Three candidates are running in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 18, 2026. All three candidates have answered Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey.

Incumbent Megan Degenfelder (R) is running for governor. She was first elected superintendent in 2022, defeating incumbent Brian Schroeder (R). This will be the second general election in a row without an incumbent on the ballot.

The three candidates running are:

• Chad Auer (R), a former policy advisor to Gov. Mark Gordon (R) and a former teacher and principal.
• Steve Harshman (R), a teacher and member of the Wyoming House of Representatives since 2003.
• Thomas Kelly (R), a professor at American Military University and a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives since 2025.

An issue on which the candidates agreed in their survey responses was supporting local control of education rather than state control.

• In his response, Auer wrote, “I will respect parents, teachers and local control.”
• In his response, Harshman wrote, “By preparing students for college, careers, military service, and meaningful lives in Wyoming, we strengthen our schools, our communities, and our state's future while respecting parental choice and investing in what matters most: our children.”
• In his response, Kelly wrote, “The state needs to take a step back with mandated standards and requirements, allow educators to help identify the core priority standards, and then trust our educators to develop and deliver curriculum appropriate and tailored to their local communities.”

An issue where the candidates differed was on the school curriculum focus:

• Auer listed the following as areas he was focused on: “Education, Regulatory Reduction, Standards - Assessment - Accountability, School Safety, School Funding.”
• Harshman wrote that his focus was “on strong literacy, career readiness, and workforce opportunities.”
• Kelly wrote that “Stagnating proficiency in literacy and math is a challenge that requires input from our thousands of educational professionals to address, not more top-down mandates from Cheyenne.”

To read more about Wyoming’s superintendent election, click here.