1988 Wyoming Senate election

1988 Wyoming Senate election

← 1986 November 8, 1988 1990  →
15 out of 30 seats in the Wyoming Senate 16 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John F. Turner Win Hickey Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Sublette–Teton Laramie Last election 19 11 Seats after 19 11 Seat change Popular vote 98,442 92,772 Percentage 51.48% 48.52%
President before election John F. Turner Republican Elected President Russell Zimmer Republican

The 1988 Wyoming Senate election was held on November 8, 1988, to determine which party would control the Wyoming Senate for the following two years in the 50th Wyoming State Legislature. Fifteen of the 30 seats in the Wyoming Senate were up for election. Prior to the election, 19 seats were held by Republicans and 11 seats were held by Democrats. The general election saw neither party gain nor lose any seats, thereby meaning that Republicans retained their majority in the State Senate. ^[1]

Retirements

Democrats

1. Big Horn: Frank T. Hinckley retired.
2. Sweetwater: John R. Schmidt retired.

Republicans

1. Laramie: Richard R. Larson retired.
2. Park: Robert W. Frisby retired.
3. Platte: Donald R. Cundall retired.
4. Sheridan: Carleton F. Perry retired.

Incumbents defeated

In primary

Democrats

1. Laramie: Alvin Wiederspahn lost renomination to James L. Applegate and Liz Byrd.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Sheridan, 4.54%

Results

Albany

Albany election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lisa Kinney (incumbent)	7,239	63.07%
	Republican	Ted Gertsch	4,238	36.93%
Total votes			11,477	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Big Horn

Big Horn election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Allan Howard	2,632	57.38%
	Democratic	Francis Hecker	1,955	42.62%
Total votes			4,587	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Campbell–Johnson

Campbell–Johnson election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Perry (incumbent)	8,873	39.69%
	Republican	Kelly Mader (incumbent)	7,079	31.67%
	Democratic	Lawrence J. Hunter	3,277	14.66%
	Democratic	Ruth Slater	3,124	13.98%
Total votes			22,353	100.0%
	Republican hold
	Republican hold

Fremont

Fremont election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank Dusl (incumbent)	8,341	100.0%
Total votes			8,341	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Goshen–Niobrara

Goshen–Niobrara election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Russell W. Zimmer	3,724	58.29%
	Democratic	Anne Gardetto	2,665	41.71%
Total votes			6,389	100.0%
	Republican hold

Laramie

Laramie election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Liz Byrd	15,122	28.69%
	Democratic	James L. Applegate	13,878	26.33%
	Republican	John Clay	12,881	24.44%
	Republican	Richard M. Baker	10,821	20.53%
Total votes			52,702	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican
	Democratic hold

Natrona

Natrona election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Sullivan (incumbent)	16,339	35.88%
	Republican	Diemer True (incumbent)	15,904	34.92%
	Democratic	Linda Burkhart	7,642	16.78%
	Democratic	Lowell Stephens	5,657	12.42%
Total votes			52,702	100.0%
	Republican hold
	Republican hold

Park

Park election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Coe	6,244	64.34%
	Democratic	Felix Bessler	3,460	35.66%
Total votes			9,704	100.0%
	Republican hold

Platte

Platte election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Geringer	2,614	65.48%
	Democratic	A. Edward Kendig	1,378	34.52%
Total votes			3,992	100.0%
	Republican hold

Sheridan

Sheridan election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Kinnison	5,557	52.29%
	Democratic	James Bankes	5,070	47.71%
Total votes			10,627	100.0%
	Republican hold

Sweetwater

Sweetwater election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carl Maldonado	9,756	100.0%
Total votes			9,756	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Uinta

Uinta election, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Fanos (incumbent)	4,208	73.26%
	Republican	Ken Near	1,536	26.74%
Total votes			5,744	100.0%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "50th Legislature" (PDF). wyoarchives.wyo.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2025.