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United States Senate election in Wyoming, 2020 (August 18 Democratic primary)
- Primary date: Aug. 18
- Primary type: Open
- Registration deadline(s): Aug. 3
- Online registration: No
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Early voting starts: July 9
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Aug. 18 (received)
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2026 →
← 2014
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| U.S. Senate, Wyoming |
|---|
 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: May 29, 2020 |
| Primary: August 18, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Mike Enzi (Republican) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Wyoming |
| Race ratings |
Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • At-large Wyoming elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
A Democratic Party primary took place on August 18, 2020, in Wyoming to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the state's general election on November 3, 2020.
Merav Ben-David advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Wyoming.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Mike Enzi (Republican), who was first elected in 1996.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Wyoming utilizes a closed primary process.[1][2]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Wyoming's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- United States Senate election in Wyoming, 2020 (August 18 Republican primary)
- United States Senate election in Wyoming, 2020
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Political party events in Wyoming were modified as follows:
- Political party events: The Democratic Party of Wyoming canceled its in-person presidential caucus, originally scheduled for April 4.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Wyoming
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Merav Ben-David  | 40.3 | 9,584 |
 | Yana Ludwig | 20.7 | 4,931 | |
 | Nathan Wendt | 17.7 | 4,212 | |
 | Ken Casner | 9.0 | 2,139 | |
 | Rex Wilde | 7.9 | 1,888 | |
 | James Kirk DeBrine | 3.6 | 865 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 173 | ||
| Total votes: 23,792 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chuck Jagoda (D)
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[3] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[4] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merav Ben-David | Democratic Party | $559,626 | $545,348 | $14,278 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Ken Casner | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| James Kirk DeBrine | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Yana Ludwig | Democratic Party | $47,785 | $39,893 | $19,183 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Nathan Wendt | Democratic Party | $64,683 | $64,877 | $-194 | As of November 1, 2020 |
| Rex Wilde | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[5]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[6][7][8]
| Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Wyoming, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
See also
- United States Senate election in Wyoming, 2020 (August 18 Republican primary)
- United States Senate election in Wyoming, 2020
- United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate elections, 2020
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "Welcome to the FAQs," accessed June 2, 2025
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
