Alonzo M. Clark

Who was Alonzo M. Clark?

Alonzo Monroe Clark was an American politician who was the 16th Governor of Wyoming from 1931 to 1933.

Clark was born in Flint, Indiana. He was raised and educated in Nebraska after his family moved there from Indiana. After graduating from Nebraska State Teachers College in 1898, he served as Superintendent of Schools for Dawes County, Nebraska before moving to Wyoming in 1901. He homesteaded more than 300 acres in Campbell county and was a teacher.

In 1926 he was elected Secretary of State. When the then-current governor, Frank Emerson died, on February 18, 1931, just six weeks into his second term, the line of succession put State Secretary Clark into the post of acting governor until the next election to be held, November 1932. Clark officially took office after Emerson's Sunday funeral, which was three days later. That November, he was defeated in the Republican primary, and resumed his term as Secretary of State.

In 1934 he successfully secured the Republican nomination, but lost in the general election to the then-incumbent, Democrat Leslie A. Miller. He also campaigned unsuccessfully for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.