Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Joe Barbuto has higher political aspirations.
Barbuto announced on X (formerly Twitter) last week that he’s running to be vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.
“Democrats can't afford to leave anyone behind,” Barbuto posted. “I want to use my knowledge and experience to ensure that people in rural and red states know that our party is fighting for everyone, everywhere.”
Barbuto told Cowboy State Daily on Monday he wants to shine a light on rural, red states like Wyoming that don’t often get into the DNC spotlight. Gaining ground in these areas could be the key to the Democrats winning back the presidency in 2028, he said.
“I have almost eight years of experience working as the chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party and with the DNC,” Barbuto said. “During that time, I’ve fiercely advocated for rural and red states.”
Laramie County Democratic Party Chair Jordan Evans said bringing any increased attention from the DNC to red states like Wyoming would be helpful, and he believes Barbuto could help do that.
“I understand how to talk to folks in these places,” he said. “I’m used to going into rural communities and talking to Republicans. I’ve got unique experience.”
Barbuto already has some stiff competition in the race.
On Monday, national anti-violence activist David Hogg also announced his campaign for vice chair. Hogg is a survivor of the 2018 shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida.
Based on the 13 delegate votes Wyoming gets out of the 4,567 total in presidential elections, Wyoming GOP Vice Chair David Holland told Cowboy State Daily that Barbuto “has no chance whatsoever" in the election.
Whomever wins the race will be taking a leadership position in the Democratic Party at a difficult time in the party’s history.
Young and minority voters drifted from the Democratic Party to Republican in unprecedented numbers in the November election, many switching their votes from President Joe Biden to President-elect Donald Trump.
The party also lost control of the Senate and failed to take back the House.
Trump won Wyoming by a larger margin than any other state for the third election in a row, winning by 46 percentage points. This lined up with the national trend, with Trump doing exceedingly well in solidly red states and better than he did in 2020 in every state but one.
But Barbuto is optimistic about the Democrats chances and pointed to the fact Vice President Kamala Harris only lost by about 1.5% of the vote nationally.
“Had we done more in rural states, that could be 1% to 2% votes that would have made the outcome of the election much different,” he said. “We really do have a lot of work to do to get rural voters back to the Democratic Party, but the good news is I don’t think the Republicans are talking to them either.”
The Democrats also gained back one seat in the Wyoming Legislature, increasing their total from seven to eight of the 93 overall members.
If elected, Barbuto said he believes he would become the first Wyoming resident since former Gov. Nellie Tayloe Ross to serve in a DNC leadership position, who was elected vice chair in 1928.
Who’s Barbuto?
Barbuto grew up in Rock Springs and served two terms in the Wyoming House, representing his community from 2009-2013.
He became chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party in 2017 and was unanimously reelected in 2019 and 2021. His current term will expire next spring and Barbuto confirmed he’s not running for reelection.
On Monday, Barbuto outlined some of his platform positions on X, saying the Democrats need a progressive equivalent of the Republican’s Project 2025.
“This is why I am running for DNC Vice Chair,” he said. “We must move beyond allowing Republicans to define our party and instead lead with clarity and conviction. By investing in state parties, engaging directly with communities, and building a clear, bold, unifying message, we can inspire voters with a vision that speaks to their hopes and values.”
It would be a stretch to say that Barbuto has overseen a particularly successful time in the Wyoming Democratic Party.
The party’s membership in the Legislature has shrunk by around a quarter since his taking over and it has failed to put up a competitive candidate for any statewide position during that time. Party registrations have also shrunk to their lowest recorded election year level since first being collected in 1968, and a record-low number of Democratic candidates sought out state house seats this November.
Holland questions whether the Wyoming Democratic Party should even be considered a major party and qualify for the state's ballot in elections.
Where the Democratic Party significantly lost ground, he said, was when the state switched from county to district representation in the Legislature in the early 1990s.
“The only way Democrats could survive in Wyoming was is if they became Republicans,” he said.
Barbuto said critics should look past the numbers and focus more on the cohesive unity of his party, which was highly fractured between supporters of former First Lady Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when he took over.
“I’m proud of the coalition we’ve put together,” he said.
Mandy Weaver, communications director for the Wyoming Democratic Party, agreed, saying Barbuto is a great leader with an equally strong sense of humor and always knows how to lift staff morale.
She also said Barbuto shouldn’t be squarely blamed for all of the party’s shortfalls. Weaver mentioned how the party lost a number of its supporters who wanted to vote for former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and in Republican primaries that it has yet to gain back.
“We’ll keep working on getting those folks back,” she said. “We’ve got to get those folks back.”
Barbuto also pointed out that the Democratic Party receives significantly more money from the DNC now than when he first took over, a fundraising appeal he’ll try to bring to the national stage.
“If elected, I would continue that work on the executive committee as a champion for red states like Wyoming that don’t necessarily get a lot of attention from the DNC,” he said.
The Elections
Candidates for DNC chair will hold forums in January before the committee's 448 members vote on Feb. 1. So far, announced DNC chair candidates include Minnesota party chair and DNC vice chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin party Chair Ben Wikler, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and New York state Sen. James Skoufis.
Barbuto has endorsed Martin for chair and said on X that Martin had reached out to him the day before the election to see how things were going for the party in Wyoming. The two appear to have a formal relationship, as Martin came out to Wyoming in September 2023 to attend a Democratic Party Central Committee meeting in Newcastle.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
