CODY — The party in control is hardly a question coming into Tuesday's Wyoming primary election, as the state is one of the reddest in the union. The battles remain contentious, only they're all taking place within the Republican party.
“There’s almost no ground here left, except 'I’m more Republican than you',” said Cody resident Mary Keller on Tuesday.
Keller compared the battles between the centrists and far-right members of the GOP to the nightly rodeos held throughout the summer in Cody.
“It’s not your first rodeo. This election is not our first rodeo. We know how to set up good entertainment,” Keller said.
In the state with Republicans going head-to-head in nearly every race, it's common to see heated debates over who is more conservative.
The Park County Patriots, a group who describe themselves on their website as promoting all candidates for public office who remain faithful to the founding principles in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have been going door to door handing out sheets filled with names of candidates whom they call "the good guys."
"We've got like 30% of those Republicans who are RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). They say that they're conservatives to get elected. And then they get in office, and they don't vote that way. They vote with the Democrats. So the Democrats can win,” said Cody resident Richard Conger on Monday.
This is the first election in the state since a law was passed in 2023 making Wyoming a closed primary state, which prevents registered voters from changing their party affiliation at the polls.
“In Wyoming, if you want to have a say in who gets elected, you’re going to be registered as a Republican,” Gerber said. “I think most people who lean that way (Democratic) register as a Republican simply so they can vote in the primary.”
In August 2021, out of 279,807 registered voters in Wyoming, 46,192 voters were Democrats, and 195,452 were Republicans. This month, of the 223,703 registered voters, the Democratic numbers dwindled to 24,751.
“Wyoming is a conservative state, it's always a conservative state, but it was Wyoming conservative,” Gerber said.
