A general election was held in the U.S. state of Wyoming on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. 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
Incumbent Governor Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, was ostensibly unable to run for re-election due to term limits. Despite the questionable legality of the state's term limits, Freudenthal did not challenge his inability to seek re-election and declined to seek a third term. Former U.S. Attorney Matt Mead narrowly won the Republican nomination while former Teton County Commissioner Leslie Petersen won the Democratic primary. In the general election, Mead defeated Petersen in a landslide.
Secretary of State
Incumbent Secretary of State Max Maxfield, a Republican, ran for re-election to a second term.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Andrew Simons, political activist
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Max Maxfield, incumbent Secretary of State
Results
General election
Results
Maxfield
Auditor
Incumbent Republican Auditor Rita Meyer opted to run for Governor rather than seek re-election to a second term. In the Republican primary, two accountants—Jim Brown, the former Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Wyoming, who unsuccessfully ran against Meyer in 2006, and Cynthia Cloud—ran to succeed her. During the campaign, Brown attracted widespread support from the Republican establishment and outraised Cloud, but she narrowly defeated him in the primary, which the Casper Star-Tribune called "the biggest upset of the election."
No Democrat filed for the race, but former State Senator and then-Casper City Councilman Keith Goodenough won 31 write-in votes, despite not being a candidate. Under Wyoming law, Goodenough could have accepted the nomination, but ultimately declined to do so, opting to run for re-election to the Casper City Council instead.
Democratic primary
Candidates
No Democratic candidates filed.
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Cynthia Cloud, accountant
Bruce Brown, accountant, former Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Wyoming, 2006 candidate for State Auditor
Results
General election
Results
Treasurer
Incumbent Republican Treasurer Joe Meyer, first elected in 2006, opted to run for re-election. He was unopposed in the Republican primary, and no Democratic candidates filed to run in the primary. Worth Christie, an insurance agent in Casper, despite not being a candidate, received 30 write-in votes in the Democratic primary. However, Christie ultimately declined to accept the nomination, instead opting to run for the Casper College Board of Trustees. With no candidates filed to run against him, Meyer was re-elected unopposed. However, just two years into his term, Meyer would die in office and was replaced by Mark Gordon.
Democratic primary
Candidates
No candidates filed.
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Joe Meyer, incumbent Treasurer
Results
General election
Results
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride ran for re-election to a second term. However, owing to controversy surrounding the state's standardized testing system, he faced strong competition in the Republican primary from Cindy Hill, a high school assistant principal; Trent Blankenship, the former Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Ted Adams, the Laramie County School District 1 Superintendent. Hill established herself as the leading candidate against McBride, with polling showing her with a double-digit lead on the incumbent while Blankenship was forced to defend his 2005 decision to abruptly resign from office. Ultimately, Hill won the primary by a wide margin, winning 49% of the vote to McBridge's 25%, Blankenship's 15%, and Adams's 11%.