2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of Wyoming. Incumbent Republican governor Matt Mead was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. Republican nominee Mark Gordon defeated Democratic nominee Mary Throne by nearly 40 percentage points.[1]
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November 6, 2018
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| Turnout | 73.45% registered  10.08% 41.16% of total population 7.16% | ||||||||||||||||
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  Gordon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Throne: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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This was the only time since 1978 that a candidate from the president's party was elected governor of Wyoming.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominated
- Mark Gordon, Wyoming state treasurer[2][3][4]
Declared
- Bill Dahlin, businessman[5][6]
- Foster Friess, businessman and activist[7]
- Sam Galeotos, businessman[8]
- Harriet Hageman, attorney and former Liz Cheney campaign advisor[9]
- Taylor Haynes, physician, write-in candidate for governor in 2010 and candidate for governor in 2014[10][11]
Withdrew
- Rex Rammell, veterinarian and perennial candidate (ran for Constitution Party nomination)[12][13]
Endorsements
Foster Friess
Federal officials
- Rand Paul, U.S. senator (R-KY)[14]
- Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator (R-PA)[15]
- Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)[16]
State legislators
- Mark Baker, former state representative[17]
Individuals
- Kimberly Guilfoyle, television news personality[18]
- Kyle Kashuv, school safety activist[19]
- Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA[20]
- Chuck Norris, martial artist, actor, film producer and screenwriter[21]
- Donald Trump Jr., businessman and son of President Donald Trump[22]
Organizations
- Family Research Council[23]
- Tea Party Patriots[24]
- Wyoming Right to Life[25]
Sam Galeotos
Federal elected officials
- Cynthia Lummis, former U.S. representative (R-WY)[26]
State legislators
- Amy Edmonds, former state representative[26]
- Affie Ellis, state senator[26]
Individuals
- Ray Hunkins, Republican nominee for governor in 2006
Mark Gordon
Federal elected officials
- Alan Simpson, former U.S. senator (R-WY)[26]
State elected officials
- Cynthia Cloud, state auditor[27]
- Max Maxfield, former secretary of state of Wyoming and former state auditor[28]
- Diana Ohman, former secretary of state of Wyoming and former state superintendent of Public Instruction[27]
State legislators
- Jim Anderson, state senator[27]
- Rex Arney, former state representative[27]
- Eric Barlow, state representative[27]
- Rosie Berger, former majority leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives[27]
- Gregg Blikre, former state representative[27]
- Landon Brown, state representative[27]
- Donald Burkhart, speaker pro tempore of the Wyoming House of Representatives[27]
- Bruce Burns, state senator[27]
- Johnnie Burton, former state representative[27]
- Cale Case, state senator[27]
- Aaron Clausen, state representative[27]
- Hank Coe, state senator[27]
- Stan Cooper, former state senator[27]
- Jamie Flitner, state representative[27]
- Mike Greear, state representative[27]
- Elaine Harvey, former state representative[27]
- Jerry Iekel, former state representative[27]
- Pete Illoway, former state representative[28]
- Wayne Johnson, former state senator[27]
- Dan Kirkbride, state representative[27]
- Lloyd Larsen, state representative[27]
- Grant Larson, former state representative[27]
- Clarene Law, former state representative[28]
- Tyler Lindholm, state representative[29]
- Tom Lubnau, former speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives[27]
- Mike Madden, state representative[27]
- Larry Meuli, former state representative[27]
- Frank Moore, former state representative[28]
- Bob Nicholas, state representative[27]
- David Northrup, state representative[27]
- Jerry Obermueller, state representative[27]
- Doug Osborne, former state representative[27]
- Ruth Petroff, former state representative[28]
- Doug Samuelson, former state representative[27]
- Nels J. Smith, former speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives[27]
- Clark Stith, state representative[27]
- Dan Sullivan, former state senator[27]
- Pat Sweeney, state representative[27]
- Michael Von Flatern, state senator[27]
- Tom Walters, state representative[27]
- Peter Wold, former state representative[27]
- Dan Zwonitzer, state representative[27]
- David Zwonitzer, former state representative[27]
Individuals
- Susan Thomas, wife of late Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)[28]
- Isabel Wallop, wife of late Senator Malcolm Wallop (R-WY)[28]
Organizations
Harriet Hageman
State legislators
- Scott Clem, state representative[31]
- Mark Jennings, state representative[32]
- Charles Scott, state senator[33]
- Cheri Steinmetz, state representative[34]
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Foster Friess |
Sam Galeotos |
Mark Gordon |
Harriet Hageman |
Taylor Haynes |
Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Wyoming[35] | August 17–19, 2018 | 357 | – | 20% | 10% | 26% | 18% | 9% | 1%[36] | 15% |
| The Trafalgar Group (R)[37] | August 11–14, 2018 | 1,775 | ± 2.4% | 21% | 10% | 20% | 16% | 6% | 8%[38] | 20% |
| University of Wyoming[39] | June 18–20, 2018 | 596 | ± 4.0% | 6% | 14% | 19% | 11% | 10% | 1%[36] | 35% |
Results
Gordon—50–60%
Gordon—40–50%
Gordon—30–40%
Gordon—<30%
Friess—<30%
Friess—30–40%
