Wyoming Democratic Party Explained

Wyoming Democratic Party
Colorcode:	blue
Chairperson:	Joe Barbuto
Leader1 Title:	Senate Minority Leader
Leader1 Name:	Chris Rothfuss
Leader2 Title:	House Minority Leader
Leader2 Name:	Mike Yin
Colors:	Blue
National:	Democratic Party
Membership Year:	2021
Membership:	49,336^[1]
Ideology:	Modern liberalism
Headquarters:	Cheyenne, Wyoming
Seats1 Title:	Wyoming Senate
Seats2 Title:	Wyoming House of Representatives
Seats3 Title:	U.S. Senate
Seats4 Title:	U.S. House of Representatives
Country:	the United States
Seats5 Title:	Statewide Executive Offices

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. The Democrats lost the state house in the 1960 election.

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

During the 2002 elections the national party gave the party $25,000.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] Ultimately, the 2020 Wyoming Democratic caucus voter turnout was more than double than in 2016.^[12]

Officials

Congressional

• Gale W. McGee, United States Senator (1959–1977)
• John J. Hickey, United States Senator (1961–1962)
• Joseph C. O'Mahoney, United States Senator (1934–1953; 1954–1961)
• Lester C. Hunt, United States Senator (1949–1954)
• Henry H. Schwartz, United States Senator (1937–1943)
• John B. Kendrick, United States Senator (1917–1933)
• Teno Roncalio, United States Representative from Wyoming's at-large district (1965–1967; 1971–1978)
• John J. McIntyre, United States Representative from Wyoming's at-large district (1941–1943)
• Paul Ranous Greever, United States Representative from Wyoming's at-large district (1935–1939)
• John Eugene Osborne, United States Representative from Wyoming's at-large district (1897–1899)
• Henry A. Coffeen, United States Representative from Wyoming's at-large district (1893–1895)
• Morton Everel Post, Delegate to the United States House from Wyoming Territory's at-large district (1881–1885)
• William Randolph Steele, Delegate to the United States House from Wyoming Territory's at-large district (1873–1877)
• Stephen Friel Nuckolls, Delegate to the United States House from Wyoming Territory's at-large district (1869–1871)

State officials

• Dave Freudenthal, Governor of Wyoming (2003–2011)
• Mike Sullivan, Governor of Wyoming (1987–1995)
• Edgar Herschler, Governor of Wyoming (1975–1987)
• Jack R. Gage, Governor of Wyoming (1961–1963)
• John J. Hickey, Governor of Wyoming (1959–1961)
• Lester C. Hunt, Governor of Wyoming (1943–1949)
• Leslie A. Miller, Governor of Wyoming (1933–1939)
• Nellie Tayloe Ross, Governor of Wyoming (1925–1927)
• William B. Ross, Governor of Wyoming (1923–1924)
• Frank L. Houx, Governor of Wyoming (1917–1919)
• John B. Kendrick, Governor of Wyoming (1915–1917)
• John Eugene Osborne, Governor of Wyoming (1893–1895)
• Thomas Moonlight, Governor of Wyoming Territory (1887–1889)
• George W. Baxter, Governor of Wyoming Territory (1886)
• Kathy Karpan, Secretary of State (1987–1995)
• Jack R. Gage, Secretary of State (1959–1961)
• William M. Jack, Secretary of State (1944–1947)
• Lester C. Hunt, Secretary of State (1935–1943)
• Frank L. Houx, Secretary of State (1911–1919)
• Samuel D. Shannon, Secretary of the Territory (1877–1888)
• Jason B. Brown, Secretary of the Territory (1873–1875)
• John J. McIntyre, Auditor (1945–1946)
• Carl Robinson, Auditor (1944)
• William M. Jack, Auditor (1935–1944)
• Benjamin Gallagher, Territorial Auditor (1869–1870)
• J. Kirk Baldwin, Treasurer (1935–1939)
• John W. Donnellan Territorial Treasurer (1869–1872)
• Lynn Simons, Superintendent of Public Instruction (1979–1991)
• Velma Linford, Superintendent of Public Instruction (1955–1963)
• Jack R. Gage, Superintendent of Public Instruction (1935–1939)
• C. H. Parmelee, Superintendent of Public Instruction (1898)

