# 2010 Wyoming gubernatorial election

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The 2010 Wyoming gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Wyoming. Party primaries were held on August 17.
While it was initially thought that term limits would prevent incumbent Democratic governor Dave Freudenthal from running for re-election, the constitutionality of the term limit law has been questioned, leaving the possibility that if Freudenthal had successfully challenged the law, he might have been able to run for a third term. On March 4, 2010, Freudenthal announced he would not run for a third term.
Republican Matt Mead flipped every county from Democratic to Republican as he won by getting around two-thirds of the votes polled.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Pete Gosar, teacher, commercial pilot, state employee and small business owner
* Al Hamburg, retired painter and perennial candidate
* Leslie Petersen, former Teton County Commissioner and Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party
* Rex Wilde, cabinet maker
* Chris Zachary, former psychiatrist

#### Declined

* Larry Clapp, attorney and former mayor of Casper
* Dave Freudenthal, incumbent governor (Term Limited but there was speculation that he might challenge the law)
* Paul Hickey, attorney
* Mike Massie, State Senator (ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction)

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Leslie Petersen | Pete Gosar | Al Hamburg | Chris Zachary | Rex Wilde | Undecided |
| WTE/Aspen Media & Market Research | July 26–29, 2010 | 34% | 9% | 5% | 1% | 4% | 39% |
| Casper Star Tribune | July 26–28, 2010 | 30% | 22% | 2% | 1% | <1% | 45% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Leslie Petersen | 10,785 | 47.2 |
| | Democratic | Pete Gosar | 8,409 | 36.8 |
| | Democratic | Chris Zachary | 1,139 | 5.0 |
| | Democratic | Al Hamburg | 1,092 | 4.8 |
| | Democratic | Rex Wilde | 1,042 | 4.6 |
| | Democratic | write-ins | 384 | 1.7 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 22,851 | 100 |

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Alan Kousoulos, 19-year WYDOT supervisor
* Matt Mead, former U.S. attorney
* Rita Meyer, Wyoming state auditor
* Ron Micheli, former state representative and former director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture
* John Self, candidate for governor in 2002 and 2006
* Colin M. Simpson, Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
* Tom Ubben

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Rita Meyer | Matt Mead | Colin Simpson | Ron Micheli | Alan Kousoulos | Undecided |
| WTE/Aspen Media & Market Research | July 26–29, 2010 | 23% | 18% | 10% | 20% | 1% | 25% |
| Casper Star-Tribune | July 26–28, 2010 | 27% | 24% | 17% | 12% | 2% | 18% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Matt Mead | 30,308 | 28.7 |
| | Republican | Rita Meyer | 29,605 | 28.0 |
| | Republican | Ron Micheli | 27,630 | 26.1 |
| | Republican | Colin Simpson | 16,722 | 15.8 |
| | Republican | Alan Kousoulos | 566 | 0.5 |
| | Republican | Tom Ubben | 432 | 0.4 |
| | Republican | John Self | 295 | 0.3 |
| | Republican | write-ins | 202 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 105,760 | 100 |

## General election
### Candidates

* Matt Mead (R)
* Leslie Peterson (D)
* Mike Wheeler (L)
* Taylor Haynes (Write-in)

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Safe R (flip) | October 14, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Safe R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Safe R (flip) | November 1, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Safe R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Matt Mead (R) | Leslie Petersen (D) |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 30, 2010 | 61% | 25% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 18, 2010 | 58% | 24% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 22, 2010 | 49% | 22% |

### Results

Wyoming gubernatorial election, 2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Matt Mead | 123,780 | 65.68% | +35.67% |
| | Democratic | Leslie Petersen | 43,240 | 22.94% | −47.05% |
| | Independent | Taylor Haynes | 13,796 | 7.32% | |
| | Libertarian | Mike Wheeler | 5,362 | 2.85% | |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 2,285 | 1.21% | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 80,540 | 42.74% | +2.75% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 190,822 | | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Big Horn (Largest city: Lovell)
* Campbell (Largest city: Gillette)
* Converse (Largest city: Douglas)
* Crook (Largest city: Sundance)
* Fremont (Largest city: Riverton)
* Goshen (Largest city: Torrington)
* Hot Springs (Largest city: Thermopolis)
* Johnson (Largest city: Buffalo)
* Lincoln (Largest city: Kemmerer)
* Natrona (Largest city: Casper)
* Albany (Largest city: Laramie)
* Niobrara (Largest city: Lusk)
* Park (Largest city: Cody)
* Platte (Largest city: Wheatland)
* Sheridan (Largest city: Sheridan)
* Sublette (Largest city: Pinedale)
* Sweetwater (Largest city: Rock Springs)
* Carbon (Largest city: Rawlins)
* Uinta (Largest city: Evanston)
* Teton (Largest city: Jackson)
* Laramie (Largest city: Cheyenne)
* Washakie (Largest city: Worland)
* Weston (Largest city: Newcastle)