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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| 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[12] (running for Constitution Party nomination)[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 | August 17–19, 2018 | 357 | – | 20% | 10% | 26% | 18% | 9% | 1%[35] | 15% |
| The Trafalgar Group (R) | August 11–14, 2018 | 1,775 | ± 2.4% | 21% | 10% | 20% | 16% | 6% | 8%[36] | 20% |
| University of Wyoming | June 18–20, 2018 | 596 | ± 4.0% | 6% | 14% | 19% | 11% | 10% | 1%[35] | 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][38][39]
Declared
Declined
- James W. Byrd, state representative[41] (running for secretary of state)
- Ryan Greene, nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016 (running for Mayor of Rock Springs)[10][42][3][43]
- 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 (running for U.S. Senate)[44]
Endorsements
Mary Throne
- Federal executive officers
- Julian Castro, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas[45]
- State executive officers
- Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming Secretary of State, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor, and 1996 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate[46]
- State legislators
- Mike Gierau, state representative[47]
- Chris Rothfuss, Minority Leader of the Wyoming Senate[48]
- Andy Schwartz, state representative[47]
- Individuals
- Mickey Babcock, Wyoming activist and Founder/Director of The Equipoise Fund[47]
- Ryan Greene, author, businessman, and nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016[48]
- 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[52] | Safe R | October 26, 2018 |
| The Washington Post[53] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| FiveThirtyEight[54] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[55] | Safe R | November 1, 2018 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[56] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| RealClearPolitics[57] | Safe R | November 4, 2018 |
| Daily Kos[58] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Fox News[59][lower-alpha 1] | Likely R | November 5, 2018 |
| Politico[60] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Governing[61] | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
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 | 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 | |||||
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
References
External links
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