Who Runs the States, Wyoming

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Wyoming performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Wyoming Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Wyoming had Democratic governors in office for 6 years while there were Republican governors in office for 16 years, including the last 11. Wyoming was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Wyoming Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Wyoming State Senate. The Wyoming State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Wyoming was under Republican trifectas for the final three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Wyoming House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Wyoming House of Representatives. The Wyoming House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Wyoming, the Wyoming State Senate and the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in Wyoming during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Wyoming slightly less than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Wyoming’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 13.9, which puts it at 11 in the overall SQLI ranking.^[1]

• The year that Wyoming had the highest ranking was 2010, in which it ranked 4th.
• The year that Wyoming had the lowest ranking was 2007, in which it ranked 24th.
• The index type that Wyoming had the highest ranking in was 24/7 Wall Street’s Best and Worst Governed States, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Wyoming had the lowest ranking in was Government Employment Share of the Population, in which it ranked 50th.

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Wyoming state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Though Wyoming had a number of Republican trifectas during the course of the study, both its highest and lowest rankings occurred during divided governments. In 2007 it finished 24th, and in 2010 it finished 4th, marking a large shift in a short amount of time.

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs

Footnotes

	v • e State of Wyoming Cheyenne (capital)
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