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One of the Republicans to knock off an incumbent congressional Democrat last night was Paul Gosar, a Pinedale native and older brother of Wyoming Democratic gubernatorial candidate Pete Gosar.

Paul Gosar, a dentist and a political newcomer, upset Democratic U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick 50 percent to 44 percent in Arizona's First Congressional District.

The district, the 10th largest in the country in terms of geographic size, is mostly rural and takes up a majority of the state outside of Phoenix and Tuscon.

Paul Gosar's platform is significantly different than his more liberal brother: it includes reducing government, slashing taxes at all levels, and opposing stimulus spending, all earmarks, and illegal immigration.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, Gosar and Kirkpatrick ran a "contentious and negative race that both major parties invested in heavily."

In a statement Tuesday evening, Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour -- who campaigned with Mead in Fremont County last week -- congratulated Matt Mead on his apparent win in the Wyoming governor's race.

“Republican U.S. Attorneys have a good record as governor and I believe Matt Mead will continue that trend,” Barbour said in the statement. “Matt’s common-sense ideas for limited government will allow Wyoming to lead the nation forward.”

Vote-counting machine snafus in Fremont and Weston counties might delay election results from those counties, Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield announced Tuesday afternoon.

Preliminary reports were that ballots were sticking when being fed into the machines, according to a media release from the Secretary of State's office. There's no indication that there's any electronic problems with vote totals, Maxfield said in the release.

Following standard protocol, the machines were turned off and the vote-counting started all over again, according to the release. Elections officials in the two counties will likely re-count all the ballots a second time, the release stated, which could delay a final count.

UPDATED 2:26 P.M. Nov. 2, 2010

Republican Matt Mead will be holding an Election Night party in Cheyenne in the Grand Ballroom of Little America, starting at 6 p.m. Mead himself will show up around 7 p.m., according to spokeswoman Kelsey Campbell. The party's open to the public.

Democrat Leslie Petersen, meanwhile, will spend Election Night with Democratic U.S. House nominee David Wendt and the Teton County Democrats in the Jackson Room at the Wort Hotel in Jackson starting at 8 p.m. The party's also open to the public, said campaign manager Jodi Guerin.

Libertarian Mike Wheeler said he'll be in his hometown of Casper tonight. While neither he nor the Libertarians are planning a party, he said if he pulls ahead as the election results come in, he might crash the local Republican and Democratic election parties.

"I'll tell them, 'thanks for buying me a beer, and I look forward to working with you in January,'" Wheeler said.

Write-in candidate Taylor Haynes said he will be watching the election results with his supporters in Casper tonight. The event is for his campaign volunteers and won't be open to the public, Haynes said.

Wyoming House Republicans are set to gain at least two seats – and likely more than that – during next week’s general election.

Two of the 19 Democratic-controlled seats in the state House are already guaranteed to switch parties: state Reps. Debbie Hammons, D-Worland, and Ross Diercks, D-Lusk, are retiring and no Democrats are running to succeed them.

Here are seven other legislative races to watch on Election Day, six of which are currently controlled by Democrats:

House District 8: includes northwestern Cheyenne

OPEN SEAT: Democrat Lori Millin is running for state Senate

Both Democrat Ken McCauley and Republican Bob Nicholas have been campaigning hard around the district. Nicholas, a Cheyenne attorney, narrowly lost to Millin in 2008 by just 167 votes. However, don't count out McCauley: the former fighter pilot – a plus in a district adjacent to F.E. Warren Air Force Base – has impressed many with his knowledge of legislative issues.

House District 16: includes much of Teton County

OPEN SEAT: Democrat Pete Jorgensen isn't seeking re-election

Democrat Len Carlman and Republican Ruth Ann Petroff have had two different campaigning styles. Carlman, an attorney and public lands coordinator for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, has focused on issues in his advertisements. Petroff, the wife of Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, has focused on personality: her ads include testimonials from local figures praising her. The district is moderate -- Jorgensen easily won the district in 2008. However, Democrats' local electoral success in 2008 was due in part to young ski workers -- workers that, thanks to the economy and nature of the business, aren't there this year.

