyenne mayor is between incumbent Patrick Collins and challengers Rick Coppinger, Jenny Hixenbaugh, Victor Miller, Justin Nadeau and Buddy Tennant. The top two vote-getters will be on the ballot in the November general election to determine who will be inaugurated as mayor in January.
Patrick Collins
“I love it. I love my job. And I’m asking citizens of Cheyenne to look at my record and consider my tenure as the city’s chief executive officer and keep me on the job for another term.”
Age: 63
Education: Cheyenne East High School, University of Wyoming
Work experience: Owner of Bicycle Station since 1991
Prior elected office: Current mayor of Cheyenne; Ward 2 Cheyenne City Council member, 2001-13; served as council president for four years.
Rick Coppinger
“I think Cheyenne is asking for a difference, and I’m the difference. I believe in conservatism, I believe in listening to the people, and I believe in giving what the people want.”
Age: 63
Education: Some college courses in international banking and finance from LCCC, graduate of Leadership Cheyenne program (2004)
Work experience: Managing three stations for Great Lakes Airlines, property management for a communications company, startup for Cellular One, leadership role in aviation with the U.S. Navy
Prior elected office: None.
Victor Miller
Victor Miller is running with the campaign promise to make all decisions through an artificial intelligence software, which he calls VIC, and identifies himself as a “meat avatar” running for mayor in tandem with VIC.
“I’m running for mayor to bring innovative technology and data-driven decision-making to Cheyenne,” VIC stated in an email.
Justin Nadeau
“I believe anybody who works 40 hours a week should be able to provide themselves a home, feed themselves and provide themselves transportation ... because they’re pulling their weight.”
Age: 27
Work experience: Janitorial, construction, general labor, night shift manufacturing supervisor for APG, the parent company of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Education: Burns High School (2015)
Prior elected office: None.
(Jenny Hixenbaugh did not respond to requests for comment from the WTE prior to publication.)
City Council
Six of the nine council seats are on the ballot this year, two in each of the three wards. For each open seat, the top two candidates will be on the ballot in November. As there are two open seats in each ward, there will be four candidates per ward on the general election ballot, and the top two vote-getters in November will be the next City Council members.
Ward 1
The race for Ward 1 is between incumbents Pete Laybourn and Jeff White and challengers Nathaniel Fuquan Freeman, Travis French, James “Chris” Heath and Miguel Reyes.
Nathaniel Fuquan Freeman
“I have a lot of good ideas based off the amount of jobs I’ve had — how to help people progress forward, and hopefully help us come into a place where the people are more advertised in our town.”
Age: 34
Education: GED from Laramie County Community College, career readiness and advanced career step program certificates from LCCC
Work experience: Security, fast food, warehouse, janitorial
Prior elected office: None.
Travis French
“One of my main tenets would be to empower law enforcement to protect citizens’ property rights, property in general, and that way, everyone can have a prosperous, crime-free community where they don’t have to worry about cars being broken into or any of those types of things that are indicative of a city on decline.”
Age: 33
Education: Classes through LCCC, but no degree; associates degree, Community College of the Air Force; certified health coach (through Trinity School of Natural Health)
Work experience: Insurance industry, dental industry, sales, senior airman with Air National Guard (ended in 2021), currently works as a field service technician for Motorola
Prior elected office: None.
James “Chris” Heath
“I’ve seen several things throughout the city that are, you know, we’re doing a good job on, but I want to take it a step further and do better on. I want to make the city an even better place to live for my family and for other families that are here.”
Age: 30
Education: Homeschooled GED, some classes at Laramie County Community College
Work experience: Assistant manager at Olympus Games, claims representative for Allstate, IT at Walmart, retail
Prior elected office: Precinct committee member.
Pete Laybourn
“I think that experience does matter, and I hope that the citizens of Ward 1 will approve of what I’ve done, and I’m going to do more of it. But I am definitely not a ‘yes’ vote until I’ve studied the issue, then made a determination that it was well thought out and funded.”
Age: 72
Education: GED
Work experience: Construction, property management
Prior elected office: Elected three times to Cheyenne City Council (2004, 2016, 2020)
Jeff White
“Being involved in the community has always been very important to me. ... It’s just been an honor serving for the last nine years, and I hope the voters will entrust me with another four-year term.”
Age: 55
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business and Public Administration, University of Wyoming, 1992; Masters in Public Administration, University of Wyoming, 1996
Work experience: Program manager at the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Office of Civil Rights, Wyoming Department of Workforce Services
Prior elected experience: Cheyenne City Council (since 2015).
