# 2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election

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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.
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

#### Declared

* Bill Dahlin, businessman
* Foster Friess, businessman and activist
* Sam Galeotos, businessman
* Harriet Hageman, attorney and former Liz Cheney campaign advisor
* Taylor Haynes, physician, write-in candidate for governor in 2010 and candidate for governor in 2014

#### Withdrew

* Rex Rammell, veterinarian and perennial candidate (running for Constitution Party nomination)

### Endorsements

Federal officials
* Rand Paul, U.S. Senator (R-KY)
* Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator (R-PA)
* Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States (2017–2021)
State legislators
* Mark Baker, former state representative
Individuals
* Kimberly Guilfoyle, television news personality
* Kyle Kashuv, school safety activist
* Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA
* Chuck Norris, martial artist, actor, film producer and screenwriter
* Donald Trump Jr., businessman and son of President Donald Trump
Organizations
* Family Research Council
* Tea Party Patriots
* Wyoming Right to Life
Federal elected officials
* Cynthia Lummis, former U.S. Representative (R-WY)
State legislators
* Amy Edmonds, former state representative
* Affie Ellis, state senator
Individuals
* Ray Hunkins, Republican nominee for Governor in 2006
Federal elected officials
* Alan Simpson, former U.S. Senator (R-WY)
State elected officials
* Cynthia Cloud, State Auditor
* Max Maxfield, former secretary of state of Wyoming and former State Auditor
* Diana Ohman, former secretary of state of Wyoming and former State Superintendent of Public Instruction
State legislators
* Jim Anderson, state senator
* Rex Arney, former state representative
* Eric Barlow, state representative
* Rosie Berger, former Majority Leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives
* Gregg Blikre, former state representative
* Landon Brown, state representative
* Donald Burkhart, Speaker pro tempore of the Wyoming House of Representatives
* Bruce Burns, state senator
* Johnnie Burton, former state representative
* Cale Case, state senator
* Aaron Clausen, state representative
* Hank Coe, state senator
* Stan Cooper, former state senator
* Jamie Flitner, state representative
* Mike Greear, state representative
* Elaine Harvey, former state representative
* Jerry Iekel, former state representative
* Pete Illoway, former state representative
* Wayne Johnson, former state senator
* Dan Kirkbride, state representative
* Lloyd Larsen, state representative
* Grant Larson, former state representative
* Clarene Law, former state representative
* Tyler Lindholm, state representative
* Tom Lubnau, former Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
* Mike Madden, state representative
* Larry Meuli, former state representative
* Frank Moore, former state representative
* Bob Nicholas, state representative
* David Northrup, state representative
* Jerry Obermueller, state representative
* Doug Osborne, former state representative
* Ruth Petroff, former state representative
* Doug Samuelson, former state representative
* Nels J. Smith, former Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
* Clark Stith, state representative
* Dan Sullivan, former state senator
* Pat Sweeney, state representative
* Michael Von Flatern, state senator
* Tom Walters, state representative
* Peter Wold, former state representative
* Dan Zwonitzer, state representative
* David Zwonitzer, former state representative
Individuals
* Susan Thomas, wife of late Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)
* Isabel Wallop, wife of late Senator Malcolm Wallop (R-WY)
Organizations
* National Federation of Independent Business
State legislators
* Scott Clem, state representative
* Mark Jennings, state representative
* Charles Scott, state senator
* Cheri Steinmetz, state representative

### 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% | 15% |
| The Trafalgar Group (R) | August 11–14, 2018 | 1,775 | ± 2.4% | 21% | 10% | 20% | 16% | 6% | 8% | 20% |
| University of Wyoming | June 18–20, 2018 | 596 | ± 4.0% | 6% | 14% | 19% | 11% | 10% | 1% | 35% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 118,101 | 100.0 |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Mary Throne, former Minority Leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives

#### Declared

* Ken Casner, candidate for governor in 2002
* Michael Allen Green, nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000
* Rex Wilde, candidate for governor in 2010

#### Declined

* James W. Byrd, state representative (running for secretary of state)
* Ryan Greene, nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016 (running for Mayor of Rock Springs)
* Chris Rothfuss, Minority Leader of the Wyoming Senate and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2008
* Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Nature Conservancy
* Gary Trauner, businessman and nominee for U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and 2008 (running for U.S. Senate)

### Endorsements

Federal executive officers
* Julian Castro, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas
State executive officers
* Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming Secretary of State, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor, and 1996 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate
State legislators
* Mike Gierau, state representative
* Chris Rothfuss, Minority Leader of the Wyoming Senate
* Andy Schwartz, state representative
Individuals
* Mickey Babcock, Wyoming activist and Founder/Director of The Equipoise Fund
* Ryan Greene, author, businessman, and nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016
Organizations
* Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce
* Wyoming Education Association
Newspapers
* Wyoming Tribune Eagle

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 19,474 | 100.0 |

## Independents and third parties
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Rex Rammell, veterinarian and perennial candidate (Constitution)

## 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 | Safe R | October 26, 2018 |
| The Washington Post | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| FiveThirtyEight | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 1, 2018 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| RealClearPolitics | Safe R | November 4, 2018 |
| Daily Kos | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Fox News | Likely R | November 5, 2018 |
| Politico | Safe R | November 5, 2018 |
| Governing | 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 | November 2–4, 2018 | 858 | – | 61% | 27% | 6% | 4% | – |

### Results

Wyoming gubernatorial election, 2018 :
| Party | 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 | Write-in | 1,100 | 0.54% | -4.52% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 203,238 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Teton (Largest city: Jackson)