Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) Elected 2002, 1st term up Jan. 2007
Born:	Oct. 12, 1950, Thermopolis
Home:	Cheyenne
Education:	Amherst Col., B.A. 1973, U. of WY, J.D. 1980
Religion:	Episcopalian
Marital Status:	married (Nancy)
Professional Career:	Practicing atty. 1980-94; U.S. Atty. for WY, 1994-2001
Office	State Capitol Bldg., Rm. 124, Cheyenne 82002, 307-777-7434; Fax: 307-632-3909; Web: www.state.wy.us.
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Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, was elected governor of Wyoming in 2002. He grew up on a farm north of Thermopolis, the seventh of eight children. Freudenthal (pronounced FREE-den-thal) graduated from Amherst College and then returned to Wyoming to work for the state Department of Economic Planning and Development. Ed Herschler, a Democrat elected to the first of his three terms as governor in 1974, appointed him state planning coordinator in 1975 and administrative aide in 1978. In 1980 he graduated from the University of Wyoming Law School. From 1981 to 1993 he practiced law in Cheyenne; he also served on the Blueprint for Business Committee, the Wyoming Futures Project and the Economic Development and Stabilization Board and from 1981 to 1985 he was Wyoming Democratic chairman. In 1994 he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Wyoming and served until 2001. Then he started running for governor.

The incumbent, Republican Jim Geringer, was ineligible to run for a third term. Five Republicans and four Democrats got into the race. All agreed that economic development was a key concern. Freudenthal's chief competitor in the Democratic primary was Paul Hickey, son of Joseph Hickey, who was elected governor in 1958 and who was appointed to the Senate in January 1961. In the August primary Freudenthal beat Hickey 54%-37%. The winner in the Republican primary was state House Speaker Eli Bebout, with 49% of the vote. Bebout and his brother owned a mining business in Riverton that repaired cave-ins in old mines; he also had other mining investments. He had been elected to the state House in 1986 as a Democrat, but switched parties in 1994.

The two nominees had similar positions on many issues--for the death penalty, against gun control, for economic diversification, against a state income tax. Freudenthal called for a more efficient audit of oil and gas companies; he noted that the legislature insisted on auditing schools, but not the companies whose taxes furnished one-third of the state budget. Bebout claimed there were "huge differences" between him and Freudenthal and pointed out that, as U.S. Attorney, Freudenthal was a Clinton nominee. But his business interests caused him some problems. One of his primary opponents attacked him because a company on whose board he served had applied to build a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear rods. After the August primary the Casper Star-Tribune reported that SEC documents showed that he had not repaid a $468,000 loan made in 1983 by a company on whose board he served; Bebout presented the paper with a copy of the loan with "PAID" stamped on it. Polls showed many voters undecided, and on Election Day Freudenthal won 50%-48%. He won 59%-39% in the five counties in the southern end of the state--the traditionally Democratic Union Pacific counties.

Freudenthal entered office with state government in a good fiscal position. Increases in land values due to mining activity had produced surging increases in state revenue and the state budget was in surplus. But Republicans had majorities in the legislature big enough to override vetoes. He angered environmentalists with several early appointments, including one that put a mining executive in charge of the Department of Environmental Quality.

Higher natural gas and oil prices gave the state a projected $1.2 billion surplus as the 2004 legislative session convened. While most other states struggled with budget deficits, Wyoming was in the best fiscal shape of all; the only issue was how much to put into savings and how much to spend. In the final $2 billion budget bill-large by Wyoming standards-20% was directed into various reserve funds, with $100 million for the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, the interest earnings of which helps pay the cost of state government and keep taxes low. School and prison construction got $462 million; $49 million went to raises and benefits for state and university employees. Freudenthal vetoed a provision that sent coal-lease funds into the Budget Reserve Account, arguing that the money should be in the school capital construction account where it would help convince the state supreme court, which had ruled in 2001 that capital outlays for school construction were inadequate, that the state was fully funding its 5-year school construction plan.

At an August 2004 press conference announcing that state revenues could be as much as $474 million more than expected due in large part to mineral severance tax revenues, Freudenthal said the state could be looking at years of strong economic performance--the increase suggested a plateau, rather than a spike in revenues. Some school districts in mineral-rich regions were collecting so much from high mineral prices and production that it skewed the state's attempts to equalize school funding. Under an earlier constitutional amendment, these districts were allowed to keep some of the excess money (rather than send it to the state for redistribution to less wealthy districts) when it gets above a certain amount per pupil; a proposed constitutional amendment in 2004 would have corrected this and repealed the limit on property tax revenues that could be taken from the "recapture districts." Freudenthal supported a constitutional amendment abolishing the limit on redistribution of property tax revenues, but the measure failed.

Another pressing issue, rising medical malpractice insurance costs, also appeared on the November ballot in two proposed constitutional amendments. A populist provision of the state constitution barred the legislature from setting limits on how much money people can collect in the instance of injury or death. In July, Freudenthal called a special session that sent to voters Constitutional Amendment D which allowed the legislature to debate and pass laws limiting the amount of non-economic damages plaintiffs could get in medical malpractice lawsuits. The proposed Constitutional Amendment C allowed legislative debate on a measure to require alternative dispute resolution or medical review panel approval before someone could file a lawsuit against a health-care provider. Freudenthal declined to take a position on Amendment D and backed Amendment C; the first failed 50.3%-49.7% and the second passed 53%-47%.

In 2005, again handed a surplus of close to $1 billion--an "astonishingly healthy state fiscal picture," he said--Freudenthal proposed $293 million of additional general fund spending for the second year of Wyoming's two-year budget. His wildlife trust fund proposal passed, though he got only $30 million in funding for it not the $75 million he sought. Money went to raises for teachers, a college scholarship endowment, a University of Wyoming library complex, and new four-lane highways; $76 million was allocated for a new prison in Torrington. Freudenthal also signed a suicide prevention bill in 2005; Wyoming has the highest rate in the country, about double the 11 per 100,000 national rate. All the while his approval ratings remained high--67% in 2005.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent
2002 general	Dave Freudenthal (D)	92,662	50%
	Eli Bebout (R)	88,873	48%
	Other	3,924	2%
2002 primary	Dave Freudenthal (D)	19,732	54%
	Paul Hickey (D)	13,793	37%
	Toby Simpson (D)	1,918	5%
	Kenneth Casner (D)	1,356	4%
1998 general	Jim Geringer (R)	97,235	56%
	John P. Vinich (D)	70,754	40%
	Other	6,899	4%