Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr will keep his seat in a landslide vote.
This year, the two-term Democratic incumbent faced the most competition since he was first elected in 2018 with two challengers, including his own deputy, Eric Snow. Carr, who broadly outraised and outspent Snow, earned 7,591 votes to Snow’s 2,061. Neither Carr nor Snow, a Republican, immediately returned a request for comment.
While independent candidate Chris Glenn, who earned 669 votes, campaigned largely on reforming the sheriff’s immigration policies, the race between Carr and Snow turned sour.
Snow accused Carr of “weaponizing” his office after placing him on leave days before the election. Carr said he was removed from that decision. His office has remained somewhat tight-lipped about the personnel matter, but indicated disapproval of a “pattern” of what it sees as poor police work. Snow’s attorney, Mark Jackowski, warned the matter will be litigated.
Glenn spoke with KHOL while working behind the counter and stocking shelves at the gas station Maverik, his second job. He said he was not surprised by the results and would stay closely attuned to the study of the sheriff’s office via his work with immigration advocates in JH Action Coalition.
In early 2025, under pressure from U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, Carr changed a policy to honor immigration hold detainers in the jail. That led to a major uptick in federal pickups of people without proper paperwork. More than 200 people have been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention since March 2025, according to Carr.
Glenn’s group has advocated to reverse that policy and successfully lobbied for the county to allocate money for a study on Teton County’s immigration policies.
Carr previously said the study won’t change policies.
“We’ll see if Carr is actually willing to take the recommendations given by the study,” Glenn said Tuesday night. “Hopefully we can hold him to that.”
Besides his office’s conduct with Snow, Carr faced more scrutiny.
He caught flak for hiring his one-time Democratic primary opponent Alberto Rojas, then a Jackson Police Department officer, who promptly dropped out of the race. Rojas had to give up his patrol dog to become a deputy, but told KHOL this fall that he felt he made the right choice. Carr said Rojas, a native Spanish speaker, has helped improve relations with Jackson’s immigrant community. The job offer was not a quid pro quo, Carr has said, defending against accusations.
Carr will work closely with Democrat Katrina “Kat” Clauson, the county’s first female coroner. She mounted a successful bid against colleague Russell Nelson, a Republican coroner’s deputy.
Clauson helped voters care about the coroner’s race by describing how better data sharing with public health officials could prevent deaths in the community. Both candidates won contested primaries in August against a third deputy and the head of the local funeral home.
The race was mostly cordial between colleagues but turned personal during the final forum. Nelson later apologized for calling Clauson “sweetie” while talking about his additional years of experience. Both advocated for a better morgue and compassion with victims’ families.
Several voters told KHOL on election day they were eager to support Clauson as the younger, more progressive choice. One said Nelson had been condescending to his colleague and opponent.
On Tuesday night, Nelson told KHOL we wouldn’t work under Clauson and would instead do consulting work around the state.
This story has been updated to include an update on the coroner’s race and fix a typo. — Ed.
