Wyoming Democratic Party

The Wyoming Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, headquartered in Cheyenne. The party was strong during Wyoming's territorial days, but suffered a decline in its early statehood. It rose to prominence again from the 1930s to the 1950s before experiencing another decline.

The party is led by Chris Rothfuss in the state senate and Mike Yin in the state house. The party currently has very weak electoral power in the state, and is one of the weakest affiliates of the national Democratic Party. It currently controls none of Wyoming's statewide and/or federal elected offices and very few seats in the Wyoming Legislature.

History

On September 2, 1869, Wyoming held its first territorial elections and the Democratic party won in a landslide winning all nine seats in the Council and all twelve seats in the House of Representatives.^[2] In 1889, the party selected fifteen delegates to the Wyoming constitutional convention to draft its constitution to be submitted for statehood that included Henry S. Elliott, George W. Baxter, Anthony C. Campbell, Henry A. Coffeen, William C. Irvine, James A. Johnston, Edward J. Morris, John M. McCandlish, Caleb P. Organ, Louis J. Palmer, John L. Russell, Charles H. Burritt, Douglas A. Preston, Thomas R. Reid, and Noyes Baldwin.^[3]

In the 1920 elections the party was defeated in a landslide by the Republicans with Warren G. Harding flipping the state in the presidential election after gaining 22.29% from Charles Evans Hughes' performance in 1916, losing seven of their ten senate seats, and losing ten of their eleven house seats with Thurman Arnold of Albany county as the only Democratic member of the state house.^[4] However, the party improved in the 1922 elections and gained twenty-two seats in the state house.

In the 1934 elections the party won every statewide office for the only time in its history and took control of the state senate for the first time since statehood.^[5] However, in the 1938 elections the party lost all three of the five statewide offices and lost control of both legislative chambers and since then has never held a majority in the state senate and only held a majority in the state house for four years.

In 1958, the Democrats regained control of the state house for the first time in twenty years.^[6] The Democrats lost the state house in the 1960 election.^[7]

On May 11, 1974, delegates to the party's state convention voted to add the impeachment of President Richard Nixon to the state party's platform.^[8] In the 1984 state legislative elections the party lost seven seats in the House of Representatives due to Governor Edgar Herschler's unpopular decision to veto a homeowners tax credit program stating that it would subsidize homeowners who did not need it.^[9]

Chuck Graves, who was then the party's chairman, criticized the Democratic National Committee for including Wyoming as a state that was too Republican and would be written off during the 1992 presidential election along with Nevada, Idaho, and Utah.^[10]

During the 2002 elections the national party gave the party $25,000.^[11] During the 2006 elections the national party conducted a fifty-state strategy under Chairman Howard Dean's leadership and invested large amounts of money in swing and red states. In 2005 the national committee started sending $10,000 per month for staff support and in 2006 it paid for field and communications directors and invested $100,000 into the party.^[12] In the 2006 House election Gary Trauner was narrowly defeated by Representative Barbara Cubin and was the closest the party had come to winning Wyoming's federal House seat since Teno Roncalio won reelection in 1976.

During the 2020 election, the party reimagined its presidential preference caucus into the state's first ranked choice voting election. Initially planned as a hybrid in-person and mail-in caucus, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the party eventually shifted to mail-in only format.^[13] Ultimately, the 2020 Wyoming Democratic caucus voter turnout was more than double than in 2016.^[14]

