Cheney in the House

The State of Wyoming: Last

Population

Wyoming is the least populated state in the nation, totaling just over 579,000 people, but it’s also the 10^th largest state in terms of size in the U.S. It is basically a vast area of rugged landscapes and some of the world’s greatest wilderness areas. Wyoming is known for its famous national parks, diverse wildlife, prairie and cowboy towns, pioneer museums, and hot springs.

Some of the major cities in Wyoming include Cheyenne (61,000 people), Casper (51,000), and Laramie (31,000). Many other states in the U.S. would not consider these cities "major" but for the scale of Wyoming's population as a whole, it is a different story. Running for the House of Representatives in Wyoming means that a candidate must appeal to the entire state---considering it is only made up of one single district.

There is quite a lack of diversity in Wyoming in terms of race. This lack of diversity is important to congressional elections because it means that the chance of a minority leader being elected into office is slim. The racial diversity of the population in Wyoming is currently at 91.2% Caucasian, 2.7% two or more races, 2.2% Native Americans, 1.8% other races, 1.1% African American, and .9% Asian.

In terms of favored religions among the population of Wyoming, Christian based faith affiliations are at 71%, while non-Christian faith affiliations are at 3%, leaving 26% without any particular religious affiliations.
The median age in Wyoming is just above 37 years, which is almost exactly the same as the national average (37.8).
The ACS 1-year survey shows that the median family income for Wyoming was $74,868 in 2017. Compared to the median US family income, Wyoming median family income is $977 higher. The lack of people living in the state is what makes Wyoming's average income higher than the National average (fewer people with high paying jobs are needed to increase it.)
Urban Vs Rural-- Wyoming has 17 (of 23) counties with fewer than six people per square mile; and the overall state averages 5.17 people per square mile. Forty-seven percent of Wyoming’s residents live in frontier areas of the state. With the exception of people living in Cheyenne and Casper, the remaining population lives in rural areas.

Though oil and gas production has declined since the 1970s, it remains one of the major industries in Wyoming, and has recently experienced a small boom as a result of hydraulic fracturing efforts.

Farming has played a central role in the state's history, and it remains one of the major industries in Wyoming. Beef is one of the state's most important products, and with 1.4 million cows, it has nearly 3 times as many cattle as people. These cows earn the state nearly $600 million a year in beef sales.
Manufacturing contributes $1.25 billion to the Wyoming economy, and the state's manufacturing exports have grown by nearly 50% in the last five years. Wyoming manufacturers specialize in petroleum refinement, with refineries in Evanston, Evansville, Cheyenne, Newcastle and Sinclair refining a total of 170,000 barrels of oil per day.

Party affiliation

According to the Secretary of State's Statewide Summary of Voter Registration in 2018, of the 262,000 people registered to vote in Wyoming, 18% were Democrats, 67% were Republican, and 15% were unaffiliated. Wyoming's history has shown that the state is largely Conservative, with almost every single county showing up "red" on election maps. This is bad news for democrats (or progressives) trying to gain a seat in congress. Due to Wyoming's roots being so Conservative, there is currently not much room for new ideas. The lack of diversity makes it fairly easy to pick out only representatives that fit the makeup of the state (Caucasian, Republican, Christian).

In the 2016 election, Donald Trump and Mike Pence received 67.40% of Wyoming's vote. Hillary Clinton did not even come close as she got her share of 21.63% of votes.