Only one of Teton County’s four state delegates will face a challenger this year. Republican Shannon Brennan says that’s a problem. She’s vying for House District 23, a seat currently held by Rep. Liz Storer, a Democrat.
“People should step up to the plate and participate a little bit more,” Brennan said.
If Brennan flips the seat, she’ll be the first Republican to hold the office in more than a decade since Rep. Keith Gingery’s departure in 2014. If no write-ins challenge, Brennan and Storer will sail through the primaries alone to face-off in the Nov. 3 general election.
Storer was first elected in 2022, winning a competitive race against Republican Paul Vogelheim by just 163 votes. In 2024, she was unopposed. And this year was shaping up to be the same before Brennan’s filing late last week.
“I am certainly interested in a lot of other races around the state,” Storer told KHOL. “We have a great opportunity to beat back the Freedom Caucus into the minority.”
But Brennan, a Republican halfway through a four-year term on the St. John’s Health board, says it’s time for fresh leadership in Cheyenne. She was surprised to have to face the incumbent.
“I assumed that [Storer] would be interested in moving up to the Senate. It seems like a natural step. Never make assumptions,” Brennan said.
She and her husband are both energy consultants who moved to Moran in 2021. She was elected to the nonpartisan hospital board in 2024.
That same year, the further-right Freedom Caucus bloc won a majority in the House for the first time. Its members championed budget cuts to mixed reviews this session. Without a majority in the Senate, the Caucus was forced to compromise.
Brennan says she wouldn’t embrace the Freedom Caucus label in a state where Republicans are already in power.
She said her goal would be to make the party even more inclusive of Democratic strongholds like Laramie and Teton County.
“Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, we have a state that we need to take care of and we have a future that’s shared by all,” she said.
Storer, for her part, is also touting bipartisanship. The family foundation director has worked with high-profile members of the Freedom Caucus, particularly on tiered property tax relief.
“I understand the challenges that communities face across Wyoming, not just those here in Teton County, which frankly allows me to work successfully across the aisle,” the two-term Representative said.
The opponents did not know each other prior to Brennan’s announcement.
Storer said she wasn’t taking re-election for granted.
“I’ll need to run a strong campaign,” she said, noting that Brennan “seemed to have some financial resources behind her” during her run for the hospital board.