Officials

Congressional

State officials

Leaders

Electoral performance

Presidential

Electoral performance

President Election year Vote percentage +/– Votes Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate Result 1892 46.14 / 100 7,722 James B. Weaver[a] James G. Field[b] Lost 1896 51.49 / 100 5.35 10,861 William Jennings Bryan Arthur Sewall Thomas E. Watson Won 1900 41.17 / 100 10.32 10,164 William Jennings Bryan Adlai Stevenson I Lost 1904 29.08 / 100 12.09 8,930 Alton B. Parker Henry Gassaway Davis Lost 1908 39.67 / 100 10.59 14,918 William Jennings Bryan John W. Kern Lost 1912 36.20 / 100 3.47 15,310 Woodrow Wilson Thomas R. Marshall Won 1916 54.62 / 100 18.42 28,316 Woodrow Wilson Thomas R. Marshall Won 1920 31.86 / 100 22.76 17,429 James M. Cox Franklin D. Roosevelt Lost 1924 16.11 / 100 15.75 12,868 John W. Davis Charles W. Bryan Lost 1928 35.37 / 100 19.26 29,299 Al Smith Joseph Taylor Robinson Lost 1932 56.07 / 100 20.70 54,370 Franklin D. Roosevelt John Nance Garner Won 1936 60.58 / 100 4.51 62,624 Franklin D. Roosevelt John Nance Garner Won 1940 52.82 / 100 7.76 59,287 Franklin D. Roosevelt Henry A. Wallace Won 1944 48.77 / 100 4.05 49,419 Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Lost 1948 51.62 / 100 2.85 52,354 Harry S. Truman Alben W. Barkley Won 1952 37.09 / 100 14.53 47,934 Adlai Stevenson II John Sparkman Lost 1956 39.92 / 100 2.83 49,554 Adlai Stevenson II Estes Kefauver Lost 1960 44.99 / 100 5.07 63,331 John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Lost 1964 56.56 / 100 11.57 80,718 Lyndon B. Johnson Hubert Humphrey Won 1968 35.51 / 100 21.05 45,173 Hubert Humphrey Edmund Muskie Lost 1972 30.47 / 100 5.04 44,358 George McGovern Sargent Shriver Lost 1976 39.81 / 100 9.34 62,239 Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Lost 1980 27.97 / 100 11.84 49,427 Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Lost 1984 28.24 / 100 0.27 53,370 Walter Mondale Geraldine Ferraro Lost 1988 38.01 / 100 9.77 67,113 Michael Dukakis Lloyd Bentsen Lost 1992 34.10 / 100 3.91 68,160 Bill Clinton Al Gore Lost 1996 36.84 / 100 2.74 77,934 Bill Clinton Al Gore Lost 2000 27.70 / 100 9.14 60,481 Al Gore Joe Lieberman Lost 2004 29.07 / 100 1.37 70,776 John Kerry John Edwards Lost 2008 32.54 / 100 3.47 82,868 Barack Obama Joe Biden Lost 2012 27.82 / 100 4.72 69,286 Barack Obama Joe Biden Lost 2016 21.63 / 100 6.19 55,973 Hillary Clinton Tim Kaine Lost 2020 26.55 / 100 4.92 73,491 Joe Biden Kamala Harris Lost

