Voters flocked to the polls at the high school gymnasium in Lander Tuesday morning for the state’s primary election. Spirits were high as community members donned “I voted” stickers and red, white and blue clothing.
Fremont County is a conservative stronghold, but it’s more purple than many other parts of the Cowboy State. It’s also home to some of the most contentious battles for state lawmaker seats, largely between members of the Freedom Caucus and the more moderate Wyoming Caucus.
Wyoming Public Radio caught up with people outside of the polling place to get a sense of how they feel about the state of politics in Wyoming and nationwide.
Editor’s Note: These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Kellie Webb: My name is Kellie Webb. I am a director of a behavioral health program called Doya Natsu Healing Center out of Fort Washakie.
I’m pretty much a minority all the way. I’m a woman, I’m a Native American in a very conservative state.
I feel the Freedom Caucus is an outside influence in the state of Wyoming. We need to be very careful of their agenda.
[But] being engaged in every aspect of your life, whether it’s local politics or national politics, we have to become aware, we have to be critical thinkers and we have to search out the information and not just get what we’re fed.
Carl Huhnke: My name’s Carl Huhnke. I got to bring my grandson to vote for the first time.
William Edlund: My name is William Edlund. I am 19. [I] just went and voted for the first time.
We are the strongest ones in this nation. It is not the government but we the people.
The state of politics in Wyoming, I think we are doing very well. I just think we need to stand up and fight a bit more against allowing us to basically drill for oils in these times.
CH: Nationally, it’s very divisive, doesn’t seem like anyone can get along to get things done. Locally, it’s not as bad as nationally, but I’ve seen a lot more negativity in our local elections, which I don’t like.
You’re either pushed far right or you’re pushed far left. Again when you do that it’s hard to get things done.
Lisa Kisling: My name is Lisa Kisling. I’m a self-employed attorney.
I haven’t turned in my ballot yet because I need to go to my truck and get my ID. I’ve never had to have it before.
I think that we have a very divided country right now, and I think it’s sad. We need to become more willing to speak to the other side in terms that they understand and we need to become more united.
Zach: My name is Zach. I’m a wildlife biologist.
I wanted to support the senior center and vote for some of the folks in the primary, just sort of the lesser of two wingnuts in some cases, unfortunately.
I’m not a big fan of the kind of acrimonious debate. I’m not a big fan of the Freedom Caucus, more supportive of the traditional Wyoming caucus.
Maggie: My name is Maggie. I homeschool my kids.
I’m hopeful because there’s lots of good candidates this time around, I feel like. I was especially excited to vote for Tina Clifford today. I know that she is pro-life and she will work to make sure that our property taxes don’t go up any more.
I grew up here and everything has gotten very, very polarized since I was a kid, but it’s still great to be able to come out and vote.
Don Newman: My name is Don Newman. I’m retired.
With the primary, I’m a Democrat so there’s not much of a choice, but I wanted to vote for the senior [center] ballot question on it, so that’s the main reason I came.
We still have the most Democratic country in the world. It’s somewhat under attack, but it’s still better than 95 percent of the other countries in the world.
Glenn Troester: My name is Glenn Troester. I’m retired.
I think we needed some different choices. We need to change in my opinion. Our government is in a bad mess.
I think spending’s out of control, taxes are out of control, our economy is in a poor state of affairs. It’s not about consideration of our country any longer, it’s a personal thing.
So, I think democracy is at an all-time low. I don’t think people appreciate what we have and what we stand for any longer.
