U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and Gov. Mike Sullivan handily won their primary races Tuesday, while GOP gubernatorial candidate Mary Mead took an early lead in an unusual two-woman race for her party's nomination. With 154 of the state's 471 precincts reporting, Mead had 69 percent of the vote to state Rep. Nyla Murphy's 31 percent. Simpson, the Senate minority whip, was easily winning his third Republican nomination with 83 percent of the early vote. It wasn't clear which of six little-known Democrats would win the right to challenge Simpson. Kathy Helling, a 32-year-old college student, and Al Hamburg, who was convicted last year of forging names on a campaign petition, were the top vote-getters in early returns. As it was four years ago, Sullivan walked away with the nomination Tuesday. He got 88 percent of the early vote in his primary contest with motorcycle mechanic Ron ``Suds'' Clingman. The governor said he would have preferred to face stiffer competition. ``I have to say that when you watch people debating the issues on the other side, you wish you had some primary opposition so you could talk about the issues,'' said Sullivan. The hunt for the GOP gubernatorial nomination pitted Mead, 55, the daughter of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Cliff Hansen, against Murphy, a 59-year-old Casper woman who has served the past 12 years in the state House of Representatives. Mead's campaign stressed her skills as a rancher and businesswoman and attacked Sullivan's economic development efforts. Murphy, in turn, accused Mead of having a negative attitude toward Wyoming and of failing to propose solutions to the shortfalls she perceived. Sullivan largely ignored the primary campaign and stuck close to his gubernatorial duties. U.S. Rep. Craig Thomas was uncontested in the primary. Elected last year to fill Dick Cheney's unexpired term in office, Thomas is seeking his first full-term in the House this fall. Also unopposed was his Democratic challenger, Pete Maxfield, a University of Wyoming law professor.