Congressional

Electoral performance

United States House of Representatives Election year Vote percentage +/– Votes No. of overall seats won +/– 1890 41.78 / 100 6,520 0 / 1 1892 51.34 / 100 9.56% 8,855 1 / 1 1 1894 32.17 / 100 19.17% 6,152 0 / 1 1 1896 49.14 / 100 16.97% 10,310 1 / 1 1 1898 43.04 / 100 6.10% 8,466 0 / 1 1 1900 40.79 / 100 2.25% 10,017 0 / 1 1902 36.00 / 100 4.79% 8,892 0 / 1 1904 32.21 / 100 3.79% 9,903 0 / 1 1906 33.07 / 100 0.86% 8,944 0 / 1 1908 36.32 / 100 3.25% 13,643 0 / 1 1910 39.48 / 100 3.16% 14,659 0 / 1 1912 35.72 / 100 3.76% 14,720 0 / 1 1914 41.45 / 100 5.73% 17,246 0 / 1 1916 47.96 / 100 6.51% 24,156 0 / 1 1918 35.81 / 100 12.15% 14,639 0 / 1 1920 26.50 / 100 9.31% 14,952 0 / 1 1922 45.98 / 100 19.48% 27,017 0 / 1 1924 38.91 / 100 7.07% 28,537 0 / 1 1926 38.72 / 100 0.19% 25,082 0 / 1 1928 47.81 / 100 9.09% 35,972 0 / 1 1930 34.38 / 100 13.43% 23,519 0 / 1 1932 47.74 / 100 13.36% 43,056 0 / 1 1934 58.31 / 100 10.57% 53,288 1 / 1 1 1936 57.17 / 100 1.14% 56,204 1 / 1 1938 47.12 / 100 10.05% 44,525 0 / 1 1 1940 53.35 / 100 6.23% 57,030 1 / 1 1 1942 49.28 / 100 4.07% 36,892 0 / 1 1 1944 44.30 / 100 4.98% 42,569 0 / 1 1946 43.99 / 100 0.31% 34,956 0 / 1 1948 48.48 / 100 4.49% 47,246 0 / 1 1950 45.51 / 100 2.97% 42,483 0 / 1 1952 39.90 / 100 5.61% 50,559 0 / 1 1954 43.82 / 100 3.92% 47,660 0 / 1 1956 41.81 / 100 2.01% 50,225 0 / 1 1958 46.42 / 100 4.61% 51,886 0 / 1 1960 47.71 / 100 1.29% 64,090 0 / 1 1962 38.62 / 100 9.09% 44,985 0 / 1 1964 50.79 / 100 12.17% 70,693 1 / 1 1 1966 47.70 / 100 3.09% 57,442 0 / 1 1 1968 37.26 / 100 10.44% 45,950 0 / 1 1970 50.26 / 100 13.00% 58,456 1 / 1 1 1972 51.70 / 100 1.44% 75,632 1 / 1 1974 54.70 / 100 3.00% 69,434 1 / 1 1976 56.44 / 100 1.74% 85,721 1 / 1 1978 41.37 / 100 15.07% 53,522 0 / 1 1 1980 31.43 / 100 9.94% 53,338 0 / 1 1982 28.91 / 100 2.52% 46,041 0 / 1 1984 24.40 / 100 4.51% 45,857 0 / 1 1986 30.72 / 100 6.32% 48,780 0 / 1 1988 31.82 / 100 1.10% 56,527 0 / 1 1989 42.98 / 100 11.16% 60,845 0 / 1 1990 44.91 / 100 1.93% 70,977 0 / 1 1992 39.30 / 100 5.61% 77,418 0 / 1 1994 41.30 / 100 2.00% 81,022 0 / 1 1996 40.82 / 100 0.48% 85,724 0 / 1 1998 38.69 / 100 2.13% 67,399 0 / 1 2000 28.56 / 100 10.13% 60,638 0 / 1 2002 36.21 / 100 7.65% 65,961 0 / 1 2004 41.83 / 100 5.62% 99,989 0 / 1 2006 47.74 / 100 5.91% 92,324 0 / 1 2008 42.81 / 100 4.93% 106,758 0 / 1 2010 24.48 / 100 18.33% 45,768 0 / 1 2012 23.83 / 100 0.65% 57,573 0 / 1 2014 22.90 / 100 0.93% 37,803 0 / 1 2016 29.97 / 100 7.07% 75,466 0 / 1 2018 29.77 / 100 0.20% 59,903 0 / 1 2020 24.58 / 100 5.19% 66,576 0 / 1 2022 24.37 / 100 0.22% 47,250 0 / 1

