2012 elections review: Wyoming holds congressional, state legislative primaries

August 22, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams

The primary season continued with elections in Wyoming and Georgia yesterday.

Here's a recap of what happened in Wyoming:

Contested Primaries in Wyoming -- August 21, 2012
	U.S. House (1 seats)	State Legislature (75 seats)
Total Democratic Contested Primaries	0 (0%)	2 (2.7%)
Total Republican Contested Primaries	0 (0%)	31 (41.3%)

Congress

U.S. Senate

United States Senate elections in Wyoming, 2012

Six candidates ran for Wyoming's U.S. Senate seat yesterday - 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Incumbent John Barrasso defeated Emmett Mavy and Thomas Bleming in the Republican primary, receiving 90% of the vote. On the other side of the aisle Tim Chesnut won the Democratic primary, defeating Al Hamburg and William Bryk by a large margin.

U.S. House

United States House of Representatives elections in Wyoming, 2012

Wyoming has a single seat on the ballot in 2012. A total of 3 candidates have filed to run, made up of 1 Democratic challenger, 1 incumbent, and 1 Libertarian candidate. Including Wyoming, a total of 404 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 54.33% of possible primaries have been contested. Wyoming's contested figure of 0% (0 out of 2 possible party primaries) is significantly less competitive than the national average.

All candidates for Wyoming's U.S. House seat were unopposed in their respective primaries. Incumbent Republican Cynthia Lummis will face Democratic challenger Chris Henrichsen and Libertarian Richard Brubaker in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Members of the U.S. House from Wyoming -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	0	0
	Republican Party	1	1
Total		1	1

State legislature

Wyoming State Senate elections, 2012 and Wyoming House of Representatives elections, 2012

There are 75 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 -- 15 Senate seats and 60 House seats.

There were 2 (2.7%) contested Democratic primaries and 31 (41.3%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there were 28 (22.0%) races yesterday with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 22.0% figure of total contested primaries in Wyoming is higher than the current national contested average of 19.38% for states that have had filing deadlines.

There are 60 incumbents, 14 Senators and 46 Representatives, running for re-election in 2012. Of those incumbents, 21 (35.0%) faced primary opposition -- 18 of which advanced to the general election. Incumbent Republicans Kit Jennings, Clarence Vranish, and Pat Childers were unable to advance to the general election.

Senate

There were 7 Senate primaries yesterday, all of which were Republican primaries where the incumbent is seeking re-election.

Those primaries are:
District 6: Incumbent Wayne Johnson a defeated Anthony Bouchard.
District 10: Incumbent Phil Nicholas a defeated Anne Alexander.
District 14: Incumbent Stan Cooper a defeated Lyle Williams.
District 18: Incumbent Henry Coe a defeated Robert Berry.
District 22: Incumbent John Schiffer a defeated Bob Johnson.
District 28: Incumbent Kit Jennings and Tom Radosevich were defeated by James Anderson a.
District 30: Incumbent Charles Scott a defeated Bob Brechtel.

House

There were a total of 26 House primaries being held yesterday -- 2 Democratic primaries and 24 Republican primaries, with 14 Republican incumbents facing primary opposition.

Some notable primaries:
District 4: Republicans Dan Kirkbride a, Kerry Powers, and Larry Cundall faced off in an open seat. Kirkbride will be unchallenged in the general election.
District 19: Incumbent Allen Jaggi a was challenged by David Evins and Tim Hamblin, with Jaggi going on to be unchallenged in the general election.
District 25: Republican challengers Billy Greaham, Dave Blevins a, David Kellett, Steve Walker face off in an open seat.
District 35: Incumbent Kendell Kroeker a dispatched primary challengers Jess Ollila and Patrick Bishop.
District 42: Republican challengers Bob Fecht, David Wilms, Jeff Jacoby, Lynn Hutchings a, and William Edwards face off in an open seat. Hutchings will go on to face Democratic challenger Gary Datus in the general election.
District 50: Incumbent Clarence Vranish was defeated by challenger Garry Piiparinen a. Piiparinen will be unchallenged in the general election.
District 50: Incumbent Pat Childers faced challengers Charles Cloud, David Northrup a, and T.D. Ball. Northrup will be unchallenged in the general election.

Wyoming State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	4	4
	Republican Party	26	26
Total		30	30

Wyoming House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	10	8
	Republican Party	50	52
Total		60	60

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Wyoming, 2012
• United States Senate elections in Wyoming, 2012
• Wyoming State Senate elections, 2012
• Wyoming House of Representatives elections, 2012
• Congressional redistricting maps implemented after the 2010 Census
• Redistricting in Wyoming