Hageman—<30%
Hageman—30–40%
Hageman—40–50%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark Gordon | 38,951 | 33.0 | |
| Republican | Foster Friess | 29,842 | 25.3 | |
| Republican | Harriet Hageman | 25,052 | 21.2 | |
| Republican | Sam Galeotos | 14,554 | 12.3 | |
| Republican | Taylor Haynes | 6,511 | 5.5 | |
| Republican | Bill Dahlin | 1,763 | 1.5 | |
| n/a | Under votes | 1,269 | 1.1 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 113 | 0.0 | |
| n/a | Over votes | 46 | 0.0 | |
| Total votes | 118,101 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominated
- Mary Throne, former minority leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives[10][41][42]
Declared
Declined
- James W. Byrd, state representative (ran for secretary of state)[44]
- Ryan Greene, nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016 (ran for mayor of Rock Springs)[10][45][3][46]
- Chris Rothfuss, minority leader of the Wyoming Senate and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2008[10][3]
- Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Nature Conservancy[10]
- Gary Trauner, businessman and nominee for U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and 2008 (ran for U.S. Senate)[47]
Endorsements
Mary Throne
Federal executive officers
- Julian Castro, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former mayor of San Antonio, Texas[48]
State executive officers
- Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming Secretary of State, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor, and 1996 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate[49]
State legislators
- Mike Gierau, state representative[50]
- Chris Rothfuss, minority leader of the Wyoming Senate[51]
- Andy Schwartz, state representative[50]
Individuals
- Mickey Babcock, Wyoming activist and founder/director of the Equipoise Fund[50]
- Ryan Greene, author, businessman, and nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016[51]
Organizations
Newspapers
Results
Throne—80–90%
Throne—70–80%
Throne—60–70%
Throne—50–60%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mary Throne | 12,948 | 66.5 | |
| Democratic | Michael Green | 2,391 | 12.3 | |
| n/a | Under votes | 1,385 | 7.1 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth Casner | 1,213 | 6.2 | |
| Democratic | Rex Wilde | 1,201 | 6.2 | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 323 | 1.7 | |
| n/a | Over votes | 13 | 0.0 | |
| Total votes | 19,474 | 100.0 | ||
Independents and third parties
Candidates
Declared
- Rex Rammell, veterinarian and perennial candidate (Constitution)[13]
General election
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 6, 2018
- Complete video of debate, October 18, 2018
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[55] | Safe R | October 26, 2018 |
| The Washington Post[56] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| FiveThirtyEight[57] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[58] | Safe R | November 1, 2018 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[59] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| RealClearPolitics[60] | Safe R | November 4, 2018 |
| Daily Kos[61] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Fox News[62][a] | Likely R | November 5, 2018 |
| Politico[63] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Governing[64] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
- Notes
- The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Mark Gordon (R) |
Mary Throne (D) |
Rex Rammell (C) |
Lawrence Struempf (L) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change Research[65] | November 2–4, 2018 | 858 | – | 61% | 27% | 6% | 4% | – |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark Gordon | 136,412 | 67.12% | +7.73% | |
| Democratic | Mary Throne | 55,965 | 27.54% | +0.29% | |
| Constitution | Rex Rammell | 6,751 | 3.32% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Lawrence Struempf | 3,010 | 1.48% | −0.93% | |
| Write-in | 1,100 | 0.54% | -4.52% | ||
| Total votes | 203,238 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Republican hold | |||||
By county
| Mark Gordon Republican |
Mary Throne Democrat |
All Others | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Albany | 6,494 | 45.1% | 7,137 | 49.5% | 780 | 5.4% |
| Big Horn | 3,391 | 78.6% | 608 | 14.1% | 315 | 7.3% |
| Campbell | 10,398 | 79.9% | 1,856 | 14.3% | 756 | 5.8% |
| Carbon | 3,560 | 68.9% | 1,314 | 25.4% | 292 | 5.7% |
| Converse | 3,872 | 78.4% | 757 | 15.3% | 310 | 6.2% |
| Crook | 2,575 | 83.4% | 358 | 11.6% | 155 | 5.0% |
| Fremont | 9,251 | 64.4% | 4,299 | 29.9% | 808 | 5.6% |
| Goshen | 3,568 | 74.3% | 957 | 19.9% | 280 | 5.8% |
| Hot Springs | 1,682 | 74.7% | 443 | 19.7% | 126 | 5.6% |
| Johnson | 3,245 | 83.6% | 478 | 12.3% | 158 | 4.1% |
| Laramie | 20,052 | 61.3% | 11,196 | 34.2% | 1,454 | 4.4% |
| Lincoln | 5,511 | 76.8% | 1,155 | 16.1% | 506 | 7.1% |
| Natrona | 16,866 | 68.9% | 6,352 | 25.9% | 1,262 | 5.2% |
| Niobrara | 918 | 79.1% | 153 | 13.2% | 89 | 7.8% |
| Park | 8,815 | 74.6% | 2,277 | 19.3% | 717 | 6.1% |
| Platte | 2,644 | 70.0% | 845 | 22.4% | 287 | 7.7% |
| Sheridan | 8,727 | 73.9% | 2,667 | 22.6% | 420 | 3.6% |
| Sublette | 2,664 | 78.3% | 602 | 17.7% | 136 | 4.0% |
| Sweetwater | 8,375 | 64.8% | 3,758 | 29.1% | 800 | 6.2% |
| Teton | 4,736 | 40.5% | 6,541 | 56.0% | 411 | 3.6% |
| Uinta | 4,547 | 72.6% | 1,296 | 20.7% | 420 | 6.7% |
| Washakie | 2,396 | 77.0% | 568 | 18.3% | 148 | 4.8% |
| Weston | 2,125 | 78.6% | 348 | 12.9% | 231 | 8.6% |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