United States Senate Election year Vote percentage +/– Votes No. of overall seats won +/– 1916 51.47 / 100 26,324 1 / 2 1 1918 42.23 / 100 17,528 1 / 2 1922 56.74 / 100 5.27 35,734 1 / 2 1924 43.07 / 100 0.84 33,536 1 / 2 1928 53.50 / 100 3.24 43,032 1 / 2 1930 40.95 / 100 2.12 30,259 1 / 2 1934 56.62 / 100 3.12 53,806 1 / 2 1936 53.83 / 100 12.66 53,919 2 / 2 1 1940 58.74 / 100 2.12 65,022 2 / 2 1942 45.41 / 100 8.42 34,503 1 / 2 1 1946 56.21 / 100 2.53 45,843 1 / 2 1948 57.11 / 100 11.70 57,953 2 / 2 1 1952 48.36 / 100 7.85 62,921 1 / 2 1 1954 51.53 / 100 5.58 57,845 1 / 2 1958 50.84 / 100 2.48 58,035 2 / 2 1 1960 43.63 / 100 7.90 60,447 1 / 2 1 1964 53.99 / 100 3.15 76,485 1 / 2 1966 48.20 / 100 4.57 59,141 1 / 2 1970 55.78 / 100 1.79 67,207 1 / 2 1972 28.69 / 100 19.51 40,753 1 / 2 1976 45.41 / 100 10.37 70,558 0 / 2 1 1978 37.83 / 100 9.14 50,456 0 / 2 1982 43.34 / 100 2.07 72,466 0 / 2 1984 21.68 / 100 16.15 40,525 0 / 2 1988 49.63 / 100 6.29 89,821 0 / 2 1990 36.06 / 100 14.38 56,848 0 / 2 1994 39.31 / 100 10.32 79,287 0 / 2 1996 42.21 / 100 6.15 89,103 0 / 2 2000 22.04 / 100 17.27 47,087 0 / 2 2002 27.05 / 100 15.16 49,570 0 / 2 2006 29.86 / 100 7.82 57,671 0 / 2 2008 24.26 / 100 2.79 66,202 0 / 2 2012 21.65 / 100 8.21 53,019 0 / 2 2014 17.45 / 100 6.81 29,377 0 / 2 2018 30.10 / 100 8.45 61,227 0 / 2 2020 26.76 / 100 9.31 72,766 0 / 2

Gubernatorial

Electoral performance

Governor Election year Vote percentage +/– Votes Candidate Result 1890 44.62 / 100 7,153 George W. Baxter Lost 1892 53.84 / 100 9.22 9,290 John Eugene Osborne Won 1894 36.11 / 100 17.73 6,965 William H. Holliday Lost 1898 45.39 / 100 9.28 8,989 Horace C. Alger Lost 1902 39.99 / 100 5.40 10,017 George T. Beck Lost 1904 39.27 / 100 0.72 12,137 John Eugene Osborne Lost 1906 34.85 / 100 4.42 9,444 Stephen A. D. Keister Lost 1910 55.60 / 100 20.75 21,086 Joseph M. Carey Won 1914 51.61 / 100 3.99 22,387 John B. Kendrick Won 1918 43.90 / 100 7.71 18,640 Frank L. Houx Lost 1922 50.03 / 100 6.13 31,110 William B. Ross Won 1924 55.12 / 100 5.09 43,323 Nellie Tayloe Ross Won 1926 48.95 / 100 6.17 34,286 Nellie Tayloe Ross Lost 1930 49.42 / 100 0.47 37,188 Leslie A. Miller Lost 1932 50.58 / 100 1.16 48,130 Leslie A. Miller Won 1934 57.91 / 100 7.33 54,305 Leslie A. Miller Won 1938 40.19 / 100 17.72 38,501 Leslie A. Miller Lost 1942 51.32 / 100 11.13 39,599 Lester C. Hunt Won 1946 52.88 / 100 1.56 43,020 Lester C. Hunt Won 1950 43.85 / 100 9.03 42,518 John J. McIntyre Lost 1954 49.50 / 100 5.65 55,163 William M. Jack Lost 1958 48.94 / 100 0.56 55,070 John J. Hickey Won 1962 45.53 / 100 3.41 54,298 Jack R. Gage Lost 1966 45.71 / 100 0.18 55,249 Ernest Wilkerson Lost 1970 37.21 / 100 8.50 44,008 John J. Rooney Lost 1974 55.88 / 100 18.67 71,741 Edgar Herschler Won 1978 50.86 / 100 5.02 69,972 Edgar Herschler Won 1982 63.14 / 100 12.28 106,427 Edgar Herschler Won 1986 53.96 / 100 9.18 88,879 Mike Sullivan Won 1990 65.35 / 100 11.39 104,638 Mike Sullivan Won 1994 40.18 / 100 25.17 80,747 Kathy Karpan Lost 1998 40.46 / 100 0.28 70,754 John Vinich Lost 2002 49.96 / 100 9.51 92,662 Dave Freudenthal Won 2006 69.99 / 100 20.03 135,516 Dave Freudenthal Won 2010 22.94 / 100 47.05 43,240 Leslie Petersen Lost 2014 27.25 / 100 4.31 45,752 Pete Gosar Lost 2018 27.54 / 100 0.29 55,965 Mary Throne Lost 2022 15.82 / 100 11.72 30,686 Theresa Livingston Lost

