Incumbent Barbara Cubin held a large early lead in Wyoming's Republican U.S. House race, receiving 52 percent, or 19,865 statewide votes, according to unofficial results at around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The Associated Press already had declared Cubin the winner. She could not be reached for comment at press time.

Cheyenne attorney Bruce Asay and state Sen. Cale Case -- Cubin's toughest challengers -- ran far behind Cubin and were unable even to deny her a majority of Republican votes.

Case or Asay initially had speculated that one of them might drop out of the race, in hopes that the remaining candidate might give the incumbent a tougher fight instead of splitting the vote.

That never came to pass, and Case suggested on Tuesday that it never was a practical strategy, because he and Asay were so different from each other.

"I'm a social moderate and I really worry about the Republican Party trying to run everybody lives," he said from Lander. "Bruce and Barbara ... are really of the same cloth. So there's no way I could have" dropped out.

Asay received 10,265 votes statewide in the early count, and Case gained 6,215, or 16 percent, with 49 percent of the state's precincts reporting.

Cubin faced a slightly closer challenge in her home Natrona County, gaining 46 percent of the vote, according to final unofficial results. Asay acquired just over 26 percent of the county's votes and Case followed him with 2,292, or 22 percent of the vote.

Other GOP candidates were Marvin "Trip" Applequist and Jim Altebaumer.

Applequist received 1,222, or 3 percent of the statewide vote, and Altebaumer 721 votes statewide, in early returns.

The race for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat was a hot one this year, with eight candidates, four of them Republican, taking on the five-term incumbent.

Cubin hadn't faced so much opposition within her own party since her first run in 1994, when she beat out three Republicans.

This year, she had to defeat four to make it to the Nov. 2 general election, where she'll face the winning Democrat.

Throughout their campaigns and at a televised debate early this month, Cubin's Republican challengers mostly criticized her voting record.

They collectively alleged that Cubin is taking her position for granted and that she was "out of touch" with Wyoming values.

Cubin offered no apologies for those missed congressional votes, saying all were due to her husband Fritz's illness.

"Some of the votes I missed were naming post offices, were issues that passed 420 to one -- every vote that I missed was one that passed by a hundred votes or more, generally," Cubin said at a Governmental Affairs Committee meeting in Casper in April.

Wyoming was never unrepresented, she assured.

Asay begged to differ. He pointed out throughout his campaign that she didn't vote on the No Child Left Behind Act and that affects Wyoming. He also said that the illness of Cubin's husband is no excuse for her missing votes.

"I'm going to be accused of being insensitive but ... if there's no vote cast, there's no representation on our behalf," said Asay, who also said the congresswoman had broke too many appointments with constituents.

Countering her opponents' allegations that she wasn't working hard for Wyoming, Cubin reminded voters what she's done for them in Congress. She was instrumental in pushing through the House a sales tax deduction bill, she said. Cubin also touted her proposal to cut the federal royalty rate for trona, which also made it through the House. Neither have been approved by the U.S. Senate.

A seasoned state legislator, Case -- known for his fiscal conservatism -- specifically attacked Cubin for being "fiscally irresponsible."

He blamed Cubin, who was elected as part of the class that ushered in Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, for failing to stand by her pledge back then to be fiscally responsible and reform the way Congress works.

"That is the real driver behind why I should be in Washington," he said in an interview early in his campaign.

Applequist, a rancher and veterinarian from Farson, was the youngest candidate to enter the race. He did so, he said, because Wyoming needed a new voice.

"I think I can be a strong, loud and persistent voice for the people," Applequist said in an early interview. "I think that I would be really good in the position and I'm excited about the opportunity to serve."

With a rural background, Applequist is understanding of the problems facing small towns and agriculture in Wyoming.

Applequist, who along with Case is pro-choice on the abortion issue, said he was particularly concerned about the rising federal debt.

Altebaumer, best known as the "blue-collar candidate," was the most reluctant to criticize Cubin.

The most he would say was that Cubin seemed to have fallen into a comfort zone with her work and her politics.

Affordable health care and health insurance were among the issues Altebaumer wanted to work on in Congress, and he said the federal government's enormous budget deficit baffled him.

Reporter Tara Westreicher can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or

tara.westreicher@casperstartribune.net.