But as the campaign season got underway last spring, she took a leave of absence for a job with the Clinton campaign in New Hampshire. Some candidates felt they were left high and dry, without money or know-how to run their campaigns, which they blamed for their losses, Artery said.

Van Cleave on Monday said she was disappointed at the net loss of one seat in the Legislature.

“We had a great number of legislative candidates and they did a wonderful job running for offices,” she said. “I do think there’s a slight exaggeration in how much one person can make in an election. It’s the candidates who go door to door. I’m not sure what may have been different had I been here.”

She said the party attributes most of its losses to national politics.

Democrats talked on Saturday about whether they should just focus on a dozen or so winnable races and pour money and volunteers into those, or if the party should run a large number of candidates to give voters a choice at the polls, said Artery, the Cheyenne resident who said he most votes for Democrats. There’s no consensus yet, he said.

In the past, Wyomingites have had the least competitive statewide elections in the country, and the contests were largely decided in the GOP primary.