(Miguel Reyes did not respond to request for comment from the WTE prior to publication.)
Ward 2
The race for Ward 2 is between incumbent Tom Segrave and challengers Christopher Camargo, Kathy Emmons, Zachary Hixenbaugh, Lynn Storey-Huylar, Stephen D. Latham and Dennis Rafferty. Bryan Cook is the only incumbent council member not seeking reelection.
Christopher Camargo
“I want to be the voice that is not always represented. I feel there needs to be a new vision in the council, a new outlook and fresh eyes to bring us more forward in all the change that is happening in Cheyenne.”
Age: 34
Education: Cheyenne Central High School (2008)
Work experience: Facility manager for an asphalt company
Prior elected office: None.
Kathy Emmons
“I feel like we need to have someone in there that can think ‘big picture’ and has a broad background, a solid understanding of financial issues and can bring people together. Those feel like my skills, so I thought I’d be a good fit.”
Age: 66
Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science; master’s with double majors in guidance and counseling and career vocational guidance; doctorate in management, with concentration in organization development and change
Work experience: Co-owner of retail jewelry store, former director of the Department of Workforce Services, 15 years in health care leadership, children’s advocacy work
Prior elected office: Going into second year as a trustee with LCCC.
Lynn Storey-Huylar
“I really get to see a very unique perspective on a population of Cheyenne that maybe not a lot of people get to see a perspective on. So, I really hope to bring a fresh perspective on some things.”
Age: 59
Education: Cheyenne East High School, bachelor’s degree in social work, master’s level coursework in forensic psychology
Work experience: Investigating child abuse in Wyoming as Department of Family Services supervisor of investigative unit, Laramie County Head Start, ran an in-home family preservation program, director and on-site child forensic interviewer for Safe Harbor
Prior elected office: Former LCSD1 Board of Trustees member and chairperson
Stephen D. Latham
Age: 60
Work experience: Served in U.S. Air Force for 20 years, 12 years at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center, worked for a communications company for around 20 years
Education: Bachelor’s degrees from Colorado Christian University in theology and criminal justice
Prior elected office: None.
Dennis Rafferty
“If there’s a candidate there that spends 10-, 20-, 30-plus percentage of their so-called salary that’s going to come in, those are the people I don’t want in charge of my tax money.”
Age: 71
Education: Associate of Arts degree in business administration
Work experience: Business owner (DBR Distributing) for 37 years, city of Cheyenne (Public Works) for five years, Department of Defense for eight years
Prior elected office: None.
Tom Segrave
“One of my goals ... is to help economic development. I think Cheyenne LEADS does a fabulous job, but I also believe we need to have some shovel-ready areas available for these businesses that are trying to relocate.”
Age: 67
Education: Bachelor of Arts, University of Nebraska at Kearney; chartered property and casualty writer; chartered life underwriter
Work experience: Insurance agent
Prior elected experience: Two terms on the Cheyenne City Council in the early 2000s, as well as his current four-year term.
(Zachary Hixenbaugh did not respond to request for comment from the WTE prior to publication.)
Ward 3
The race for Ward 3 is between incumbents Michelle Aldrich and Richard Johnson and challenger Mark A. Moody. Since there are only three candidates for two open seats, all three will automatically advance to the November general election.
Michelle Aldrich
“Cheyenne has been a great community for me and for our family, and I want to make sure that we are able to maintain our quality of life and do that in a fiscally responsible way. There’s a lot of growth on the horizon, and I want to make sure that it’s planned, and it’s controlled, rather than just random ... that it results in something we’re going to have to live with for many years to come.”
Age: 63
Education: Cheyenne East High School, B.S. in Secondary Education from University of Wyoming, M.S. in Home Economics from UW, Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Education from UW, education leadership endorsement from UW
Work experience: Former teacher at Cheyenne’s Triumph High School. Currently Wyoming Career and Technical Education state supervisor with the Wyoming Department of Education
Prior elected office: Cheyenne City Council (2021-present).
Richard Johnson
“My one job is to make sure that Cheyenne is a nice place to live. That’s all I really care about. ... That’s why I care about the quality of life, that’s why I care about the music and the arts and things like that. But at the same time, I realize that you can’t go all squirrelly with your budget, and you do have to work within your means.”
Age: 50
Education: Cheyenne East High School (1992)
Work experience: Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Great Lakes Airlines, Wyoming Highway Patrol dispatcher, pizza delivery driver
Prior elected office: Cheyenne City Council (2015-19, 2021-current).
(Mark A. Moody did not respond to request for comment from the WTE prior to publication.)
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