Many Wyoming county clerks saw a rush of last-minute political party crossover registrations just ahead of the Wednesday deadline to switch parties last week.
For example, Teton County saw 513 party changes from Jan. 1 to last Wednesday, while more than half of those — 271 party changes — fell between May 8 and the Wednesday deadline.
Of the 271 party changes between May 8 and the Wednesday deadline five days later, 242 comprised people switching from Democratic, unaffiliated or minor parties to Republican, Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy told Cowboy State Daily.
Conversely, 45 people switched to Democratic Party affiliation, Murphy noted.
“We did have a lot more unaffiliated voters that chose to affiliate so they could vote,” Murphy said in a Thursday phone interview. “That was my big message: we were trying to get the word out that if you are unaffiliated, you don’t get to vote in the primary. We are closed (primary system). So pick a ballot if you want to choose in the primary.”
The primary election for Democratic and Republican nominations is Aug. 18. The GOP primary election is generally considered the most decisive election in Wyoming, since it’s a supermajority state.
And many unaffiliated and Democratic-minded voters register as Republican to sway the GOP primary.
It’s a controversial topic.
The state Democratic Party discourages against the practice, while some Democratic office-holders encourage it.
The Blue County
Teton County didn’t have the highest party-change numbers of the counties whose clerks spoke with Cowboy State Daily – but it did show the highest per capita.
“Our numbers are probably different because we have more of a diverse voting public, I guess,” said Murphy.
In the primary elections of both 2022 and 2024, Teton County Republicans roughly doubled registered Democrats. The county still has about 2,700 more registered Republicans than Democrats as of May 1.
But the voting results were the inverse of that: twice as many Teton County residents voted in 2024 for Kamala Harris as for President Donald Trump. More than twice as many voted for Democratic U.S. House candidate Lynette Grey Bull over now-Rep. Harriet Hageman in 2022.
“You can see a large amount of people possibly switched party (in 2022) and, I don’t think have switched back,” muse Murphy.
The numbers bear that out: Teton County Democrats outnumbered Republicans by nearly 1,000 in 2020.
As to whether the 2022 red shift – which remains mostly in place – is due to a huge crossover push by Democrats who wanted to vote for former Rep. Liz Cheney over Hageman in 2022, Murphy said, “possibly.”
The Population Center
The Laramie County Clerk’s office saw 680 party changes from Jan. 1- May 13.
Of those, 347 fell between May 8-13, Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee said.
Lee said that for 2026, around 34% of the changes went from unaffiliated to a major party, about 12% went from Republican to Democratic and around 46% went from Democratic to Republican.
“Well, we are the largest county,” said Lee of the large figures.
‘Hundreds’
The Albany County Clerk’s Office saw a rush of activity last week.
“Oh yes,” elections coordinator Stacey Harvey said with a laugh Thursday. “Hundreds. I mean I’m looking at my space partner’s desk over there and I’m looking at, at least a ream of paper, of voter registration cards.”
Most of those were party changes, Harvey added.
Albany County Clerk Kayla White said the office processed 519 party changes from Jan. 1 to Wednesday, and 226 of those happened between May 8 and 13.
Of the 226 recent changes, 151 comprised Democrats switching to Republican and 58 comprised unaffiliated or minor party voters switching to Republican.
Eight of them were Republicans switching to Democratic and nine were unaffiliated and minor parties switching to Democratic.
Crossover is “not really uncommon for Albany County either,” said White. “Normally we have more Democrats here. It’s not uncommon they’d switch… Other (counties are) more Republican-heavy. They don’t see the flip as much.”
The big numbers surprised White though, she added.
It’s fair to call Albany County purple.
Grey Bull edged Hageman in Albany county by a slim margin in the 2022 general election.
Trump edged Harris by a mere 559 votes in Albany County in 2024.
Four of the Legislature’s eight Democrats hold Albany County districts.
The Last-Minute Rush
Teton, Laramie, and Albany aren’t the only counties for which roughly half of the year’s party changes happened in the five days before the crossover deadline.
Natrona County had 360 party changes this year. Of those, 189 fell between May 8-13. The clerk’s office saw 144 people switch from other parties to Republican, and 43 people switch from other parties to Democratic.
