Ageneral election was held in the U.S. state ofWyoming on Tuesday, November 7, 1950. All of the state's executive officers—the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction—were up for election. The Republican Party swept all of the offices. Following Democratic governorLester C. Hunt's election to the U.S. Senate in1948, Republican secretary of stateArthur G. Crane had been acting as governor. Republican CongressmanFrank A. Barrett was elected governor, and Republican candidates won the other statewide races.
Following GovernorLester C. Hunt's election to the U.S. Senate in1948, Republican secretary of stateArthur G. Crane had been acting as governor. Crane declined to seek re-election, and CongressmanFrank A. Barrett, the Republican nominee, defeated his congressional predecessor,John J. McIntyre, the Democratic nominee, for the Republican Party's first gubernatorial victory since1938.
Incumbent Republican secretary of stateArthur G. Crane had acted as governor starting in 1949, when Governor Hunt was sworn into the U.S. Senate. Crane declined to run for re-election in 1950. Accordingly, term-limited Republican state treasurerDoc Rogers ran to succeed him. He defeated State Senator Richard Luman in the Republican primary, and then facedCheyenne mayor Ben Nelson, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Despite the strong Republican performance across the state, Rogers only narrowly defeated Nelson. Ironically, just as Crane had acted as governor when Hunt was elected to the Senate, Governor Barrett would similarly be elected to the Senate in1952, elevating Rogers to the governorship.
Incumbent Republican state auditor Everett T. Copenhaver ran for re-election to a second term. He was challenged in the Republican primary by Sam Morgan, a state bank examiner, whom he handily defeated. Democrats did not seriously recruit a candidate to challenge Copenhaver, and political newcomer Robert Holland emerged as the nominee over attorney Leonard Schlather. Copenhaver easily defeated Holland, winning the largest margin of victory of any statewide candidate that year.
Incumbent Republican state treasurerDoc Rogers, unable to seek re-election, instead ran for secretary of state. A competitive Republican primary formed to replace him. State Representative J. Roy Mitchell ran against State Senate President George Burke and former state representative Paul Groesbeck. Like the1946 primary, the final result was close, with Mitchell beating Burke by fewer than 500 votes. In the general election, Mitchell faced State Representative Raymond B. Morris. Mitchell decisively defeated Morris, winning 56% of the vote to Morris's 44%. However, a little more than a year into his term, Morris died from a heart attack and his wife, Minnie Mitchell, was appointed as his replacement by Governor Barrett. She subsequently won a special election in1952 for the balance of her husband's term.
Incumbent Republican superintendent of public instruction Edna B. Stolt ran for re-election to a second term. She faced challenges in the Republican primary fromVerda James, who had served under Stolt as deputy superintendent, and from Henry L. Rebbe, Jr., who served as superintendent of schools for the town ofGlenrock. Though Stolt won renomination, she was unable to win a majority of the vote, winning just 49.5% of the vote to James's 35% and Rebbe's 15.5%. In the general election, she faced the Democratic nominee, Glenn K. Rogers, a high school teacher inCheyenne. Despite her weak performance in the Republican primary, Stolt overwhelmingly defeated Rogers in the general election, improving on her performance from1946.
