The 2016 Wyoming Democratic presidential caucuses were held on April 9 in the U.S. state of Wyoming, representing the first tier of the

Wyoming Democratic Party 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 th ...

nomination contest A nomination contest, in Canadian politics, is the process by which a political party chooses their candidate for the next general election. Each nomination contest is held by the party's local riding association. On occasion, a political party's h ...

for the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kirib ...

. Only registered Democrats were allowed to participate in the closed precinct caucuses. Vermont Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

won the contest with 55.7% of the county delegates, distancing the national frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by more than 10%. Following a series of primary wins, the Wyoming vote further boosted his momentum, ten days ahead of the important New York primary. At the May 28 state convention, the two candidates split the 14 pledged delegates evenly. Sanders was widely expected to win an outright majority of the delegates in the least populous and most Republican-leaning U.S. state, though no opinion polls had been conducted. Clinton enjoyed the support of the four party leaders attending the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

as unpledged " superdelegates," improving upon her performance in her first candidacy in the

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, although this time she didn't campaign in person. After the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

already held their own Wyoming caucuses earlier in March, no other primaries were scheduled for that day by either party.

Background

Political landscape

Wyoming is the least populous of all 50 U.S. states. With less than 30% of the population identifying with or leaning towards the Democratic Party, compared to almost 60% identifying with or leaning towards the Republicans, it is also the most solid Republican state, ahead of Idaho and Utah. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

, incumbent President Barack Obama received less than 28% of the Wyoming vote, trailing

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

by more than 40 points, after running unopposed in the Democratic caucuses. In his first presidential election in 2008, running against Republican candidate

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

, he received 32.5% of the vote, after defeating Hillary Clinton in the Wyoming caucuses with 61% of the popular vote. In her first candidacy Clinton had surprisingly made Wyoming a focus of her campaign, joining both her daughter Chelsea and husband Bill Clinton in a final campaign sprint.

2016 campaign

Though no opinion polls have been conducted in Wyoming,

was expected to win a clear majority of the 14 pledged delegates. Ten days ahead of the important New York primary, Sanders hoped to extend his series of wins. National frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who enjoyed the support of the four party leaders attending the

as unpledged " superdelegates," though she time didn't campaign in Wyoming in person. Instead, her campaign sent her husband, former President Bill Clinton to hold a stump speech in Cheyenne's Kiwanis Community House, which was attended by some 500 people., more than the final reported turnout of 280.

Procedure

First-tier county caucuses

As these are closed caucuses, only residents registered as Democratic Party affiliates could participate in the nomination process. Registration was possible at the county clerks' offices by March 25, and was open to 17 year old residents turning 18 by the November 8 presidential election. Except for the registration, the caucuses are fully administered by the

, and are held at 11 a.m. local time (

MDT MDT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Medtronic, an Irish medical technology company * Minnesota Dance Theatre, a dance school and company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States * MDT Armor Corporation, an American military equipme ...

) in each of Wyoming's 23 counties.

State convention pledging national delegates

The first-tier county caucuses elected 280 state delegates to the Wyoming Democratic Party's state convention, took place on May 28. There, all present state delegates nominated the national delegates to the

. While Wyoming's Democrats sent 18 delegates to the

, only 14 out of these will be pledged to the candidates in proportion to the electorate's preferences. The remaining four Wyoming delegates are unpledged "Party Leaders and Elected Officials" (PLEOs), or " Superdelegates", who may vote for whomever they wish at the party's upcoming National Convention. Out of the 14 pledged delegates, eight district-level delegates pledged to one of the candidates in proportion to the support received at all 23 caucuses of Wyoming's single congressional district. Another six delegates are pledged at the 28 May State Convention, in proportion to the support each candidate receives there. Candidates with less than 15% support were discarded for being "not viable".

Superdelegates

The state party's four superdelegates, Ana Cuprill, Mike Gierau, Mary Hales and Bruce Palmer, are members of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

(DNC), and have previously endorsed Clinton.

Results

Vermont senator

won the contest with 55.7% of the county delegates. The two candidates were however expected to split the 14 pledged delegates evenly, though the final apportionment took place at the May 28 state convention, and depended on all elected county delegates showing up. Clinton enjoyed the support of the four party leaders attending the

as unpledged " superdelegates," improved upon her performance in her first candidacy in

Detailed results per county

, - ! rowspan=2 style="width:45px;" , County ! colspan=3 style="width:80px;" , Delegates , - ! Total ! Sanders ! Clinton , - , Albany , 33 , 25 , 8 , - , Big Horn , 4 , 2 , 2 , - , Campbell , 18 , 12 , 6 , - , Carbon , 7 , 3 , 4 , - , Converse , 5 , 3 , 2 , - , Crook , 2 , 1 , 1 , - , Fremont , 20 , 10 , 10 , - , Goshen , 5 , 2 , 3 , - ,

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, 2 , 1 , 1 , - , Johnson , 2 , 1 , 1 , - , Laramie , 51 , 25 , 26 , - , Lincoln , 6 , 3 , 3 , - , Natrona , 38 , 18 , 20 , - , Niobrara , 2 , 2 , 0 , - ,

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, 13 , 8 , 5 , - , Platte , 3 , 2 , 1 , - ,

Sheridan Sheridan may refer to: People Surname *Sheridan (surname) *Philip Sheridan (1831–1888), U.S. Army general after whom the Sheridan tank is named *Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), Irish playwright (''The Rivals''), poet and politician ...

, 14 , 7 , 7 , - , Sublette , 4 , 3 , 1 , - , Sweetwater , 22 , 12 , 10 , - , Teton , 15 , 9 , 6 , - ,

Uinta Uinta or Uintah may refer to: People * Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah Places * High Uintas Wilderness * Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Utah * Uintah County, Utah * Uinta County, Wyoming * Uinta Mountains, in ...

, 9 , 5 , 4 , - , Washakie , 3 , 1 , 2 , - , Weston , 2 , 1 , 1 , - ! Total ! 280 ! 156 ! 124

References

{{2016 Democratic primaries Wyoming Democratic caucuses

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