Wyoming Senate

Wyoming State Senate
Wyoming State Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 13, 2015
Leadership
Phil Nicholas (R)
Since January 13, 2015
Vice President of the Senate
Drew Perkins (R)
Since January 13, 2015
Majority Leader
Eli Bebout (R)
Since January 13, 2015
Minority Leader
Chris Rothfuss (D)
Since January 7, 2013
Structure
Seats 30
Political groups

Governing party

Opposition party

Length of term
4 years
Authority Article 3, Wyoming Constitution
Salary $150/day + per diem
Elections
Last election
November 4, 2014
(15 seats)
Next election
November 1, 2016
(15 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 30 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
Beginning of 63rd Legislature 26 4 30 0
Latest voting share 86.7% 13.3%

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 Phil Nicholas of District 10 (Laramie).

Position Name Party
President of the Senate Phil Nicholas Republican
Majority Leader Eli Bebout Republican
Senate Vice President Drew Perkins Republican
Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss Democratic
Minority Whip Bernadine Craft Democratic

Members of the Wyoming Senate

District Representative Party Residence Counties Represented
1 Ogden Driskill Republican Devils Tower Converse, Crook, Goshen, Niobrara, Weston
2 Jim Anderson Republican Glenrock Converse, Platte
3 Curt Meier Republican LaGrange Goshen, Platte
4 Tony Ross Republican Cheyenne Laramie
5 Fred Emerich Republican Cheyenne Laramie
6 Wayne Johnson Republican Cheyenne Laramie
7 Stephan Pappas Republican Cheyenne Laramie
8 Floyd Esquibel Democratic Cheyenne Laramie
9 Chris Rothfuss Democratic Laramie Albany
10 Phil Nicholas Republican Laramie Albany
11 Larry S. Hicks Republican Baggs Albany, Carbon
12 Bernadine Craft Democratic Rock Springs Fremont, Sweetwater
13 John Hastert Democratic Green River Sweetwater
14 Stan Cooper Republican Kemmerer Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta
15 Paul Barnard Republican Evanston Uinta
16 Dan Dockstader Republican Afton Lincoln, Sublette, Teton
17 Leland Christensen Republican Alta Fremont, Teton
18 Hank Coe Republican Cody Park
19 R. Ray Peterson Republican Cowley Big Horn, Park
20 Gerald Geis Republican Worland Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Washakie
21 Bruce Burns Republican Sheridan Sheridan
22 Dave Kinskey Republican Sheridan Sheridan, Johnson
23 Jeff Wasserburger Republican Gillette Campbell
24 Michael Von Flatern Republican Gillette Campbell
25 Cale Case Republican Lander Fremont
26 Eli Bebout Republican Riverton Fremont
27 Bill Landen Republican Casper Natrona
28 James Lee Anderson Republican Casper Natrona
29 Drew Perkins Republican Casper Natrona
30 Charles Scott Republican Casper Natrona

History

Dora McGrath became the first woman elected to the Wyoming State Senate, in 1930.[1][2]

Harriet Elizabeth Byrd was the first African-American to serve in the Wyoming State Senate from 1988 to 1992, and was also the first African-American to serve in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988.[3][4]

See also

References

  1. "Wyoming Women in the Legislature" (PDF). Historical Information. Wyoming: Wyoming Ssecretary of State Office. 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  2. Associated Press (January 19, 1931). "Nation's 147 Women Legislators Active". The Palm Beach Post. 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.'")
  3. University of Wyoming-UW Profiles Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd
  4. "Liz" Byrd, first black woman in Wyoming House, dies at 88"

External links

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

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