Wyoming Senate

Wyoming State Senate
Wyoming State Senate
67th Wyoming State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 10, 2023
Leadership
President	Ogden Driskill (R) ; since January 10, 2023
Vice President	Dave Kinskey (R) ; since January 10, 2023
Majority Leader	Larry Hicks (R) ; since January 10, 2023
Minority Leader	Chris Rothfuss (D) ; since January 7, 2013
Structure
Seats	31
Political groups	Majority Republican (29); Minority Democratic (2);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 3, Wyoming Constitution
Salary	$150/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 5, 2024; (15 seats)
Next election	November 3, 2026; (16 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Wyoming State Capitol; Cheyenne, Wyoming
Website
	Wyoming State Legislature

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.

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

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

Wyoming, 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

Map of current (March 2021) partisan composition of legislative districts for state senate:

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

Women in the Senate

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

References

^ "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.

External links

41°08′25″N 104°49′13″W / 41.14028°N 104.82028°W / 41.14028; -104.82028

[Redistricting-1] A 31st district was created during redistricting.

[Wyoming_Women_in_the_Legislature-2] "Wyoming Women in the Legislature" (PDF). Historical Information. Wyoming: Wyoming Ssecretary of State Office. 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.

[DORA1-3] "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.'")

[4] 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)

[Profiles-5] University of Wyoming-UW Profiles Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd

[6] "Liz" Byrd, first black woman in Wyoming House, dies at 88"

[7] "First Native American". Women in Wyoming. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.

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