Ken Chestek - Wikiwand

American politician

Born

Alma materPenn State University (BA)
University of Pittsburgh (JD)

Ken Chestek

Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from the 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2023
Preceded by	Cathy Connolly

Personal details
Born	Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Alma mater	Penn State University (BA) University of Pittsburgh (JD)
Profession	Professor

Ken Chestek is an American educator, politician and a Democratic member of the Wyoming House of Representatives representing the 13th district since January 10, 2023.^[1] He is also a professor of law emeritus at the University of Wyoming College of Law.^[2]

Chestek first ran for the Wyoming House of Representatives in 2016 when incumbent Republican representative Glenn Moniz of the 46th district retired to run for the state senate. He won the Democratic primary unopposed, but was defeated in the general election by Bill Haley, receiving 42% of the vote.^[3]

When incumbent Democrat and House Minority Leader Cathy Connolly declined to run for reelection, Chestek announced his candidacy and won the Democratic primary on August 16, 2022, unopposed.^[4] He then won the general election on November 8, 2022, defeating Republican nominee Wayne Pinch with 60% of the vote.^[5]

In 2024, Chestek ran for re-election again Republican Shane Swett.^[6] He won with 53% of the votes cast in that election.^[7]

In January 2026, Wyoming lawmakers voted to cut $40 million from the University of Wyoming.^[8] The following month, Chestek proposed an amendment that would restore this funding, arguing that these cuts would weaken the school and discourage potential students from attending.^[9] In a 34 to 26 vote, Chestek's proposal failed in the House. However, lawmakers later voted in favor of restoring $6 million for the university's athletics department in a separate proposal.

References

↑ "House District 13: Representative Ken Chestek". Legislature of the State of Wyoming. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
↑ "Ken Chestek". University of Wyoming. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
↑ "Ken Chestek". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
↑ "Statewide House Official Summary Wyoming Primary Election – August 16, 2022" (PDF). Wyoming Secretary of State. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
↑ "Statewide House Official Summary Wyoming General Election – November 8, 2022" (PDF). Wyoming Secretary of State. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
↑ Heinz, Mark (November 6, 2024). "House District 13: Chestek Holds Off Republican Swett". Cowboy State Daily. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
↑ "Statewide House Official Summary Wyoming General Election – November 5, 2022" (PDF). Wyoming Secretary of State. November 5, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
↑ Mullen, Maggie (January 14, 2026). "Lawmakers vote to axe UW's block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media". WyoFile. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
↑ Hill, Alex (February 20, 2026). "Lawmakers vote to restore $6 million for University of Wyoming athletics department". Your Wyoming Link. Retrieved February 27, 2026.

External links

Profile from Ballotpedia

v t e Members of the Wyoming House of Representatives
68th Legislature (2025) Speaker of the House Chip Neiman (R) Speaker pro tempore Jeremy Haroldson (R) Majority Leader Scott Heiner (R) Minority Leader Mike Yin (D)
▌Chip Neiman (R) ▌J.D. Williams (R) ▌Abby Angelos (R) ▌Jeremy Haroldson (R) ▌Scott Smith (R) ▌Tomi Strock (R) ▌Bob Nicholas (R) ▌Steve Johnson (R) ▌Landon Brown (R) ▌Justin Fornstrom (R) ▌Jacob Wasserburger (R) ▌Clarence Styvar (R) ▌Ken Chestek (D) ▌Trey Sherwood (D) ▌Pam Thayer (R) ▌Mike Yin (D) ▌J.T. Larson (R) ▌Scott Heiner (R) ▌Joe Webb (R) ▌Mike Schmid (R) ▌McKay Erickson (R) ▌Andrew Byron (R) ▌Liz Storer (D) ▌Nina Webber (R) ▌Paul Hoeft (R) ▌Dalton Banks (R) ▌Martha Lawley (R) ▌John Winter (R) ▌Ken Pendergraft (R) ▌Tom Kelly (R) ▌John Bear (R) ▌Ken Clouston (R) ▌Ivan Posey (D) ▌Pepper Ottman (R) ▌Tony Locke (R) ▌Art Washut (R) ▌Steve Harshman (R) ▌Jayme Lien (R) ▌Cody Wylie (R) ▌Marilyn Connolly (R) ▌Gary Brown (R) ▌Rob Geringer (R) ▌Ann Lucas (R) ▌Lee Filer (R) ▌Karlee Provenza (D) ▌Ocean Andrew (R) ▌Bob Davis (R) ▌Darin McCann (R) ▌Robert Wharff (R) ▌Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R) ▌Laurie Bratten (R) ▌Reuben Tarver (R) ▌Chris Knapp (R) ▌Lloyd Larsen (R) ▌Joel Guggenmos (R) ▌Elissa Campbell (R) ▌Julie Jarvis (R) ▌Bill Allemand (R) ▌J.R. Riggins (R) ▌Marlene Brady (R) ▌Daniel Singh (R) ▌Kevin Campbell (R)
Majority caucus ▌Republican (56) Minority caucus ▌Democratic (6) Wyoming Legislature Wyoming House of Representatives Wyoming Senate

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