The 1962 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 6, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They occurred in the middle of President John F. Kennedy's term. His Democratic Party made a net gain of four seats from the Republicans, increasing their control of the Senate to 68-32. However, this was reduced to 67-33 between the election and the next Congress, as on November 18, 1962, Democrat Dennis Chávez, who was not up for election that year, died. He was replaced on November 30, 1962, by Republican appointee Edwin L. Mechem. This was the first time since 1932 that Democrats gained seats in this class of Senators.
The 1960 United States Senate elections coincided with the election of John F. Kennedy as president on November 8, 1960. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. A special election was also held on June 28, 1960, for a mid-term vacancy in North Dakota. The Republicans gained two seats at the expense of the Democrats. However, Republican Senator-elect Edwin Keith Thomson of Wyoming died December 9, 1960, and was replaced by appointee Democratic John J. Hickey at the beginning of the Congress, reducing Republican gains to one seat.
Milward Lee Simpson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming, the first born in the state. In 1985, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
John Joseph Hickey, known as Joe or J. J. Hickey, was an American judge and politician who served the 24th Governor of Wyoming and Senator as a Democrat before sitting on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was the first Governor of Wyoming to be born in the 20th century.
Edwin Keith Thomson, usually known as Keith Thomson, was a United States representative from Wyoming. A highly decorated World War II veteran, Thomson served three terms in Wyoming's only U.S. House seat. On November 8, 1960, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but died a month later of a heart attack before taking office.
The Wyoming Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, headquartered in Cheyenne. The party was strong during Wyoming's territorial days, but suffered a decline in its early statehood. It rose to prominence again from the 1930s to the 1950s before experiencing another decline.
The 1960 United States Senate election in Wyoming was held on November 8, 1960. Incumbent Democratic Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney was first appointed to the U.S. Senate from Wyoming's Class 1 Senate seat in 1934, and was re-elected in 1934, 1940, and 1946 before losing re-election in 1952. He was then elected to the Class 2 Senate seat in 1954. O'Mahoney, in failing health and increasingly limited in his mobility, declined to run for a fifth non-consecutive term in the Senate. The winner of this election, Keith Thomson, died before assuming his elected office.
Peter Kooi Simpson Sr. is an American historian and politician. He is a member of the Simpson political family of Wyoming. From 1981 to 1984, he was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from Sheridan, where at the time he was employed in administration by the community college, Sheridan College.
The 1976 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee ran for re-election to his fourth term. Following a close win in his first race in 1958, McGee won wider victories in 1964 and 1970, even as the state's electorate grew more conservative. In 1976, McGee faced a strong challenge from State Senator Malcolm Wallop, the Republican nominee. Despite McGee's past victories in the state, he faced considerable headwinds as President Gerald Ford won the state over Jimmy Carter convincingly, even as Ford was losing nationwide. In the end, despite McGee's ability to significantly outperform other Democratic candidates, he was unable to defeat Wallop, and lost re-election by a fairly wide margin, winning just 45% of the vote to Wallop's 55%.
The 1964 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee ran for re-election to his second term. In the general election, he faced Republican nominee John S. Wold, the former Chairman of the Republican Party of Wyoming and a former State Representative. Despite Wyoming's long conservative streak, McGee was aided by the strong performance by President Lyndon B. Johnson in Wyoming. McGee ended up winning re-election by a relatively narrow, but decisive, margin, beating Wold 54-46%.
The 1966 United States Senate election in Wyoming was held on November 8, 1966. First-term Republican Senator Milward Simpson, who was first elected in the 1962 special election, declined to seek re-election because of his declining health. Governor Clifford Hansen won the Republican primary and faced Democratic Congressman Teno Roncalio in the general election. Despite the strong performance by Republicans nationwide, and the strong Republican victory in the gubernatorial election, the race was quite close. Hansen ended up winning, defeating Roncalio with 52% of the vote.
The 1970 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee ran for re-election to his third term. In a rematch of the 1964 election, he once again faced Republican John S. Wold, who at this time represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives. 1970 proved to be a fairly strong year for Wyoming Republicans; Governor Stanley Hathaway was re-elected in a landslide and the party won all of the other statewide offices. However, McGee proved popular, and managed to increase his margin from 1964, beating Wold by a solid 56–44% margin. As of 2021, this was the last time that a Democratic candidate won a United States Senate election in Wyoming, currently the second-longest winning streak for the Republican Party, second to Kansas.
The 1982 United States Senate election in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Republican Senator Malcolm Wallop ran for his second term. He was challenged in the general election by former State Senator Rodger McDaniel, the Democratic nominee. Despite the strong national environment for Democratic candidates that year, Democratic Governor Edgar Herschler's landslide re-election, and the closeness of Wallop's campaign with former Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee in 1976, the contest between Wallop and McDaniel was largely non-competitive. Wallop won re-election by a wide margin, winning 57% of the vote to McDaniel's 43%.
The 1970 Wyoming gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Republican Governor Stanley Hathaway ran for re-election to a second term. He faced Democratic nominee John J. Rooney, a State Representative and the former Chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party. Despite Democratic Senator Gale W. McGee's strong performance in the U.S. Senate race, Hathaway's popularity proved an insurmountable obstacle for Rooney to overcome, and the Governor won a second term in a landslide.
The 1962 Wyoming gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1962. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jack R. Gage, who ascended to the governorship after his predecessor, John J. Hickey, appointed himself to the U.S. Senate in 1961, ran for re-election. After beating back a strong challenge from former Secretary of State William M. Jack in the Democratic primary, he then faced Republican nominee Clifford Hansen, the President of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees and a former Teton County Commissioner. The year proved poor for Wyoming Democrats, as Hansen handily defeated Gage and as Senator Hickey was defeated for re-election by former Governor Milward Simpson.
The 1958 Wyoming gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1958. Incumbent Republican Governor Milward Simpson ran for re-election to a second term. He was challenged by John J. Hickey, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming and the Democratic nominee. Following a close campaign, Hickey narrowly defeated Simpson for re-election, winning just a narrow plurality because of a third-party candidate in the race. In an irony, just four years later, in the 1962 special U.S. Senate election, Simpson would defeat Hickey, avenging his loss in the gubernatorial election.
The 1954 United States Senate elections in Wyoming took place on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Democratic Senator Lester C. Hunt, who decided not to be a candidate for re-election, committed suicide by firearm on June 19, 1954, and Republican Governor Clifford J. Rogers appointed former state highway commissioner Edward D. Crippa to replace him. Two elections for the Senate seat were held on the same day; one as a special election to fill the remainder of Hunt's original six-year term, and another to select a Senator to serve the next six-year term. Senator Crippa did not run for re-election.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Wyoming on Tuesday, November 4, 1958. All of the state's executive officers—the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction—were up for election. Democrats had a largely good year, picking up the Governorship and the Secretary of State's office and holding the State Superintendent's office, though Republicans were returned as State Auditor and State Treasurer.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Wyoming on Tuesday, November 7, 1962. All of the state's executive officers—the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction—were up for election. Republicans ran the table on the state's executive offices, defeating incumbent Governor Jack R. Gage and incumbent Superintendent Velma Linford and picking up the Secretary of State's office. Republican State Auditor Minnie A. Mitchell was re-elected and Republicans also held the Treasurer's office.
