Candidate Center

Our new candidate center is designed to help keep you up-to-date with the campaigns going on across the country. Click on your state of interest and you’ll find a list of candidates running for each federal office, a brief overview of the state, and specific information for campaigns of interest as it becomes available. In the near future, the candidate center will include polls that will be updated as new ones are released, and links to FEC data.

Wyoming

Presidential caucuses: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 (GOP)
Presidential caucuses: Saturday, March 8, 2008 (Dem County Conventions)
Congressional filing deadline: May 30, 2008
Congressional primary: Tuesday, August 19, 2008

President (3 Electoral Votes)

John Kerry received less than 30 percent of the vote in Wyoming, and Al Gore received little more, so this state is not in play.

U.S. Senate - Mike Enzi (Rep)

Due to the untimely death of senator Craig Thomas earlier this year there will be two senate elections held in Wyoming to 2008. Incumbent Mike Enzi is expected to win reelection easily, as there is no well-known Democrat willing to take on the popular incumbent.

Mike Enzi (Rep) - Incumbent
Cynthia Lummis (Rep) - Former State Treasurer
Matt Mead (Rep) - Former US Attorney
Paul Hickey (Dem) - Attorney, 2002 Governor Candidate and Son of Former Governor Joseph Hickey
Mike Massie (Dem) - State Senate Democratic Caucus Chair and Former State Representative
Gary Trauner (Dem) - Teton County School Board Chair, Internet Executive and 2006 Nominee

U.S. Senate (Special Election) - John Barraso (Rep)

Newcomer John Barraso was recently tapped to serve out the remainder of this term in place of Craig Thomas, which will set up a special election for the Senate seat. Democrats best chance to win the seat would arise if popular governor Dave Frudenthal were to run. However, this seems very unlikely at best.

Gillete attorney Nick Carter, a Democrat, recently said that he is pondering a possible run against Barraso.

John Barrasso (Rep) - Special Election in 2008

U.S. House - Barbara Cubin (Rep)

At-Large, Cheyenne, Caspar, Laramie

Finally ending months of speculation, Barbara Cubin announced on November 12 that she intends to retire at the end of the term. In 2006, the district was more competitive than usual with Cubin winning by less than a percentage point. Cubin's retirement sets up an open seat race for Wyoming's statewide district. Though open seats are more vulnerable to flipping, Cubin's exit is a mixed blessing. Part of this seat's newfound vulnerability was Cubin's personal unpopularity. Republicans will now be able to replace Cubin with a less polarizing candidate.

However, Democrats do have a strong candidate for the race, 2006 candidate Gary Trauner, who is very capable of winning the race against any GOP candidate.

At this point there are several Republican candidates vying for the nomination. State House Majority leader Colin Simpson, the son of former Senator Alan Simpson, retired Navy officer Bill Winney, state representative Dan Zwonitzer who is the youngest member of the Wyoming State House, Kenn Gilchrist, a Casper businessman; Swede Nelson, a substitute teacher and motivational speaker from Cheyenne;

Barbara Cubin (Rep) - Incumbent
Colin Simpson (Rep) - State House Majority Leader and Son of Former US Senate Alan Simpson
Gary Trauner (Dem) - Teton County School Board Chair, Internet Executive and 2006 Nominee