State legislature

Electoral performance

House Election year No. of overall seats won +/– Governor 1869[c] 12 / 12 John Allen Campbell 1870 9 / 13 3 1872 6 / 13 3 1874 18 / 27 12 1876 20 / 27 2 John Milton Thayer 1878 9 / 27 11 John Wesley Hoyt 1880 6 / 24 3 1882 13 / 22 7 William Hale 1884 9 / 24 4 1886 14 / 24 5 George W. Baxter 1888 6 / 23 8 Thomas Moonlight 1890 7 / 33 1 Francis E. Warren 1892 16 / 33 9 Amos W. Barber 1894 2 / 37 14 John Eugene Osborne 1896 11 / 38 9 William A. Richards 1898 3 / 38 8 1900 2 / 38 1 DeForest Richards 1902 4 / 50 2 1904 3 / 50 1 Fenimore Chatterton 1906 5 / 50 2 Bryant Butler Brooks 1908 7 / 56 2 1910 25 / 56 18 1912 28 / 57 3 Joseph M. Carey 1914 15 / 57 13 1916 25 / 57 10 John B. Kendrick 1918 11 / 54 14 Frank L. Houx 1920 1 / 54 10 Robert D. Carey 1922 23 / 60 22 1924 23 / 62 Frank Lucas 1926 17 / 62 5 Nellie Tayloe Ross 1928 11 / 62 6 Frank Emerson 1930 26 / 62 15 1932 42 / 62 16 Alonzo M. Clark 1934 38 / 56 4 Leslie A. Miller 1936 38 / 56 1938 19 / 56 19 1940 28 / 56 9 Nels H. Smith 1942 17 / 56 11 1944 20 / 55 3 Lester C. Hunt 1946 12 / 56 7 1948 28 / 56 16 1950 17 / 56 11 Arthur G. Crane 1952 11 / 56 6 Frank A. Barrett 1954 24 / 56 13 Clifford Joy Rogers 1956 26 / 56 2 Milward Simpson 1958 30 / 56 4 1960 21 / 56 9 John J. Hickey 1962 19 / 56 2 Jack R. Gage 1964 34 / 61 15 Clifford Hansen 1966 27 / 61 7 1968 16 / 61 11 Stanley K. Hathaway 1970 20 / 61 4 1972 17 / 62 3 1974 29 / 62 12 1976 29 / 62 Edgar Herschler 1978 20 / 62 9 1980 23 / 62 3 1982 25 / 62 2 1984 18 / 64 7 1986 20 / 64 2 1988 21 / 64 1 Mike Sullivan 1990 22 / 64 1 1992 19 / 60 3 1994 13 / 60 6 1996 17 / 60 4 Jim Geringer 1998 17 / 60 2000 14 / 60 3 2002 15 / 60 1 2004 14 / 60 1 Dave Freudenthal 2006 17 / 60 3 2008 19 / 60 2 2010 10 / 60 9 2012 8 / 60 2 Matt Mead 2014 9 / 60 1 2016 9 / 60 2018 9 / 60 2020 7 / 60 2 Mark Gordon 2022 5 / 60 2

