John Vinich
John P. Vinich was an American Democratic politician and attorney who served as a member of the Wyoming Legislature from 1975 to 1999. He served in the Wyoming [House of Representatives] from 1975 to 1983, and then in the Wyoming Senate from 1983 to 1999. He was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1988 [United States Senate election in Wyoming|1988], and almost defeated incumbent Republican Senator Malcolm Wallop. He was also the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 1989 [Wyoming's at-large congressional district special election|1989 special election] to replace Dick Cheney, and for Governor of Wyoming in 1998, losing both races by wider margins.
Vinich lived in Hudson, Wyoming, where his family owned a bar. He died at a hospital in nearby Lander, Wyoming, on November 27, 2004, aged 54.