Wyoming

A ConsumerAffairs analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data ranks the Jacksonville metro area No. 2 among the 100 largest U.S. metros for property taxes rising faster than home values from 2022 to 2024. The typical homeowner's tax bill rose 21.7% while median home values increased 8.1%, a gap second only to Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida. Nationally, home values rose faster than taxes over the same period, though a five-year view shows Jacksonville home values up 63.1% since 2019, outpacing a 44.9% rise in taxes.

Florida's Amendment 3, needing 60% approval, would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 while cutting the non-homestead assessment-growth cap from 10% to 5%. Backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it has split Republicans and drawn opposition from police, firefighter, and county groups warning of billions in lost local revenue; proponents argue local governments can absorb cuts after years of rapid tax collection growth.

Eric Snow, a Teton County, Wyoming sheriff's deputy running as the Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Sheriff Matt Carr, was placed on administrative leave 13 days before the election. The move followed scrutiny over a traffic stop in which Snow allegedly did not conduct a full DUI investigation despite a high breathalyzer reading, and a separate recently dismissed DUI arrest that had been referred to, then declined by, the FBI. Carr was reportedly recused from the leave decision due to the election. Snow's attorney called the action unfair and improper, while some Republicans have questioned its timing. The Wyoming Highway Patrol is conducting a non-criminal personnel review.

Texas households received mailers this month branded as a "Texas Trans & LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide," arriving as early voting began. The materials pointed minors toward hormones, out-of-state medical transition, and legal emancipation from parents. The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), whose branding appeared throughout, denies producing or approving the pamphlet. Investigators traced it to a Wyoming-registered shell company with a nonexistent return address, prompting a forgery investigation by a local district attorney. No sender has been identified, and TENT is seeking to depose the vendors involved.

While the mailer's origin remains unconfirmed, its content echoes real debates over parental rights, gender-identity policy in schools, and state laws like Texas's bans on youth medical transition and school gender clubs.

A super PAC with ties to Republican vendors, Enough Promises Ohio, has expanded its spending to roughly $1.8 million supporting independent candidate Greg Levy and attacking Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio's U.S. Senate special election. Federal filings show about $753,000 for media through Outbound Messaging LLC and $1.04 million for mailers via Seven Farms, a vendor linked to operatives who previously worked on Bernie Moreno's 2024 campaign against Brown. Levy's campaign has disavowed the mailers and condemned them as voter deception. A separate GOP-aligned PAC, Sentinel Action Fund, spent over $280,000 backing Republican Jon Husted. Analysts say boosting a minor candidate can siphon votes in a tight race ahead of the Nov. 3 election to fill J.D. Vance's former seat.

A federal judge in Wyoming has sentenced Nicole Rae Phipps, 42, of Colorado, to 133 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for her role as a distributor in a multistate drug trafficking operation. Phipps pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Investigators with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, DEA and Homeland Security Investigations began tracking Phipps and co-defendant Denny Jason Shrove in August 2025, uncovering weekly supply runs between Colorado and Wyoming to obtain methamphetamine and fentanyl. Wiretaps identified at least five smuggling trips in October 2025 alone, and authorities estimate Phipps was responsible for trafficking between 22 and 44 pounds of methamphetamine. A federal complaint filed in January named Phipps and six co-defendants, with dozens more facing state charges.

U.S. Attorney Darin Smith said the case reflects an aggressive push by federal, state, and local agencies to dismantle regional drug distribution networks operating across the two states.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) raised concerns at a State Canvassing Board meeting about the Justice Department's conduct while monitoring the state's Aug. 18 primary, calling the observers' behavior "a bit aggressive" and "irregular" and saying it exceeded the authority Congress gave them. Attorney General Keith Kautz, a gubernatorial appointee, is conducting a fact-finding investigation into the two DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys deployed to Laramie County; Gordon said he is not alleging any outcome-altering effect or objecting to observers generally, only their conduct.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray said his office only received an email about the deployment, and defended the monitoring as consistent with state law. Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee said monitors lacked initial credentials, asked questions beyond federal voting-law scope, requested poll worker training materials and tabulator access, and unsuccessfully tried to interview voters, calling it "a poorly managed exercise." U.S. Attorney Darin Smith said monitors were sent to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal voting rights statutes. The DOJ deployed more than 80 monitors to over 200 sites across seven states this primary season, with plans to send roughly 1,000 monitors nationwide for November's midterms, drawing scrutiny over federal overreach.

Florida's primaries produced a mixed picture for both parties ahead of November's general election. Rep. Byron Donalds won the Republican gubernatorial nomination with Trump's endorsement and a large financial edge, beating Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former House Speaker Paul Renner and newcomer James Fishback despite Gov. Ron DeSantis's public misgivings; Donalds would become Florida's first Black governor if elected. Former Republican congressman David Jolly, running with Gwen Graham as his lieutenant governor pick, won the Democratic nomination over state Rep. Dotie Joseph and others, pitching himself as a centrist who wants to end the culture wars. The two will meet in November to succeed the term-limited DeSantis, in a state where Democrats haven't won the governorship in over 30 years.

Progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon defeated establishment-backed Alex Vindman for the Senate Democratic nomination despite being outspent; she faces Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who won her primary with Trump's backing, in the special election for Marco Rubio's former seat. Incumbents Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz turned back challengers, including Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, in redrawn districts under Florida's new Republican-favored congressional map. Trump-endorsed Cory Mills lost his House primary amid domestic violence allegations, while far-right figures Dan Bilzerian and Madison Cawthorn were also defeated, alongside Rep. Randy Fine's contentious win.

State Sen. Eric Barlow won Wyoming's Republican gubernatorial primary, defeating President Trump's endorsed candidate, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, along with retired Marine Col. Brent Bien and rodeo producer Curt Blake. Barlow, a rancher, veterinarian, and former Wyoming House speaker, prevailed despite attacks from the party's right flank labeling him too moderate and despite Degenfelder having nearly matched his campaign fundraising. Degenfelder had Trump's backing as well as support from Rep. Harriet Hageman, who separately won Wyoming's U.S. Senate primary the same night.

Barlow will face Democrat Kenneth Casner and Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel in November, but is heavily favored in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats roughly 7-to-1 and no Democrat has won the governorship since 2006. The race is one of several open contests in Wyoming this cycle, following term-limited Gov. Mark Gordon's departure and Sen. Cynthia Lummis' decision not to seek reelection, creating simultaneous open races for governor, Senate, and the state's House seat for the first time in over three decades.