Ageneral election was held in the U.S. state ofWyoming on Tuesday, November 5, 1946. All of the state's executive officers—the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction—were up for election. The election was largely a rout for the Republican Party. Though Democratic governorLester C. Hunt was narrowly re-elected, Democrats lost their two other state offices: auditor and secretary of state (which they picked up following a vacancy). Moreover, they were unable to win back any other state offices.
Incumbent Democratic governorLester C. Hunt ran for re-election to a second term. Though his predecessor, former governorNels H. Smith, planned a rematch against Hunt, he lost the Republican primary to State Treasurer Earl Wright. In the general election, Hunt defeated Wright by a narrow margin, but improved from his1942 election. During Hunt's second term, he would be elected to the U.S. Senate in1948, vacating his office. Secretary of StateArthur G. Crane ascended to the governorship, while still acting as secretary of state.
In 1944, Republican secretary of state Mart Christensen died while in office. Governor Hunt appointed longtime State AuditorWilliam M. Jack as Christensen's replacement. Jack declined to run for re-election or for any other office,[2] creating an open seat. Earl R. Burns, the Chairman of theWyoming Public Service Commission, won the Democratic nomination unopposed and advanced to the general election againstArthur G. Crane, the former President of theUniversity of Wyoming. The general election was not close, and Crane was elected secretary of state over Burns by a landslide. During Crane's term, Governor Hunt would be elected to the U.S. Senate, and Crane would serve as both acting governor and secretary of state.
Following the death of Secretary of State Mart T. Christensen, Democratic state auditorWilliam M. Jack was appointed as his replacement by governor, who, in turn, appointed Carl Robinson as Jack's successor. In 1945, Robinson resigned from office and Governor Hunt appointed former CongressmanJohn J. McIntyre as his replacement.[5] McIntyre opted torun for Congress rather than seek re-election, and no other Democratic candidates filed for the election. In early July, however, Major Alvin C. Wade of theUnited States Army announced a write-in campaign,[6] and won enough votes to receive the Democratic nomination.[1] In the general election, Copenhaver defeated Wade by a decisive margin.
No Democratic candidates filed to run for auditor. However, on July 8, Major Alvin C. Wade of the U.S. Army announced that he would run as a write-in candidate for the party's nomination.[6] He accepted the nomination upon receiving the requisite number of write-in votes.
Everett T. Copenhaver, assistant state examiner, former deputy secretary of state, former state representative fromConverse County,1942 Republican nominee for auditor[7]
Incumbent Republican state treasurer Earl Wright, unable to seek re-election, instead opted torun for Governor.Doc Rogers, who had unsuccessfully run for Auditor in1938 and Treasurer in1942, ran against State Senator Thomas Stirling and former state representative Carl Dallam in a close Republican primary. Rogers was narrowly leading Stirling as votes were tallied on election night,[8] with the final tally putting him ahead of Stirling by 99 votes. However, alleged irregularities with how the primary was conducted inNatrona County were raised, namely that "candidate names had not been properly placed on ballots and that ballots had been opened before being placed in ballot boxes." However, the secretary of state's office concluded that it was without jurisdiction to evaluate the allegations and certified Rogers's nomination.[9]
In the general election, Rogers faced Democratic nominee David B. Gilfillan, the State Commissioner of Labor. Despite the closeness of the Republican primary and allegations of impropriety, the general election was not close, and Rogers defeated Gilfillan in a landslide.
Incumbent Republican superintendent of public instruction Esther Anderson declined to run for a third term, instead endorsing Edna B. Stolt, the Supervisor of Elementary and Special Education the State Department of Education, as her successor.[13] Stolt faced high school teacher Nancy L. Jones and former governorAlonzo M. Clark in the Republican primary, whom she narrowly defeated to advance to the general election.Velma Linford, a high school teacher, won the Democratic primary unopposed and opposed Stolt in the general election. Despite the broad support for Republican candidates around the state, the race between Stolt and Linford was close, with Stolt only beating her opponent by 2,545 votes.
