The Wyoming Senate is the upper house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 31 Senators in the Senate, representing an equal number of constituencies across Wyoming, each with a population of at least 17,000. The Senate meets at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne.
Wyoming State Senate | |
|---|---|
| 67th Wyoming State Legislature | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
New session started | January 10, 2023 |
| Leadership | |
President | |
Vice President | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 31 |
 | |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Authority | Article 3, Wyoming Constitution |
| Salary | $150/day + per diem |
| Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 (16 seats) |
Next election | November 5, 2024 (15 seats) |
| Redistricting | Legislative Control |
| Meeting place | |
| State Senate Chamber Wyoming State Capitol Cheyenne, Wyoming | |
| Website | |
| Wyoming State Legislature | |
Members of the Senate serve four-year terms without term limits. Term limits were declared unconstitutional by the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2004, overturning a decade-old law that had restricted Senators to three terms (twelve years).
Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Wyoming Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions, boards, or justices to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Composition of the Senate
edit| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Democratic | Vacant | |||
| End of 59th Legislature | 23 | 7 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 60th Legislature | 23 | 7 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 61st Legislature | 26 | 4 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 62nd Legislature | 26 | 4 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 63rd Legislature | 26 | 4 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 64th Legislature | 27 | 3 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 65th Legislature | 27 | 3 | 30 | 0 | |
| End of 66th Legislature | 28 | 2 | 30 | 0 | |
| Beginning of 67th Legislature | 29 | 2 | 31[a] | 0 | |
| Latest voting share | 94% | 6% | |||
- ^ A 31st district was created during redistricting.
Leadership
editWyoming, along with Arizona, Maine, and Oregon, is one of the four U.S. states to have abolished the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, a position which for most upper houses of state legislatures and indeed for the U.S. Congress (with the Vice President) is the head of the legislative body. Instead, a separate position of Senate President is in place, removed from the Wyoming executive branch.
The current Senate President is Republican Ogden Driskill of District 1 (Devils Tower).
| Position | Name | Party |
|---|---|---|
| President of the Senate | Ogden Driskill | Republican |
| Senate Vice President | Dave Kinskey | Republican |
| Majority Leader | Larry Hicks | Republican |
| Minority Leader | Chris Rothfuss | Democratic |
| Minority Whip | Mike Gierau | Democratic |
Members of the Wyoming Senate
edit
Republican senator
Democratic senator
| District | Representative | Party | Residence | Counties Represented | First elected | Next election |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ogden Driskill | Republican | Devils Tower | Campbell, Crook, Weston | 2010 | 2026 |
| 2 | Brian Boner | Republican | Douglas | Converse, Platte | 2015* | 2024 |
| 3 | Cheri Steinmetz | Republican | Lingle | Goshen, Niobrara, Weston | 2018 | 2026 |
| 4 | Tara Nethercott | Republican | Cheyenne | Laramie | 2016 | 2024 |
| 5 | Lynn Hutchings | Republican | Cheyenne | Laramie | 2018 | 2026 |
| 6 | Anthony Bouchard | Republican | Carpenter | Laramie | 2016 | 2024 |
| 7 | Stephan Pappas | Republican | Cheyenne | Laramie | 2014 | 2026 |
| 8 | Affie Ellis | Republican | Cheyenne | Laramie | 2016 | 2024 |
| 9 | Chris Rothfuss | Democratic | Laramie | Albany | 2010 | 2026 |
| 10 | Dan Furphy | Republican | Laramie | Albany | 2020 | 2024 |
| 11 | Larry S. Hicks | Republican | Baggs | Albany, Carbon | 2010 | 2026 |
| 12 | John Kolb | Republican | Rock Springs | Fremont, Sweetwater | 2020 | 2024 |
| 13 | Stacy Jones | Republican | Rock Springs | Sweetwater | 2022 | 2026 |
| 14 | Fred Baldwin | Republican | Kemmerer | Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta | 2016 | 2024 |
| 15 | Wendy Davis Schuler | Republican | Evanston | Uinta | 2018 | 2026 |
| 16 | Dan Dockstader | Republican | Afton | Lincoln, Sublette, Teton | 2008 | 2024 |
| 17 | Mike Gierau | Democratic | Jackson Hole | Teton | 2018 | 2026 |