Two people left parties to become unaffiliated.
Park County saw 166 changes from Jan. 1-May 13 – including 73 in the final five days of that window, clerk’s office told Cowboy State Daily
Sheridan County saw an overwhelming last-minute deluge.
The clerk’s office fielded 164 party changes from Jan. 1- May 13, and 113 in the final five days of that window.
Of the late 113 crossovers, 57 were changing from Democratic to Republican, two from Republican to Democratic, 53 from unaffiliated or minor parties to Republican, and one from Republican to unaffiliated or minor parties.
Sublette County’s year total was 62, and the final five days before the deadline included 26 of those.
Of the 26 changes in those final five days before the deadline, 23 were switching from other parties to Republican, the clerk’s office told Cowboy State Daily. Conversely, one person switched from Democratic to Republican, and two more people switched from major parties to unaffiliated or minor parties.
Converse County saw 37 changes this year, including eight in the final five days before the deadline.
“They’re changing to Republican,” said Converse County Clerk Karen Rimmer. “Seven were unaffiliated to Republican. One was a Democrat to Republican.”
Sweetwater County saw 111 party changes this year – 41 in the last five days before the deadline.
Of those late 41, 35 switched from other parties to Republican.
Weston County saw 11 people cross over this year, including seven in the final five days, and in no particular pattern. Two Republicans and two Democrats traded places. Two people switched from unaffiliated or minor parties to Republican and one Republican went unaffiliated.
Hopefully Not Upset
The notion of Democrats or other progressive-minded people registering as Republicans to sway Wyoming’s closed Republican primary election is a fraught topic in Wyoming, with many politicos saying crossover voting vaults the most moderate, or even fake, Republicans into office.
“Republican In Name Only” is a slur in some Wyoming conservative circles.
The crossover voting concern prompted the passage of a 2023 law barring party changes after the candidate filing period opens.
Goshen County Clerk Mary Feagler had few crossovers this year. And she’s apprehensive about what that could mean.
She reported just 12 crossovers from May 1-13. Eight switched to Republican and four switched to other affiliations.
“I kind of expected more people to be doing that,” she said. “Which kind of worries me that we’ll have more disgruntled people between now and election day – that may discover that they aren’t going to have the ballot they wanted.”
The primary election is Aug. 18. Only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican partisan contests.
It’s a nonpresidential election year, which means big stakes in state government. All five major elected state offices are up for a contest. One U.S. Senate seat and the state’s lone U.S. House seat are too, plus all of the state House of Representatives and half the state Senate.
With 93% of the Legislature and all eight statewide seats held by Republicans, the GOP primary election is considered the most decisive contest in the state.
Huge Red Shift
Fremont County saw a huge red shift from May 8-13. Of 162 crossovers, 74 Democrats switched to Republican, and 80 unaffiliated or minor party voters did likewise.
And, just eight people switched from other affiliations to Democratic.
Campbell County had a much smaller red shift.
Of 19 party changes between May 8-13, 16 switched from other parties to Republican, two went Democratic and one went unaffiliated.
“So, nothing out of the ordinary,” Campbell County elections administrator Michelle Leiker told Cowboy State Daily. “I think the biggest change I’ve seen was candidates announcing sooner.”
Candidates are announcing more often before the filing period opens, Leiker confirmed.
That means they’re also announcing before the crossover deadline, which immediately precedes the filing window.
Hot Springs County saw 29 people switch this year, and eight in the five-day home stretch. All of those eight are now newfound Republicans.
So, So Red
Niobrara County is among the reddest counties in the nation.
Trump voters there outnumbered Harris voters roughly 10 to one in 2024.
As of May 1, Niobrara County showed 35 registered Democrats and 1,146 Republicans.
While other clerks fielded the last-minute crunch last week, Niobrara County Clerk Becky Freeman’s office “had zero” crossovers, she told Cowboy State Daily.
“They’re all registered Republican,” she said. “I mean there’s a few Democrats and unaffiliated – but nobody changed parties. We had had two change a couple months ago.”
Freeman didn’t draw much speculation from all that, adding, “people need to vote.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
