On the national level, midterm voters returned a divided government to Congress. On the state level, Republicans maintain their dominance.
Mark Gordon, the State Treasurer turned governor-elect, stood atop a stage at the Little America Hotel and Resort in Cheyenne on election night to give his victory speech.
Gordon received a strong showing on Election Day, garnering 67.4 percent of the vote statewide. His Democratic opponent, former State House Minority Leader Mary Throne, received 27.7 percent of the state’s votes. Veterinarian Rex “T-Rex” Rammel, the Constitution party candidate, and Lawerence Struempf, the Libertarian in the race, received 3.3 percent and 1.6 percent of the state vote, respectively.
Addressing his opponents in his acceptance speech, Gordon took time to ruminate on what he considered to be a well-fought campaign waged by all sides for the governorship. He specifically addressed Throne as a friend who advanced a number of ideas to improve the state.
“[Throne] is not an opponent. She’s a colleague and a good friend, and somebody who cares deeply about Wyoming. I am very proud that she stepped forward to be in this race,” Gordon said.
Gordon then turned his attention to the outspoken and, occasionally, controversial Rammell who earlier in the election season had been heckled during a debate at the University of Wyoming.
Rammell “sometimes got a little excited,” Gordon said. “Fair enough. I grew up on a ranch, I know how that goes. But Rex is a good man, and I thank him for running, as well.”
After his inauguration, Gordon will have to address two elephants in the room: one of his own and the other, an inherited beast. First will be the issue of maintaining the state’s fiscal solvency without significantly altering the state’s tax structure, a position on which Gordon campaigned. ENDOW, a commission created by outgoing Governor Matt Mead to aid in the diversification of the Wyoming economy, will proceed forward under Gordon’s leadership.
“Economic development comes from the ground up,” Gordon said. “And I want to meet with the ENDOW council. I read their report, and there’s some great ideas there. But my view is working with them on how they can engage the lower levels of government so we can grow our economy from our communities up.”
For Wyoming’s congressional delegation, the status quo reigns with both Senator John Barrasso and Representative Liz Cheney being reelected by a margin of 37 and 33 points, respectively.
Representative Cheney’s win in particular stood opposed to a national trend of electing a great number of Democrats into the House. Democrats now hold 222 of the 435 seats chamber, surpassing the 218 required to control the body. Democrats flipped 28 Republican-held seats blue, while Republicans flipped a single seat in Minnesota, meaning a net-gain overall of 27 for the former minority party. Eighteen seats remain undeclared.
“We will strive for bipartisanship, with fairness on all sides,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, clad in blue, in a speech celebrating the Democratic takeover of the House late Tuesday night. “We have a responsibility to find our common ground where we can, stand our ground where we can’t, but we must try. We’ll have a bipartisan marketplace of ideas that makes our democracy strong. A Democratic congress will work for solutions that bring us together, because we have all had enough of division. The American people want peace. They want results. They want us to work for positive results for their lives”
Bipartisanship may seem out of reach, but in Pelosi’s view it is necessary for any legislative work to be done in the upcoming session. The Senate, a long-shot for Democrats, remains in Republican control. The GOP expanded their control of the Chamber by unseating three red-state Democrats, with a potential fourth pending a recount in the Florida senate race. Democrats, however, did flip a seat in Nevada.
Many counties voted for republican candidates with the exceptions of Albany County and Teton County. According to an analysis on election watch sights the counties with more education tended to favor Democratic candidates. This was apparent in Albany and Teton counties where Gary Trauner, Greg Hunter and Mary Throne, the democratic candidates for their respective races, all won the majority of votes.
At the local level, the Albany County voters chose to keep the status quo. Both State Senators from districts in the county, Chris Rothfuss and Larr Hicks, were reelected, as well as State Representatives Furphy, Haley, Perkley, Connolly and Paxton. For Albany County Commission, Pete Gosar and Heber Richardson were the top two vote getters. Peggy Trent, the incumbent County Attorney, and Dave O’Malley, the incumbent Sheriff, were both reelected. Brian Harrington, Jessica Stalder, Paul Weaver, Erin O’Doherty and Bryan Shuster will join the Laramie City Council.
