By Dan Finkelstein
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 3

Delegates: 22

Chairman: Gov. Jim Geringerd

Hotel: Marriott (215) 625-2900

1996 Election:
Dole – 50%
Clinton – 37%
Perot – 12%

Wyoming, the nation's least populous state, is sending only 22 delegates to Philadelphia. But state Republicans planned to be vocal there in support of a proposal that could place the usually overlooked state in the spotlight during the 2004 presidential nominating process.

The convention's Rules Committee planned to take up, and possibly forward to the floor of the convention, the "Delaware Plan." This proposal by the Delaware Republican Party purports to fix the "front-loading" problem of the present nominating system by spreading the primaries out in four or five distinct periods from February through June.

The dominant feature of the plan is that the least populous states would vote first, with each ensuing period including consecutively larger states. The plan is in response to criticisms that early contests in larger states overshadow those in smaller states such as Wyoming.

The Republican National Committee's Rules Committee - which in April recommended the Delaware Plan to the national convention - is chaired by Wyoming delegate Tom L. Sansonetti (who is also the state's Republican national committeeman).

"To me it seems like the fairest and most logical solution to a difficult situation," said delegate Becky M. Costantino, the Wyoming Republican Party chairman. "It gives the smaller states a role they haven't had up to now. I'm excited and very hopeful for this change."

Advocates believe that the plan would, in effect, make the smaller states the "practice field" for the candidates' campaigns, giving them the opportunity to refine and hone their messages.

"As the candidates move into more populated states, their message and personal identity becomes stronger. The large states will still make the final decision, but not without input from the rest of the country," Costantino said. Nonetheless, delegates from many of the larger states, which bridle at being consigned to the end of the process, intended to oppose the plan in Philadelphia.

Other than undivided support for the Delaware Plan, the Wyoming delegates will not be focused on any one particular issue at the convention, Costantino said. The state's delegation, chosen after Texas Gov. George W. Bush clinched the nomination, is solidly pro-Bush.

And Wyoming Republicans will leave Philadelphia confident of carrying their state's three electoral votes for Bush. The Republican presidential candidate has carried the state in every election since 1968; former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole defeated President Clinton in 1996 by a 13 percentage-point margin.

Two-term Gov. Jim Geringer will lead the Wyoming delegation. Other notable members are Jan M. Larimer, a co-chairman of the Republican National Convention, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Judy S. Catchpole.

Neither Sen. Craig Thomas nor Rep. Barbara Cubin, both of whom are heavily favored this year for re-election, has taken a delegate slot. But the congresswoman's son, Bill Cubin, is a delegate.

WYOMING NOTABLES: Gov. Jim Geringer; state Superintendent of Public Instruction Judy Catchpole; Republican National Convention Co-Chairwoman Jan Larimer, who also is the state Republican national committeewoman; Republican National Committeeman Tom Sansonetti, chairman of the Republican National Committee's Rules Committee; state Republican Party Chairwoman Becky Costantino; Rick Robitaille, lobbyist for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.