In 1986, Simpson was the [[Republican]] gubernatorial nominee, having been defeated, 54-46 percent, by the [[Democrat]] Michael J. Sullivan of Douglas in Converse County in southeastern Wyoming. It was a heavily Democratic year politically, as Republicans lost their majority in the [[U.S. Senate]] for the last two years of the [[Ronald W. Reagan]] administration. Sullivan succeeded fellow Democrat Edgar Herschler. | In 1986, Simpson was the [[Republican]] gubernatorial nominee, having been defeated, 54-46 percent, by the [[Democrat]] Michael J. Sullivan of Douglas in Converse County in southeastern Wyoming. It was a heavily Democratic year politically, as Republicans lost their majority in the [[U.S. Senate]] for the last two years of the [[Ronald W. Reagan]] administration. Sullivan succeeded fellow Democrat Edgar Herschler. |