House District 22: includes Sublette County and parts of Lincoln and Teton counties

Incumbent: Democrat Jim Roscoe

Roscoe won the closest election of 2008, unofficially winning by four votes on Election Day, then winning a special election less than a month later by 119 votes. This year, Roscoe has the incumbency advantage, and has been campaigning hard to ensure a more sizable victory than in 2008. However, voter registration numbers in the district heavily favor Republicans, and the GOP nominee, Bill Winney of Bondurant, has name recognition as well, running for U.S. House in 2006 and 2008. The two candidates' styles are very different: Roscoe's more gregarious, while Winney's more quiet.

House District 35: includes southeast Casper

OPEN SEAT: Republican Roy Cohee’s not seeking re-election

The race between Republican Kendell Kroeker and Democrat Jack Walts is perhaps the most interesting legislative race in the state. The two candidates’ platforms are pretty far apart. Kroeker, who scored a primary upset win over four other more well-known Republicans, has made opposition to the federal government and budget reductions a key part of his campaign platform. Walts, meanwhile, has said the state should increase infrastructure spending and that government has a role to play in issues such as health care. The district itself is fairly middle-class; while Democrats haven't fared well at all there in recent years, the district's representatives have been more mainstream conservatives than right-wingers.

House District 36: includes western Casper and Evansville

Incumbent: Democrat Mary Hales

Both sides expect the race to be close between Hales and Gerald Gay, who’s held the seat twice in the past. It’s Hales’ first competitive race: she won in 2008 without a challenger. Hales’ campaign message has been, essentially, “Things aren’t as bad as some might say.” Gay, who lost re-election in 2006 over his vote for keeping the sales tax on food, has been airing negative radio ads accusing Hales of opposing hunting and supporting a statewide income tax.

The district’s fairly conservative and includes some of the more affluent areas of Casper, as well as more working-class Evansville.

House District 49: includes much of the city of Evanston

Incumbent: Democrat Terry Kimble

It looks to be a close race between Kimble, who was appointed to the seat in 2009, and Republican Clarence Vranish. The district’s solid Republican, with the exception of a Democratic area in north Evanston. Both candidates are popular and well-liked, and both have been working hard on the campaign trail.

House District 60: includes the southern part of the city of Green River and part of the Bridger Valley

OPEN SEAT: Democrat Bill Thompson isn’t seeking re-election

The seat’s traditionally been Democratic, but Republican Ted York is running a competitive race against Democrat John Freeman. York’s voting record as a Green River City Councilman has sometimes been controversial – a Baptist preacher, he’s consistently voted against granting alcohol licenses – and it's won him both opponents and supporters. He’ll likely play well in the conservative Bridger Valley. Freeman is a longtime educator that’s been active in recreation issues. York has touted his gun rights credentials and bashed Freeman on issues like gay marriage.

Of the 15 Wyoming state Senate seats up for re-election this year, only six are contested, and barring a major surprise, only four appear to be competitive.

Of those four seats, two are currently held by Republicans and two are held by Democrats. With Republicans currently holding 23 of the 30 Senate seats, there doesn’t figure to be a major change in the makeup of the Senate no matter how the two parties fare on Election Night.

Here’s a closer look at those four Senate races:

Senate District 5: includes northwestern Cheyenne and west-central Laramie County

OPEN SEAT: Republican Rick Hunnicutt isn't seeking re-election

Simply put, it's the Democrats’ best hope to pick up a Republican district this year in either the Wyoming House or Senate. State Rep. Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, has been campaigning hard and running TV ads for weeks. Republican Fred Emerich, a Laramie County commissioner in the 1990s, can win if he splits the urban east side of the district, letting the sparsely populated – and heavily Republican -- western side put him over the top.

Senate District 11: includes Carbon County and part of western Albany County

Incumbent: Democrat Jim Elliott

Elliott, who was appointed to the seat in 2009, is looking to win election to the seat for the first time. But to do so, he’ll have to first get past two other candidates in what is perhaps the most contentious Senate race in the state. Republican Larry Hicks, who won a three-way primary race earlier this year, will be competitive in a majority-Republican district. It remains to be seen whether Ken Casner, an Elk Mountain café owner who ran for governor on the Democratic ticket in 2002, won't win, but he could take votes away from Elliott.

Senate District 15: Includes Evanston and much of Uinta County

Incumbent: Democrat Saundra Meyer

Even though the district’s solidly Republican, Evanston hasn't been represented by a Republican state senator since 1953. Meyer, who moved from the state House to the Senate in 2009 to fill a vacancy, would seem to have an edge: she’s well-liked and well-known in the district. However, Meyer broke her ankle a few weeks ago, which has cut into the amount of campaigning she's been able to do.

