Spending money pays off is a general rule in politics, but Tuesday’s general election in Wyoming shows that’s not always the case.
The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday it had spent more than $550,000 in Wyoming during the election cycle to support the state party in its get-out-the-vote efforts. The Democrats only gained one seat in the Wyoming Legislature and weren’t competitive in either of the two congressional races.
Former President Donald Trump won Wyoming by a larger margin than any other state for the third presidential election in a row by a margin of 46 percentage points. He crushed Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris 71% to 25% in the Cowboy State.
Trump has spent $1.4 million in Wyoming since 2023, according to Federal Election Commission data.
With 192,576 votes for Trump in Wyoming, he spent $7.27 per vote received.
Harris’ campaign spent no money directly in Wyoming, although it delivered $2,500 to the Wyoming Democratic Party for ballot access fees. She received 69,508 votes in Wyoming.
Overall, 271,043 ballots were cast in the Cowboy State for the 2024 general election, second most for a presidential election in Wyoming to 2020, when 278,503 ballots were cast.
Legislative Look
On the state legislative level, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus clinched its takeover of the Wyoming House in Tuesday’s election. The group only took one loss on Tuesday, while gaining around nine seats.
When it comes to bang for your buck in politics, it’s generally desirable to have to spend less money per vote received.
State Rep. Jon Conrad, R-Mountain View, spent the most money of any Legislature race for the general election, mostly because he wasn't on the ballot and was running as a write-in candidate. Conrad spent $32,231 on his general election campaign.
Assuming all the 918 write-in votes cast in his race against Republican Joe Webb were for him, Conrad spent $35.11 per vote received.
Conrad was handily beaten by Webb, who received 3,012 votes.
Cheyenne resident Sara Burlingame spent the most of any official state Legislature candidate, doling out $26,735 during her general election campaign on mailers, TV and digital advertising efforts. Burlingame lost her race to Republican Jacob Wasserburger by 293 votes.
In total, based on the 1,481 votes she received, Burlingame spent $18.05 per vote.
Burlingame’s opponent Wasserburger spent $10,558 on his campaign that included radio, digital and physical mailers.
Wasserburger spent $5.95 per vote received based on the 1,774 votes he received.
Cheyenne Democrat Jen Solis spent $25,783 on radio, newspaper and digital advertising. Solis spent $1,750 with Cowboy State Daily on advertising. She also brought in $29,449 in contributions for the general election, of which $15,000 came from various political action committees including the Wyoming Education Association PAC and Wyoming Realtors PAC.
Solis spent $13.92 per vote received based on the 1,852 votes she got.
Solis’ opponent Republican Gary Brown spent $18,105 on his campaign on radio, digital and newspaper advertising. Brown received $19,902 for his campaign, including $2,500 from the Crook County Republican Party and $5,000 from the Wyoming Republican Party.
Brown spent $8.87 per vote received based on the 2,039 votes he got.
Democrat Flips Seat
Fremont County Democrat Ivan Posey, the lone Democrat to gain a seat in the Legislature, spent $20,534 in his campaign on radio ads and mailers.
Posey spent $12.25 per vote received based on the 1,675 votes he got.
His opponent, Rep. Sarah Penn, R-Fort Washakie, spent $26,668 in the general election on mailers, newspaper ads and campaign yard signs. She also received $24,500 in donations, of which $9,000 came from the Wyoming, Fremont and Crook County Republican parties.
Penn spent $22.03 per vote received based on the 1,210 votes she received.
Albany County Dems Hold Seats
Over in Albany County, the Democrats were just as successful, holding on to their majority of the legislative seats.
All the Republicans running for the Wyoming House in Albany County received money from U.S. Sen. John Barrasso’s Common Values PAC, the Wyoming Republican Party and Crook County Republican Party.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, easily beat Republican challenger Paul Crouch by 1,016 votes on Tuesday after getting outspent by Crouch by a nearly 2-1 margin.
Provenza spent $3.59 per vote received, while Crouch spent $10.96 per vote based on the 1,477 votes he received.
Conservatives around the state like State Treasurer Curt Meier, Rep. Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, and Jackson resident Dan Brophy rallied around Crouch’s campaign, giving him the vast majority of his $15,500 in campaign funding.
Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, won by a much smaller margin of 195 votes to earn a third term in office. Every general election race Sherwood has been involved in has been close.
Sherwood spent $3.69 per vote based on the 2,472 votes she received.
Sherwood’s Republican opponent Joe Giustozzi, also nearly outspent his Democratic opponent by a nearly 2-1 margin while still losing, shelling out $17,232 for his campaign. Giustozzi gave $8,000 to his own campaign, which raised $19,393 in total.
Giustozzi spent $7.56 per vote based on the 2,277 votes he received.
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, who represents a reliably solid blue district in House District 13, had to fight off Republican challenger Shane Swett in a surprisingly close win Tuesday night, only winning by 226 votes. The HD 13 race wasn’t a barnburner for big spending overall, but Swett still outspent Chestek by a nearly 5-1 ratio.
Chestek spent $1.24 per vote based on the 1,937 votes he got, while Swett spent $5.67 per vote in his losing effort.
There were fewer outside financial influences in Laramie Republican Gary Crum’s campaign, which spent $23,452. Crum beat Albany County Democratic Party Chair Mike Selmer by 2,921 votes. Selmer spent a much smaller total of $6,673 during his campaign.
Crum spent $3.70 per vote received based on 6,324 votes he got, while Selmer spent $1.96 based on the 3,403 votes he got.
Big Money Congress Spending
Neither of Wyoming’s two congressional races were expected to be competitive, which proved to be an accurate prediction.
Barrasso beat Democratic challenger Scott Morrow by 134,660 votes. In total, Barrasso raised $7.4 million from 2023-2024 and spent around $4 million.
Morrow raised $40,557 and spent $15,305.
Barrasso spent around $20.25 per vote received based on the 198,366 votes he got while Morrow spent 24 cents per vote based on the 63,706 votes he got.
Tuesday’s win was Barrasso’s largest in a general election for total votes received and the biggest margin of victory by vote count since he took office.
In the race for U.S. House, Rep. Harriet Hageman spent $2.2 million while raising $2.8 million since 2023.
She spent $12.23 per vote based on the 184,626 votes she received.
Hageman’s win marked the most votes she’s received in a general election and largest margin of victory by vote count and percentage.
Hageman’s main opponent, Democrat Kyle Cameron of Cheyenne, spent $8,707 while receiving $14,566.
Cameron spent 14 cents per vote based on the 60,763 votes she received.
Constitutional Amendment Pays The Way
Amendment A, a constitutional amendment that creates a separate, fourth class of taxation for residential properties, was approved by the Wyoming voters on Tuesday night. Creating this amendment gives lawmakers the option to reduce the tax rate for this sector and or create a subclass for owner-occupied primary residences.
In total, 146,300 voters supported the amendment, while 124,714 people voted against it or didn't vote on the issue, which still counts as a no vote.
The 4Wyoming PAC was the biggest supporter of the amendment, spending $544,047 on the effort.
Based on the votes received, 4Wyoming spent $3.71 per vote.
The Wyoming Stockmen For Liberty PAC was the most vocal opponent, spending around $30,000 against the effort, or 24 cents per vote.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
