By james art 
I have issued this challenge to the Cowboy State Daily staff and also to all of our readers. Who is the smartest political observer of them all?
Just fill out this simple quiz and email it to: [email protected]. You must bring it to me before election day on November 5th.
The winner will receive a coffee table book from me.
Pick the winner of these six races. Here’s the quiz:
1. president
Donald Trump
Kamala Harris
2. US Senate. Will unofficial election night results show the GOP taking the national US Senate by 51 seats or more?
yes
no
3. Wyoming House District 33
Sarah Penn (right)
Ivan Posey (D)
4. Will Wyoming’s Property Tax Amendment Pass?
yes
no
5. US Senate in Montana
John Tester (D)
Tim Sheehy (right)
6. US House in Colorado
Lauren Bobert (right)
Tricia Calvarese (D)
7. Tiebreak
How many votes will be unofficially cast in Wyoming in the 2024 general election on election night?
Please include your name, address, phone number and email address and send your entry to [email protected]. Our reigning champion is Tom Lacock of Cheyenne.
Here in Wyoming
Let me try to predict the races from my perspective.
Nationally, I vote for Donald Trump, as do about two-thirds of voters in the Cowboy State. Many people believe he will win.
Cowboy State Executive Editor Jimmy Orr bet me an extra-large Dairy Queen Blizzard that Trump would win. He thinks it will even be a “landslide.”
I can’t wait to buy him this blizzard, but I’m afraid Kamala Harris will win because some illegal immigrants are allowed to vote.
If only a fraction of them, let’s say 100,000 are allowed, it will flip this election in key swing states. Those 100,000 would be just one percent of the estimated 10 million illegals.
The far left is much smarter than the Republicans about this stuff. I fear a repeat of 2020 when Joe Biden’s crew uses legal election diversions from the Covid era to win extra votes for the Democrats.
It’s important to note that most of my liberal friends and relatives (yes, I have a few) think I’m crazy with this theory. Oh, good.
My second question is whether the Republicans can take over the US Senate. It’s a long shot. Studies show it’s too close to call.
If Trump is elected and both houses of Congress are controlled by Republicans after Tuesday night, wow, that will be a cause for celebration.
Unlikely though.
Reserved District, Amendment Vote
Wyoming has a very unique legislative district. It’s House District 33, which covers much of the Wind River Indian Reservation and has been represented in recent years by Indians like Andi LeBeau and Pat Goggles.
Most recently, Freedom Caucus star Sarah Penn (a non-Indian) filled the seat. This year she is being challenged by Democrat Ivan Posey, a highly respected Shoshone elder.
This is too close to call, but I think Ivan can win.
The amendment to change the way property is taxed is likely to fail, although I will vote for it.
I like the idea of residential property being taxed only as such and not mixed in with many other types of property. However, this is a question for you to answer.
Regional competitions
Since this test is to see how politically savvy you are, I turned to two regional races to fill out the test.
Up in Montana, incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is in the fight of his life against Republican Tim Sheehy.
Trump is campaigning hard against Tester in this race. Republicans believe this may be their best chance to win the seat from Democrats.
Down in Colorado, the notorious Lauren Bobert is in a tight race to retain a seat in the US Congress. She is campaigning in Wyoming in 2022 for U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman at a Trump rally in Casper.
Could her high profile lead her to defeat her Democrat opponent Tricia Calvarese? We’ll see.
How to break a tie
In case we have too many clever people, I have inserted a serious case in which I ask you to tell me how many votes will be cast in Wyoming on election day? This will be the unofficial amount.
Leo Wolfson, our political reporter, reckons the total will be 287,408 – now that’s pretty accurate. I think he’s tall.
In the meantime, most of all, please vote. Wyoming citizens generally believe in voting. See you at the polls.
It will be nice to have another presidential race behind us, regardless of who wins.
Bill Sniffin can be reached at: [email protected]