• Mike Gierau, state senator (2019–present)
• Andi Clifford, state representative (2019–present)
• Mike Yin, state representative (2019–present)
• Sara Burlingame, state representative (2019–present)
• Liisa Anselmi-Dalton, state senator (2017–present)
• Charles Pelkey, state representative (2015–present)
• JoAnn Dayton-Selman, state representative (2015–present)
• Chris Rothfuss, state senator (2011–present)
• Cathy Connolly, state representative (2009–present)
• Stan Blake, state representative (2007–present)
• Mary Throne, state representative (2007–2017)
• Della Herbst, state representative (1983–1987)
• Herman F. Krueger, state representative (1931–1939; 1941–1943)
• Thurman Arnold, state representative (1921–1923)
• Theodore C. Diers, state senator (1915–1919)
• Theodore C. Diers, state representative (1913–1915)
• Otto L. Burns, state representative (1913–1915)
• Jacob Berner, state senator (1911–1919)
• James R. Carpenter, state senator (1911–1915)
• George H. Cross, state senator (1895–1897; 1909–1913)
• Robert H. Homer, territorial legislature

• Guy Padgett, mayor of Casper (2005–2006)
• Della Herbst, mayor of Sheridan (1993–1996)
• Paul Ranous Greever, mayor of Cody (1930–1932)
• Thurman Arnold, mayor of Laramie (1923–1924)

Leaders

• Cathy Connolly, House Minority Leader (2017–present)
• Mary Throne, House Minority Leader (2013–2017)
• Herman F. Krueger, Speaker of the House (1937–1939)
• Thurman Arnold, House Minority Leader (1921–1923)

• Will Reid, Secretary (1904)

Electoral performance

Presidential

President

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

Congressional

United States
House of Representatives

Election year	Vote percentage	+/–	Votes	No. of overall seats won	+/–
1890			6,520
1892		9.56%	8,855		1
1894		19.17%	6,152		1
1896		16.97%	10,310		1
1898		6.10%	8,466		1
1900		2.25%	10,017
1902		4.79%	8,892
1904		3.79%	9,903
1906		0.86%	8,944
1908		3.25%	13,643
1910		3.16%	14,659
1912		3.76%	14,720
1914		5.73%	17,246
1916		6.51%	24,156
1918		12.15%	14,639
1920		9.31%	14,952
1922		19.48%	27,017
1924		7.07%	28,537
1926		0.19%	25,082
1928		9.09%	35,972
1930		13.43%	23,519
1932		13.36%	43,056
1934		10.57%	53,288		1
1936		1.14%	56,204
1938		10.05%	44,525		1
1940		6.23%	57,030		1
1942		4.07%	36,892		1
1944		4.98%	42,569
1946		0.31%	34,956
1948		4.49%	47,246
1950		2.97%	42,483
1952		5.61%	50,559
1954		3.92%	47,660
1956		2.01%	50,225
1958		4.61%	51,886
1960		1.29%	64,090
1962		9.09%	44,985
1964		12.17%	70,693		1
1966		3.09%	57,442		1
1968		10.44%	45,950
1970		13.00%	58,456		1
1972		1.44%	75,632
1974		3.00%	69,434
1976		1.74%	85,721
1978		15.07%	53,522		1
1980		9.94%	53,338
1982		2.52%	46,041
1984		4.51%	45,857
1986		6.32%	48,780
1988		1.10%	56,527
1989		11.16%	60,845
1990		1.93%	70,977
1992		5.61%	77,418
1994		2.00%	81,022
1996		0.48%	85,724
1998		2.13%	67,399
2000		10.13%	60,638
2002		7.65%	65,961
2004		5.62%	99,989
2006		5.91%	92,324
2008		4.93%	106,758
2010		18.33%	45,768
2012		0.65%	57,573
2014		0.93%	37,803
2016		7.07%	75,466
2018		0.20%	59,903
2020		5.19%	66,576
2022		0.22%	47,250