Republican Paul Barnard, a longtime Evanston City Councilman, has been campaigning hard as well, though there’s been some discontent with past votes he’s made on the City Council.

Senate District 17: Includes most of Teton County and western Fremont County

OPEN SEAT: Republican Grant Larson isn't seeking re-election

At the start of the campaign, it appeared that Republican Leland Christensen had this one in the bag: a two-term Teton County commissioner, he was the better-known candidate, and he's personable and a hard worker. Christensen also has a solid Republican base in DuBois. But Democrat Tom Frisbie has been working hard on the campaign trail as well, and the race has become uncomfortably close for Christensen in recent days.

Both candidates have raised more than $20,000 each – a significant amount of cash for a Wyoming legislative race. The two have sparred frequently during candidate debates in recent weeks about each other’s job qualifications and who identifies better with voters. Another potential factor is the enthusiasm gap: as of last Friday, 24 percent of Republican voters in Teton County had voted early, compared with 13 percent of Democrats.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will campaign with Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Mead on Tuesday in Riverton, Mead's campaign announced Monday.

Barbour, the chairman of the Repubican Governors Association and a potential 2012 presidential candidate, is making the visit as part of a whirlwind 5-day, 13-state campaigning tour.

Barbour and Mead will visit with Riverton business owners before meeting with other Wyoming statewide candidates at the Intertribal and Community Center at Central Wyoming College.

Barbour also has scheduled stops in New Mexico and South Dakota on Tuesday. Like in the Wyoming gubernatorial race, Republicans are favored to win the governor's chair in both of those states.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D), running for U.S. Senate this year, has drawn national media attention with a new campaign ad in which he literally takes aim at the federal cap-and-trade bill.

But Manchin's behind the times: Wyoming House District 36 Republican nominee Gerald Gay already took the bill out himself months ago.

Odds are Manchin didn't steal the idea from Gay (unless his buddy Dave Freudenthal tipped him off). But could this be the start of a new trend at gun ranges in coal-producing states?

Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Mead will begin airing his first television ad of the general election on Saturday during the Wyoming Cowboys football game versus Utah.

After its initial airing during the game on the Mtn. Network, the ad, entitled "It's Time," will air on cable and broadcast networks through Election Day, according to Mead's campaign.

Mead's campaign has bought air time in the Casper, Billings, Rapid City, and Idaho Falls markets.

While it's Mead's first TV spot in the general election, Wyoming viewers have likely seen his commercials earlier this year during the Reublican primary. Mead's campaign reported spending more than $308,000 on TV ads during the primary, according to state campaign finance records.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Leslie Petersen, meanwhile, said her campaign will start airing TV ads on Oct. 20. Petersen said her ads will air on run on Casper and Cheyenne broadcast stations as well as cable.

Apparently there's someone named "Leslie Peterson" running for governor of Wyoming.

Throughout the current gubernatorial campaign, Democratic nominee Leslie Petersen's name has regularly been misspelled.

Not just by regular Joe Schmos, either: the error's been repeated by people who should know better, including numerous media organizations and at least one national polling firm.

Even the top headline of Petersen's own website reads "People for Peterson for Governor."

Petersen said the misspelling is a common error, but she said it's getting better.

"I try to fix it when I can, but it would be nice if we got it right," she said.

Matt Mead, Petersen's Republican opponent, has had a much easier time of it -- though earlier this year the Albany County Republicans advertised a meet-and-greet for "Matt Meed."

Wyoming PBS, which is televising the Oct. 25 debate in Riverton, told the CSFP that under a policy in place since 2006, they've only invited candidates who have been certified for the November ballot.

This year, those candidates are Republican Matt Mead, Democrat Leslie Petersen, and Libertarian Mike Wheeler.

Last month, Haynes, a University of Wyoming trustee, rancher, and retired surgeon, fell about 500 petition signatures short of the 4,400 needed to make the ballot as an independent candidate.

Undaunted, he's now campaigning around the state and has about 100 volunteers around the state organizing on his behalf.

Running on a conservative platform of strictly following the U.S. Constitution and Judeo-Christian values, Haynes has been endorsed by the nascent Wyoming Constitution Party and is drawing support from many tea party activists.

Other co-sponsors of the PBS debate include Wyoming Public Radio, The Casper Star Tribune, the Wyoming Business Report, and the Cowboy State Free Press.