The two most Libertarian counties in Wyoming are Natrona and Fremont, according to data compiled from the 2026 election and voter registration.
Registered Libertarians comprise just 0.6% of Wyoming’s registered voter base, but 7.8% of U.S. House voters chose the Libertarian nominee Shawn Johnson during Tuesday’s general election.
Natrona County has only the third-highest percentage of registered Libertarians, but it gave Johnson the highest vote share of any county Tuesday, at 10.7%.
Johnson is from Natrona County, but then again, so is his Republican opponent and race winner Chuck Gray, to whom Natrona County gave a lower vote share (49.9%) than any other red county besides Laramie County (44.8%).
Fremont County doesn’t rank within the top three for Libertarian registration, but the county gave Johnson his second-highest vote share, at 8.9%.
Combining registration percentages with Johnson’s vote shares puts Natrona on top, followed by Fremont, then Sublette County.
Registered As Republican
Marshall Burt, a Libertarian whom the town of Green River elected to the state House of Representatives in 2020, told Cowboy State Daily most Wyoming libertarians are hiding in the Republican Party.
The state has been under GOP control for so long, the primary election is often more decisive than the general. So, people register as Republicans to participate in it.
“They’re not registered Libertarian because they still want to have a voice in the primaries,” said Burt.
Burt suggested weighting the combined figure of Johnson’s election haul and registration, with 2022 election numbers.
That’s because in 2023, the Legislature passed a law barring people from changing their political party for the primary election once the candidate registration period opens.
Meaning, people must choose a party before the ballot forms.
Burt said non-Republicans choose to stay registered Republican year-round because of that law.
Cowboy State Daily took his advice, by averaging 2022 Libertarian U.S. House candidate Richard Brubaker’s vote shares, combined with Libertarian party registration percentages of that election day, against the Johnson-plus-registration figure.
Natrona County still came out on top, followed by Fremont County, then Sweetwater and Carbon.
Welcome To 2026
Johnson performed better than any Libertarian in Wyoming’s U.S. House race in at least a decade.
At 7.8%, he more-than-doubled — and sometimes tripled — the shares of Libertarian candidates in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
From his campaign tour, Johnson said Hot Springs and Fremont seemed the most receptive to his message. He was surprised to find that, though he didn’t campaign in Weston County, it gave him his third-highest vote percentage.
“I think it was just a unique election because of the unpopularity of Chuck (Gray) and (gubernatorial candidate) Rebecca Bextel’s attention to the Constitution Party — and then, the viable Democratic option for the U.S. House,” said Johnson.
Gray won that race with 52% of the vote.
At 33%, Lisa Kinney outperformed every Democratic candidate for that race since 2008.
Sweetwater?
Sweetwater County is unique for having sent Burt to the Legislature, which is 93% Republican.
Fremont County twice came within roughly 40 votes of sending Libertarian nominee Bethany Baldes to the state House, in 2018 and 2020.
Burt said electing him doesn’t necessarily make Sweetwater County a Libertarian stronghold, however.
“People want to claim they have libertarian values, but they don’t,” said Burt.
He recalled the special session of the 2021 Legislature, when he refused to authorize state government to bar private businesses from firing people for refusing the COVID vaccine.
Burt said he nearly lost his job for refusing to get vaccinated. But he didn’t want the government to meddle in private employer situations to that extent, he said.
“I pissed a lot of people off,” he said.
“People are comfortable with the involvement the government has in their lives,” said Burt, adding that he meant throughout all of Wyoming, not just Sweetwater County. “Even though they claim they prefer the government not to be.”
Just three days past election, Burt voiced disappointment that people rail against the two-party system, but vote in lockstep with it.
“People can easily claim they want to be left alone and have those values, until they have to put them into practice,” he said.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
