The 2016 Wyoming Republican presidential caucuses took place from February 16 until March 1 in the U.S. state of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

as one of the Republican Party's nomination contests ahead of the 2016 presidential election. While Wyoming is the least populous U.S. states, it is at the same time one of the most

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

-leaning states, and is therefore represented by a total of 29 delegates. Twelve of these delegates, one for each of Wyoming's counties were directly awarded to the counties' winners at the county conventions on March 12. Starting as one of the first nomination contests, the last caucuses were held on March 1, this year's "

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...

." The remaining 17 delegates were chosen by the State Convention held on April 14–16. The

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

was scheduled to hold their own Wyoming caucuses on April 9.

Background

Wyoming is the least populous of all 50 U.S. states. With almost 60% of the population identifying with or leaning towards the Republican Party, compared to less than 30% identifying with or leaning towards the Democrats, it is also the most solid Republican state, ahead of Idaho and Utah. In the 2012 presidential election, incumbent President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

received less than 28% of the votes, 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.

Procedure

As these were closed caucuses, only residents that are registered as Republican Party affiliates were allowed to participate in the nomination process. Registration was possible at the county clerks' offices, and was open to 17 year old residents turning 18 by the November 8

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

. Except for the registration, the caucuses in all of Wyoming's 23 counties were fully administered by the

Wyoming Republican Party The Wyoming Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Wyoming. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and is one of the strongest affiliates of the national Republican Party. The party currently controls Wyoming's at ...

. Starting as one of the first nomination contests, the last caucuses were held on March 1, this year's "

." The county results were however only published following the March 12 county conventions, together with the results of the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

caucuses.

Delegates

Twelve of Wyoming's 29 delegates, were directly awarded to the county conventions' winners. All but one of Wyoming's 23 counties were grouped into pairs of two(

Laramie County Laramie County is a county located at the southeast corner of the state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 100,512 or 17.4% of the state's total 2020 population, making it the most populous county in Wyoming, b ...

was alone). Ted Cruz won 9 delegates, Marco Rubio won one, Donald Trump won one, and one was elected as uncommitted. Rubio's delegates stated that she would vote for Cruz on a second ballot if there was one. Cruz won the 14 at-large state delegates available at the state convention on April 16. Apart from these, Wyoming will be represented by the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party as unpledged "

Superdelegates In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15% ...

" by virtue of their position. RNC Committeewoman Marti Halverson, one of the RNC delegates, declared her support for Cruz.

Results

Analysis

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

was able to win the Wyoming caucus by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

margin, thanks in part to support from

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

voters, who broke for Cruz over Trump throughout the primary. Wyoming has the third largest Mormon population in the country after neighboring

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

References

{{2016 Republican Primaries

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...