Harris launched a vigorous campaign against Maxfield, attacking the incumbent for a data breach in the Auditor's office[4] and for delivering a no-bid contract to a Virginia-based security company.

In the Republican primary, Trent Blankenship, the Superintendent of the Carbon County School District 1, and Jim Twiford, the former President of the State Senate emerged as early frontrunners.

The WEA criticized Twiford's legislative record, specifically pointing to millions of dollars in cuts to the education budget under his leadership.

In the Democratic primary, Kathy Emmons, the Director of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance, emerged as the early frontrunner, earning the endorsement of the WEA.

[7] The candidates largely agreed on the issues, with all of the Democrats opposing charter schools,[9] and with Emmons and Shoults favoring increased audits of mining companies.

Emmons disputed Blankenship's characterization, pointing out that she had worked for the Wyoming Department of Health and had run pre-school programs for developmentally disabled students throughout the state.

[11] The ideological contrasts between the candidates were not significant, however, with both Blankenship and Emmons agreeing on the need to raise teacher pay[12] and to maintain the usage of individualized education plans,[13] though they disagreed on the philosophy of leasing school trust lands.