The Wyoming State Legislature

The Wyoming state legislature is bicameral and consists of a 30-member Senate and a 60-member House. The last election took place November 6, 2018. The Wyoming State Legislature maintains age requirements for candidacy; Senate: 25 years of age, House: 21 years of age.

 

Wyoming Demographic Background

The age composition of Wyoming’s population resembles the age composition in the United States as a whole. The largest generation is the Baby Boomer Generation (26.6%).1,2 Millennials are the second-largest generation with 22.5%. Almost 20% belong to Generation X. The Silent Generation makes up 10.9% of Wyoming’s population.

Over 84% of Wyoming’s population is White/Caucasian.3 Only 1% of the population is Black/African American. About 5% identify as other or multiple races/ethnicities. There are almost 10% that identify as Hispanic/Latino.

Generational Breakdown of the Wyoming State Legislature

The largest generation in the Wyoming state legislature is the Baby Boomer Generation, which is vastly over-represented with 50%. The second-largest generation are Millennials, with 12% of legislators. Generation X is represented with 10%. The smallest generation is the Silent Generation (5.6%). The mean age in the Wyoming state legislature is 57. Eight legislators are Young Elected Leaders age 35 or younger.

 

Generations in the Wyoming State Legislature

 

Generational Breakdown of the Wyoming House of Representatives
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millennial Generation 8 13.33%
Generation X 5 8.33%
Baby Boomer Generation 29 48.33%
Silent Generation 3 5.00%
NA* 15 25.00%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of representatives in the House is 56
  • The youngest members are Chuck Gray and Cyrus Western (both age 28/29)
  • The oldest member is Jim Blackburn, age 75

Seven individuals are Young Elected Leaders in the House:

  • Chuck Gray (28/29)
  • Cyrus Western (28/29)
  • Hans Hunt (31)
  • Jared Olsen (31)
  • Landon Brown (31/32)
  • Mike Yin (33)
  • Scot Clem (35)
Generational Breakdown of the Wyoming Senate
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millennial Generation 3 10.00%
Generation X 4 13.33%
Baby Boomer Generation 16 53.33%
Silent Generation 2 6.66%
NA* 5 16.50%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of Wyoming senators is 58.5
  • The youngest member is Brian Boner, age 34
  • The oldest member is Glenn W. Moniz, age 74
  • There is only 1 Young Elected Leader in the Senate, Brian Boner

Gender Breakdown of the Wyoming State Legislature

Women are very underrepresented in the Wyoming state legislature. Only about 15.5% of the legislators are female, 84.5% are male. Female legislators are on average almost 3 years younger than their male colleagues. All eight Young Elected Leaders are male.

In the House, 8 out of 60 Representatives are female. In the Senate, 6 of the 30 Senators are female.

 

Gender by Generation in the Wyoming House of Representatives

 

Gender by Generation in the Wyoming Senate

Ethnic Breakdown of the Wyoming State Legislature

Over 95% of the legislators in the Wyoming state legislature are White/Caucasian. There is one Black/African American legislator and one that identifies as Hispanic/Latino. 2 legislators have other ore multiple ethnicities. The ethnic composition of the Assembly and the Senate are very similar.  Seven out of 8 YELs in the legislature are White/Caucasian.

 

Ethnicities in the Wyoming State Legislature

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Wyoming House of Representatives

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Wyoming Senate

Partisan Breakdown of the Wyoming State Legislature

The Republican Party has an overwhelming majority both in the House and in the Senate. One YEL is a Democrat, 7 are Republicans.

 

Partisanship in the Wyoming State Legislature

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Wyoming House of Representatives

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Wyoming Senate

Notes

  1. The Young Elected Leaders Project collects and analyzes data on young elected officials across the country.  We define Young Elected Leaders (YELs) as officials 35 years and younger. We define the generations following the Pew Research Center:
  • Generation Z: 1997-2012
  • Millennial Generation: 1981-1996
  • Generation X: 1965-1980
  • Baby Boom Generation: 1946-1964
  • Silent Generation: 1928-1945

2. Single Years of Age and Sex, 2010, US Census.

3. Geographic and Housing Estimates (Age, Sex, Race, Households and Housing, …) 2017, US Census.

This analysis is based on data from April 2019 and was conducted on May 1, 2019.

See the Young Elected Leaders in the 116th United States Senate