Wyoming Senate

Wyoming State Senate
Wyoming State Senate
66th Wyoming State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 12, 2021
Leadership
President	Dan Dockstader (R) ; since January 12, 2021
Vice President of the Senate	Larry Hicks (R) ; since January 12, 2021
Majority Leader	Ogden Driskill (R) ; since January 12, 2021
Minority Leader	Chris Rothfuss (D) ; since January 7, 2013
Structure
Seats	30
Political groups	Majority Republican (28); Minority Democratic (2);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 3, Wyoming Constitution
Salary	$150/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 3, 2020; (15 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2022; (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

End of 63rd Legislature	26	4	30	0

End of 64th Legislature	27	3	30	0

End of 65th Legislature	27	3	30	0

Beginning of 66th Legislature	28	2	30	0
Latest voting share	93%	7%

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 Dan Dockstader of District 16 (Afton).

Position	Name	Party
President of the Senate	Dan Dockstader	Republican
Senate Vice President	Larry Hicks	Republican
Majority Leader	Ogden Driskill	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	Next election
1	Ogden Driskill	Republican	Devils Tower	Campbell, Crook, Weston	2022
2	Brian Boner	Republican	Douglas	Converse, Platte	2024
3	Cheri Steinmetz	Republican	Lingle	Goshen, Niobrara, Weston	2022
4	Tara Nethercott	Republican	Cheyenne	Laramie	2024
5	Lynn Hutchings	Republican	Cheyenne	Laramie	2022
6	Anthony Bouchard	Republican	Carpenter	Laramie	2024
7	Stephan Pappas	Republican	Cheyenne	Laramie	2022
8	Affie Ellis	Republican	Cheyenne	Laramie	2024
9	Chris Rothfuss	Democratic	Laramie	Albany	2022
10	Dan Furphy	Republican	Laramie	Albany	2024
11	Larry S. Hicks	Republican	Baggs	Albany, Carbon	2022
12	John Kolb	Republican	Rock Springs	Fremont, Sweetwater	2024
13	Tom James	Republican	Rock Springs	Sweetwater	2022
14	Fred Baldwin	Republican	Kemmerer	Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta	2024
15	Wendy Davis Schuler	Republican	Evanston	Uinta	2022
16	Dan Dockstader	Republican	Afton	Lincoln, Sublette, Teton	2024
17	Mike Gierau	Democratic	Jackson Hole	Teton	2022
18	Tim French	Republican	Powell	Park	2024
19	R. J. Kost	Republican	Powell	Big Horn, Park	2022
20	Ed Cooper	Republican	Ten Sleep	Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Washakie	2024
21	Bo Biteman	Republican	Ranchester	Sheridan	2022
22	Dave Kinskey	Republican	Sheridan	Sheridan, Johnson	2024
23	Jeff Wasserburger	Republican	Gillette	Campbell	2022
24	Troy McKeown	Republican	Gillette	Campbell	2024
25	Cale Case	Republican	Lander	Fremont	2022
26	Tim Salazar	Republican	Riverton	Fremont	2024
27	Bill Landen	Republican	Casper	Natrona	2022
28	James Lee Anderson	Republican	Casper	Natrona	2024
29	Drew Perkins	Republican	Casper	Natrona	2022
30	Charles Scott	Republican	Casper	Natrona	2024

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]
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 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 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 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

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.
^ 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.'")
^ American legislative leaders in the West, 1911-1994. Sharp, Nancy Weatherly., Sharp, James Roger, 1936-. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. 1997. ISBN 031330212X. OCLC 35138609.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[]

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

[Wyoming_Women_in_the_Legislature-1] "Wyoming Women in the Legislature" (PDF). Historical Information. Wyoming: Wyoming Ssecretary of State Office. 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.

[DORA1-2] 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] American legislative leaders in the West, 1911-1994. Sharp, Nancy Weatherly., Sharp, James Roger, 1936-. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. 1997. ISBN 031330212X. OCLC 35138609.CS1 maint: others (link)

[Profiles-4] University of Wyoming-UW Profiles Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd

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

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

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[5]

[6]

show v t Members of the Wyoming Senate
66th Legislature (2021) President Dan Dockstader (R) Vice President Larry S. Hicks (R) Majority Leader Ogden Driskill (R) Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss (D)
Ogden Driskill (R) Brian Boner (R) Cheri Steinmetz (R) Tara Nethercott (R) Lynn Hutchings (R) Anthony Bouchard (R) Stephan Pappas (R) Affie Ellis (R) Chris Rothfuss (D) Dan Furphy (R) Larry S. Hicks (R) John Kolb (R) Tom James (R) Fred Baldwin (R) Wendy Schuler (R) Dan Dockstader (R) Mike Gierau (D) Tim French (R) R. J. Kost (R) Ed Cooper (R) Bo Biteman (R) Dave Kinskey (R) Jeff Wasserburger (R) Troy McKeown (R) Cale Case (R) Tim Salazar (R) Bill Landen (R) Jim Anderson (R) Drew Perkins (R) Charles Scott (R)
Republican (28) Democratic (2) Wyoming Legislature Wyoming House of Representatives Wyoming Senate

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