United States
Senate

Election year	Vote percentage	+/–	Votes	No. of overall seats won	+/–
1916			26,324		1
1918			17,528
1922		5.27	35,734
1924		0.84	33,536
1928		3.24	43,032
1930		2.12	30,259
1934		3.12	53,806
1936		12.66	53,919		1
1940		2.12	65,022
1942		8.42	34,503		1
1946		2.53	45,843
1948		11.70	57,953		1
1952		7.85	62,921		1
1954		5.58	57,845
1958		2.48	58,035		1
1960		7.90	60,447		1
1964		3.15	76,485
1966		4.57	59,141
1970		1.79	67,207
1972		19.51	40,753
1976		10.37	70,558		1
1978		9.14	50,456
1982		2.07	72,466
1984		16.15	40,525
1988		6.29	89,821
1990		14.38	56,848
1994		10.32	79,287
1996		6.15	89,103
2000		17.27	47,087
2002		15.16	49,570
2006		7.82	57,671
2008		2.79	66,202
2012		8.21	53,019
2014		6.81	29,377
2018		8.45	61,227
2020		9.31	72,766

Gubernatorial

Governor

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

State legislature

House

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

Senate^[13]

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

See also

• Political party strength in Wyoming
• Wyoming Republican Party

Works cited

• Trachsel . Herman . The 1958 Election in Wyoming . . . 1959 . 12 . 1 . 363–66 . 10.2307/444064 . 444064 .
• Trachsel . Herman . The 1960 Election in Wyoming . . . 1961 . 14 . 1 . 383–85 . 10.2307/443862 . 443862 .

External links

• Wyoming Democratic Party

Notes and References

1. Web site: Winger . Richard . March 2021 Ballot Access News Print Edition . April 1, 2021 . Ballot Access News.
2. News: John Campbell and the Invention of Wyoming . 15 April 2015.
3. News: Wyoming Blue Book.
4. News: Only Democrat Named Tuesday Is From Albany . 5 November 1920 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200106211959/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41812096/casper_startribune/ . 6 January 2020 . live . 1 . Newspapers.com.
5. News: Demos Win In Wyoming . 7 November 1934 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200103122310/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41585787/casper_startribune/ . 3 January 2020 . live . 5 . Newspapers.com.
6. News: Roncalio voted "yea." . 12 May 1974 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200106165620/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41798243/the_billings_gazette/ . 6 January 2020 . live . 9 . Newspapers.com.
7. News: Ed Herschler's political legacy . 6 February 1990 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200102092853/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41518522/casper_startribune/ . 2 January 2020 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
8. News: Graves disputes Democratic shunning of Wyo . 8 August 1991 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200104204519/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41677569/casper_startribune/ . 4 January 2020 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
9. News: Fundraising key for DNC chair . 28 August 2002 . The Jackson Hole Guide . https://web.archive.org/web/20200104210608/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41679414/the_jackson_hole_guide/ . 4 January 2020 . live . 3 . Newspapers.com.
10. News: The 50-state strategy . 5 May 2013 . Casper Star-Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200103121422/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41585558/casper_startribune/ . 3 January 2020 . live . 5 . Newspapers.com.
11. News: Wyoming Dems cancel in-person portion of caucus because of COVID-19; mail-in ballots still accepted . 21 September 2021 . Casper Star Tribune . 12 March 2020.
12. News: Wyoming Democratic caucus turnout more than doubles 2016 . 21 September 2021 . Wyoming News Now . 17 April 2020.
13. News: Legislative Branch.