Two Women to Face Off for Cheyenne’s Mayoral Seat

Cheyenne voters made history on Tuesday in the race for mayor, sending two women to the general election in November.

Longtime lobbyist Marian Orr won the largest share of the vote with 27.66 percent, while Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority Executive Director and Children's Museum of Cheyenne President Amy Surdam earned 21.34 percent.

"I really want to applaud all of the mayoral candidates who had the courage to run for office," said Orr. "It's really easy to be a keyboard warrior, it takes guts to get into the arena."

Cheyenne, which will celebrate it's 150th birthday next year, has never had a female mayor and Surdam says Tuesday's results prove residents are "ready for a woman."

"To know that our next mayor is going to be a female is very exciting," said Surdam. "I didn't expect that outcome from our community and I'm really impressed that that's what we got."

Orr and Surdam will face off on November 8. Cheyenne City Councilman Richard Johnson, who ran a write-in campaign, plans to remain in the race as well.

"I want to congratulate Amy Surdam for her successful run and Richard Johnson who's mounting a serious write-in candidacy," said Orr. "I respect them both and I look forward to a very vigorous general election campaign."