| 18 | Tim French | Republican | Powell | Park | 2020 | 2024 |
| 19 | Dan Laursen | Republican | Powell | Big Horn, Park | 2014 | 2026 |
| 20 | Ed Cooper | Republican | Ten Sleep | Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Washakie | 2020 | 2024 |
| 21 | Bo Biteman | Republican | Ranchester | Sheridan | 2018 | 2026 |
| 22 | Dave Kinskey | Republican | Sheridan | Sheridan, Johnson | 2014* | 2024 |
| 23 | Eric Barlow | Republican | Gillette | Campbell | 2022 | 2026 |
| 24 | Troy McKeown | Republican | Gillette | Campbell | 2020 | 2024 |
| 25 | Cale Case | Republican | Lander | Fremont | 1998 | 2026 |
| 26 | Tim Salazar | Republican | Riverton | Fremont | 2020 | 2024 |
| 27 | Bill Landen | Republican | Casper | Natrona | 2007* | 2026 |
| 28 | James Lee Anderson | Republican | Casper | Natrona | 2012 | 2024 |
| 29 | Bob Ide | Republican | Casper | Natrona | 2022 | 2026 |
| 30 | Charles Scott | Republican | Casper | Natrona | 1982 | 2024 |
| 31 | Evie Brennan | Republican | Cheyenne | Laramie | 2022 | 2026 |
- *Senator was originally appointed
History
editWomen in the Senate
edit| Senator | Party | Residence | Senate Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dora McGrath | Republican | Thermopolis | 1931–1933 | First woman in the Wyoming Senate[1][2] |
| Willa Wales Corbitt | Democratic | Riverton | 1965-1969 | |
| Edness Kimball Wilkins | Democratic | Casper | 1967-1973 | First woman to serve as Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives[3] |
| June Boyle | Democratic | Laramie | 1973–1985 | |
| Catherine Parks | Republican | Gillette | 1979–1985 | |
| Win Hickey | Democratic | Cheyenne | 1981–1991 | |
| Lisa F. Kinney | Democratic | Laramie | 1985–1995 | |
| Della Herbst | Democratic | Sheridan | 1987–1993 | |
| Harriet Elizabeth Byrd | Democratic | Cheyenne | 1989–1993 | First African-American to serve in the State Legislature[4][5] |
| Susan C. Anderson | Democratic | Casper | 1993–1995 | |
| April Brimmer-Kunz | Republican | Cheyenne | 1993–2005 | First female President of the Senate |
| Barbara Cubin | Republican | Casper | 1993–1995 | Resigned to become U.S. Representative |
| Cynthia Lummis | Republican | Cheyenne | 1993–1995 | Later served as State Treasurer, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator |
| Mary MacGuire | Republican | Casper | 1993–1995 | Son Joe MacGuire currently serves in the Wyoming House of Representatives |
| Irene Devin | Republican | Laramie | 1997–2005 | |
| Rae Lynn Job | Democratic | Rock Springs | 1997–2009 | |
| E. Jayne Mockler | Democratic | Cheyenne | 1997–2009 | |
| Kathryn Sessions | Democratic | Cheyenne | 1999–2011 | |
| Jana H. Gunter | Democratic | Cheyenne | 2004–2005 | |
| Patricia Aullman | Republican | Thayne | 2005–2009 | |
| Saundra Meyer | Democratic | Evanston | 2009–2011 | |
| Leslie Nutting | Republican | Cheyenne | 2011–2015 | |
| Bernadine Craft | Democratic | Rock Springs | 2013–2017 | |
| Liisa Anselmi-Dalton | Democratic | Rock Springs | 2017–2021 | |
| Affie Ellis | Republican | Cheyenne | 2017–present | Member of the Navajo Nation, first Native American to serve in the Wyoming Senate.[6] |
| Tara Nethercott | Republican | Cheyenne | 2017–present | |
| Wendy Davis Schuler | Republican | Evanston | 2019–present | |
| Lynn Hutchings | Republican | Cheyenne | 2019–present | |
| Cheri Steinmetz | Republican | Lingle | 2019–present | |
| Evie Brennan | Republican | Cheyenne | 2023–present | |
| Stacy Jones | Republican | Rock Springs | 2023–present |
Past composition of the Senate
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Wyoming Women in the Legislature" (PDF). Historical Information. Wyoming: Wyoming Ssecretary of State Office. 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ "Nation's 147 Women Legislators Active". The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. January 19, 1931. Retrieved March 29, 2010.("In Wyoming, where women have been voting since 1869, Mrs. Dora McGrath is the first woman ever elected to the senate. Following her election last September she remarked that rather than go down to the legislature she would prefer to 'stay home and win prizes for my apple pies.'")
- ^ American legislative leaders in the West, 1911-1994. Sharp, Nancy Weatherly., Sharp, James Roger, 1936-. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. 1997. ISBN 031330212X. OCLC 35138609.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ University of Wyoming-UW Profiles Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd
- ^ "Liz" Byrd, first black woman in Wyoming House, dies at 88"
- ^ "First Native American". Women in Wyoming. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.