The 1988 United States Senate election in Wyoming was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican Senator Malcolm Wallop ran for re-election to a third term. He was opposed by Democratic State Senator John Vinich in the general election. Despite Wallop's past strong performances in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, and the overwhelming Republican majority in Wyoming in the presidential election, Wallop faced a surprisingly competitive race. He ended up defeating Vinich by less than 1%, by a margin of just 1,322 votes. , this remains the strongest performance by a Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Wyoming since

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, the last time a Democrat won a Senate election in the state.This is also the closest US Senate race in Wyoming history.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* John Vinich, State Senator * Pete Maxfield, former Dean of the

University of Wyoming School of Law The University of Wyoming College of Law is the law school of the University of Wyoming and the only law school located in Wyoming. It is situated in the Rocky Mountains in Laramie, Wyoming at 7,165 ft. between the Laramie Mountains and S ...

Lynn Simons Lynn Simons is an American politician and educator who served as the 17th Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1979 to 1991, as a member of the Democratic Party. She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic senatorial nomination in 198 ...

, Wyoming Superintendent of Instruction

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Malcolm Wallop, incumbent U.S. Senator * Nora Marie Lewis, farmer * Bud Kinney, perennial candidate * Michael J. Dee, perennial candidate, marijuana legalization advocate * Russ Hanrahan, retired air traffic controller

Results

General election

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 United States Senate Election In Wyoming United States Senate elections in Wyoming Wyoming United States Senate