Senate[15] Election year No. of overall seats won +/– Governor 1869[d] 9 / 9 John Allen Campbell 1870 5 / 9 4 1872 4 / 9 1 1874 11 / 13 7 1876 9 / 13 2 John Milton Thayer 1878 8 / 13 1 John Wesley Hoyt 1880 7 / 12 1 1882 8 / 12 1 William Hale 1884 8 / 12 1886 3 / 12 5 George W. Baxter 1888 7 / 12 4 Thomas Moonlight 1890 3 / 16 4 Francis E. Warren 1892 5 / 16 2 Amos W. Barber 1894 4 / 18 1 John Eugene Osborne 1896 4 / 19 William A. Richards 1898 6 / 19 2 1900 2 / 19 4 DeForest Richards 1902 2 / 23 1904 3 / 23 1 Fenimore Chatterton 1906 2 / 23 1 Bryant Butler Brooks 1908 3 / 27 1 1910 6 / 27 3 1912 8 / 27 2 Joseph M. Carey 1914 9 / 27 1 1916 11 / 27 2 John B. Kendrick 1918 10 / 27 1 Frank L. Houx 1920 3 / 25 7 Robert D. Carey 1922 5 / 25 2 1924 11 / 27 6 Frank Lucas 1926 12 / 27 1 Nellie Tayloe Ross 1928 10 / 27 2 Frank Emerson 1930 6 / 27 4 1932 12 / 27 6 Alonzo M. Clark 1934 14 / 27 2 Leslie A. Miller 1936 16 / 27 2 1938 11 / 27 5 1940 11 / 27 Nels H. Smith 1942 10 / 27 1 1944 6 / 27 4 Lester C. Hunt 1946 8 / 27 2 1948 9 / 27 1 1950 10 / 27 1 Arthur G. Crane 1952 6 / 27 4 Frank A. Barrett 1954 8 / 27 2 Clifford Joy Rogers 1956 11 / 27 3 Milward Simpson 1958 11 / 27 1960 10 / 27 1 John J. Hickey 1962 11 / 27 1 Jack R. Gage 1964 12 / 27 1 Clifford Hansen 1966 12 / 30 1968 12 / 30 Stanley K. Hathaway 1970 11 / 30 1 1972 13 / 30 2 1974 15 / 30 2 1976 12 / 30 3 Edgar Herschler 1978 11 / 30 1 1980 11 / 30 1982 11 / 30 1984 11 / 30 1986 11 / 30 1988 11 / 30 Mike Sullivan 1990 10 / 30 1 1992 10 / 30 1994 10 / 30 1996 9 / 30 1 Jim Geringer 1998 9 / 30 2000 10 / 30 1 2002 10 / 30 2004 7 / 30 3 Dave Freudenthal 2006 7 / 30 2008 7 / 30 2010 4 / 30 3 2012 4 / 30 Matt Mead 2014 4 / 30 2016 3 / 30 1 2018 3 / 30 2020 2 / 30 1 Mark Gordon 2020 2 / 30

See also

• Political party strength in Wyoming
• Wyoming Republican Party

Notes

References

Works cited

• Trachsel, Herman (1959). "The 1958 Election in Wyoming". The Western Political Quarterly. 12 (1). University of Utah: 363–66. doi:10.2307/444064. JSTOR 444064.
• Trachsel, Herman (1961). "The 1960 Election in Wyoming". The Western Political Quarterly. 14 (1). University of Utah: 383–85. doi:10.2307/443862. JSTOR 443862.

External links

• Wyoming Democratic Party