Jack R. Gage

Who was Jack R. Gage?

Jack R. Gage was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of Wyoming from January 2, 1961 to January 7, 1963.

Gage was born in Worland in Washakie County in north central Wyoming. In 1924, he received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wyoming at Laramie. He served in a number of state offices and was elected Wyoming secretary of state in the heavily Democratic year of 1958. According to provisions of the state constitution, he replaced Democratic Governor John J. Hickey, who resigned in order to fill the vacant seat in the United States Senate, occasioned by the December 9, 1960, death of Republican Senator-elect Edwin Keith Thomson.

Gage secured the 1962 Democratic gubernatorial nomination by defeating William Jack, 55.5 to 44.5 percent. That November, Gage lost the election to the Republican Clifford P. Hansen of Jackson. Hansen polled 64,970 votes to Gage's 54,298.

Gage's pilot as governor was the aviation pioneer Raymond A. Johnson, who continued in that position under Governor Hansen.

In his remaining seven years after leaving public office, Gage gave lectures and authored a number of books. He died in the capital city of Cheyenne at the age of seventy-one.