Wyoming 2010 Election Results

Wyoming held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 75 legislative seats and 5 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans retook the governorship from Democrat Dave Freudenthal, who was stepping down after two terms, giving the party full control of state government. They also came out of the election with the largest one-party domination of any legislature in the country: 26-4 in the Senate and 50-10 in the House.
• Matt Mead (R), a former U.S. attorney, beat Leslie Petersen (D) by more than 80,000 votes. Taylor Haynes, a rancher and tea party member running as a write-in, finished third, ahead of Mike Wheeler (L). Counting the governorship, Republicans swept all five elected state offices. That included superintendent of public instruction, where Cindy Hill (R), who had beaten incumbent Jim McBride in the primary, defeated Mike Massie (D), a longtime state senator from Laramie.
• Every one of the 12 legislative seats that changed party went from Democrats to Republicans, and all 8 incumbents who lost were Democrats. In the House, Republicans unseated Mary Hales (D) in House District 36, Seth Carson (D) in House District 45, Terry Kimble (D) in House District 49, and Mike Gilmore (D) in House District 59. In the Senate, three Democratic incumbents fell:
  • Political newcomer Leslie Nutting (R) unseated 12-year senator Kathryn Sessions (D) in Cheyenne's Senate District 7. Nutting decided to run when she saw that Sessions had no opposition.
  • Larry Hicks (R) ousted Jim Elliott (D) in Senate District 11.
  • Paul Barnard (R) beat Saundra Meyer (D) in Evanston's Senate District 15, part of a Republican sweep of western Wyoming's Senate races.
• Three legislative races were decided by fewer than 110 votes:
  • Donald Burkhart (R) unseated George Bagby (D) by 11 votes in Rawlins's House District 15, ending Bagby's bid for a fifth term. A mandatory recount did not change the outcome.
  • House Minority Leader W. Patrick Goggles (D) held House District 33 by 19 votes over Daniel Cardenas (R).
  • Fred Emerich (R) kept the open Senate District 5 in Republican hands by 106 votes over Rep. Lori Millin (D), whose House seat also went Republican.
• The House, under new Speaker Ed Buchanan, seated a large freshman class that included tea party members and candidates the movement backed. Majority Floor Leader Tom Lubnau expected the newcomers to analyze every expenditure closely.

Legislature

• House (60 seats): 19 D, 41 R before the election, 10 D, 50 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (30 seats): 7 D, 23 R before the election, 4 D, 26 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races