If there’s a billboard one might expect to not see in Wyoming, it would endorse a Democratic candidate for president.
That’s what a billboard along Highway 20 just outside Thermopolis does, displaying a huge blue field promoting Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Wyoming is a deeply red state, voting for former President Donald Trump by a larger margin than any other state in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
But that didn’t stop Kim Bartlett, chair of the Hot Springs County Democratic Party, from taking the opportunity to further her party’s cause in Thermopolis. She also said similar billboards are now being planned in Sheridan.
“Not everyone in this state is a Republican, and there is a group of people who believe and think differently — and think it’s important to share their views,” she said.
Bartlett said she was asked by a local Republican who owns the billboard if she wanted to use the space for a Harris ad. After rallying $3,800 in donations from around the state to pay for the advertisement, the billboard went up last week.
The billboard owner declined to talk on the record for this story.
Bartlett’s husband, a Wyoming native, has no recollection of ever having seen a billboard for a Democratic presidential candidate in Wyoming before. Longtime Wyoming resident and Cowboy State Daily columnist Bill Sniffin said he has no recollection of seeing a Democratic presidential billboard in Wyoming in at least the last 25 years.
There have been many handmade billboards that have gone up around Wyoming supporting Trump in recent years.
For a number of years, there has been a Park County Democrats billboard up in the North Fork outside Cody, urging travelers headed to Yellowstone National Park to vote for members of their party.
A Boost For Trump
Cheryl Aguiar, chairman of the Hot Springs County Republican Party, said she expects the billboard to backfire and help Trump’s campaign.
As proof, she pointed to the fact that she experienced a surge in requests for Trump yard signs after the billboard went up after a previous lull in requests.
“It made people madder,” she said. “It did the opposite.”
Although Wyoming has a few swing and blue-leaning counties, Hot Springs is not one of them. Trump won Hot Springs County in the 2020 election by a margin of 59 percentage points.
Aguiar believes the billboard is also part of a purposeful attempt to mislead tourists about the political leanings of Thermopolis. The double-sided billboard is located in a high traffic area on the south side of Thermopolis, easily visible from people heading toward or just getting out of the Wind River Canyon.
“They’re intentionally trying to give an inaccurate portrayal of our community,” she said.
Aguiar is confident that Trump will win Wyoming again by a large margin, and there is no significant indication that she is wrong.
Bartlett has no illusions about Harris’ chances in Wyoming but said that any Democratic gains in Wyoming, whether it be Trump winning by a smaller margin or seats gained in the Legislature, would be a win for the Democratic Party. She believes there’s a legitimate contingency of moderate Republicans in Wyoming disillusioned with Trump that would consider voting for Harris and other Democratic candidates.
Currently, Democratic Party registrations in Wyoming are at their lowest mark for the month of October of an election year since 2014.
“Certainly the numbers are appalling for Democratic voter registrations,” Bartlett said, “but anytime we can move the needle and make a difference in our presidential, state or local elections is a win.”
But some in the Wyoming Democratic Party have previously argued the party should focus more on funding more-winnable state Legislature campaigns rather than long-shot endeavors like the presidential race or Wyoming races for Congress. Bartlett said she understands this point but argues that the party is already supporting local races and the race for president is equally important.
Too Nice?
The Republican and Democratic parties of Hot Springs County actually had a civil relationship in the recent past, attending each other’s public speaking events as part of a legitimate effort to bridge understanding and connection between them.
Aguiar said relations soured between the groups about a year ago after police were called on a Moms For Liberty event that the county GOP was hosting. Now she questions whether her county GOP was “too nice” in trying to collaborate with the Democrats.
“The Republican Party needs to focus more on getting along with each other more than the Democrats,” Aguiar said. “We work hard, we work with our Democratic neighbors, why don’t we try working really hard with our Republican neighbors?”
But Aguiar is also one of a few Republicans in Wyoming who have expressed a desire for the Democratic Party to be stronger in the Cowboy State as a way to weed out people she views as Democrats and illegitimate Republicans from the Republican Party.
“A strong Democratic Party is the only way to end crossover voting in Wyoming,” she said.
Wyoming GOP Chair Joe Barbuto is currently running a “Homecoming” campaign to try and encourage former Wyoming Democrats to re-register with his party. In an op-ed last week, Barbuto argued that having to choose between two unappealing options isn’t a winning strategy.
“Many of you joined the Republican ranks with a strategy to moderate the GOP by supporting candidates who reflect a more balanced perspective,” Barbuto writes. “You did this because you love Wyoming, want the best for our future, and believed it was the best way to counter right-wing extremism.
“It hasn’t worked.”
Contact Leo Wolfson at leo@cowboystatedaily.com
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
