Cheney among those at the polls in Wyoming primary

Primaries held in Oklahoma, Alabama and Alaska

JACKSON, Wyoming (CNN) -- Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney was among the few who headed to the polls Tuesday as Wyoming, Oklahoma, Alabama and Alaska held primary elections at the congressional, state and local levels.

Election clerks across Wyoming reported lower-than-expected absentee balloting Tuesday, an indication that voter turnout would also be sparse. This year's primary features contested races in both major parties for the state's at-large congressional seat, currently held by three-term GOP Rep. Barbara Cubin.

Cheney and his wife Lynne were the only two voters at a polling site in Jackson Hole when they arrived early Tuesday. Cheney, who served as the state's lone congressman for more than a decade, told reporters that he voted for Cubin.

Cubin was expected to easily defeat two underfunded and inexperienced primary challengers, Dino Wenino and Larry Jay Herdt. On the Democratic side, Attorney Leonard Munker and political newcomer Michael Green squared off, although their party has little chance of knocking off Cubin in the solidly conservative state.

In the House, Cubin has been a staunch advocate for local landowner interests, and a frequent opponent of the Clinton administration's environmental policies. The same can be said for the state's senior senator, Craig Thomas, who faced no opposition on Tuesday.

Cheney switched his voter registration from Texas to Wyoming in July, just before he was selected as Bush's running mate. The 12th Amendment of the Constitution forbids Electoral College members from voting for both the president and vice president who reside in the same state. Cheney had served as chief executive officer of Dallas-based Halliburton Energy Services before joining the GOP ticket.

As in Wyoming, primary voters in Oklahoma also found familiar names on the ballot as they headed to the polls Tuesday. Incumbent Reps. J.C. Watts, Steve Largent and Ernest Istook were among those who were heavily favored against little or no opposition in five of the state's six congressional districts.

Attention was instead focused on the 2nd District, where seven GOP candidates were battling to replace three-term Republican Rep. Tom Coburn, who is keeping a term limits pledge made in 1994.

Coburn's endorsed choice, car dealer Andy Ewing, faced tough competition from rancher and attorney Jack Ross and businessman Steve Money. Four lesser-known candidates rounded out the ballot.

Three candidates sought the Democratic nomination for the district, with state Rep. Bill Settle and law professor Brad Carson arguing over prescription drug benefits under Medicare and other health care issues. A third hopeful, James "Jim Bob" Wilson touted a plan to sell land to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Republicans currently hold all six of Oklahoma's congressional seats, but Democrats are hopeful they can at least retake Coburn's district in November. Republicans are considered solid elsewhere.

Watts, the fourth-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, was challenged in the 4th District by James Odom, a former legislative aide running his first race for political office. Watts, the only black Republican currently serving in Congress, had gone unopposed in two previous primaries since winning election in 1994.

In the 5th District, four-term incumbent Istook squared off against political newcomer Phillip Hillian, a former army officer who decided to seek office because of concerns about military downsizing. Largent, a four-term congressman and a former football star with the Seattle Seahawks, faced a token challenge from Oral Roberts University library employee Evelyn Rogers in the 4th District.

Although no congressional races were featured in Alabama's primary on Tuesday, a number of eyes were focused on a municipal election in Selma. Nine-term Mayor Joe Smitherman, a former segregationist who was in office during the civil rights violence of the 1960s, faced challenges from three black candidates.

First elected in 1964, Smitherman become infamous for cracking on the Selma voting rights march the following year. Smitherman, 70, later welcomed blacks into his administration and repeatedly won re-election.

But opponents -- including businessman James Perkins, who nearly beat him four years ago -- criticized him for his management of the city, which is 65 percent black.

Voters also went to the polls in Alaska, where the state's lone House member, GOP Rep. Don Young, had no challengers for his party's nomination. He has represented the state since 1973.