What was the GOP’s smallest presidential victory margin in Wyoming over the past 40 years?

a) 6 points

b) 8 points

c) 13 points

d) 16 points

Answer: a) The 6 percentage-point margin by which Democratic challenger Bill Clinton lost to President George H.W. Bush in 1992 was the smallest during the Republicans’ 10-election presidential winning streak in Wyoming — which began with Richard M. Nixon’s win in 1968 after the state joined most of the nation in Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 landslide.

Even Clinton’s showing that year had a catch. He lost to Bush by 40 percent to 34 percent in an election in which independent Ross Perot took 26 percent of the vote in Wyoming. Even as Clinton won re-election nationally in 1996, he lost Wyoming to Republican Bob Dole by the much-wider margin of 13 points (50 percent to 37 percent).

Most of the other GOP wins during this period were overwhelming landslides. George W. Bush — with vice presidential running mate Dick Cheney, who from 1979 to 1989 held Wyoming’s sole U.S. House seat — won the state by margins of 40 points in both 2000 and 2004, and that didn’t even break the record of 42 points set by Ronald Reagan in his 1984 trouncing of Democrat Walter F. Mondale.

Wyoming will hold a primary for its House seat next Tuesday that will includes a competitive field for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring seven-term Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin. CQ Politics will provide live coverage of the primary results Tuesday night.