The Wyoming Election Survey got started about 50 years ago. Every two years, the University of Wyoming School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies in partnership with the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center surveys Wyomingites about their political and voting attitudes, and various state and political issues.
This year, 739 Wyomingites replied to the survey between Sept. 24 and Oct. 27. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points. These numbers are aligned with past years.
“Survey methodology means you don’t have to talk to every resident in the state to get a decent enough sample to draw inferences,” said Ryan Williamson, assistant professor of political science. “We're pretty confident that the number of responses that we got yields really interesting and usable information.”
While Wyoming is a strong Republic state, residents have a diverse array of opinions on issues.
“People can identify with and support the same party, but still have a range of issues, a range of beliefs about various issues,” said Andrew Garner, professor of political science. “It just shows that people and parties are not homogenous.”
The following are summaries of some of the subjects asked about in the survey. Click here for a report of all the questions asked in the survey.
Presidential election
Wyoming’s political landscape remains Republican-majority with support for former Pres. Donald Trump. In the presidential race, 66 percent of respondents said they were going to vote for Trump.
Williamson said this reinforces his popularity within the state. In 2016, Trump won about 68 percent of the vote and in 2020, he won 70 percent.
“Although there are some interesting differences across gender,” said Williamson. “Trump is plus 56 among men, but plus 19 amongst women. There's about a five point shift away from Trump between 2020 and 2024 amongst women 65 and older.”
Election process
When asked, “How reliable or unreliable do you think the vote counts for president will be?” The answer varied depending on what level of government.
When asking about the reliability of the vote count at the county level, 89 percent believed it will be somewhat reliable or very reliable. At the state level, that percentage decreased only a little to 87 percent. Meanwhile at the country level, it decreased much more dramatically to 56 percent.
“Essentially, nine out of 10 residents trust that the vote count will be accurate both in their county and within the state,” said Williamson. “I find these particularly encouraging, where there's just a lot of confidence in how we conduct elections within Wyoming.”
Trust of the government
At the federal level, there is not a lot of trust. This includes Pres. Joe Biden, who had a very strong disapproval rating among respondents.
Thirty-eight respondents expressed a severe lack of trust in the federal government, believing the feds cannot ever be trusted to do what is right.
“That's a pretty strong contrast to how people feel about the government in Cheyenne,” said Williamson. “When posed that same question, three percent of residents believe the state government can almost always be trusted and 52 percent believe it can be trusted some of the time.”
This was reflected within the state government. Twenty-three to 25 percent of Democrats expressed approval or even strong approval of Gov. Mark Gordon.
“His approval rating was also strong among Republicans,” said Garner. “Overall, the state officials in Wyoming are very popular with the citizens, but the governor was especially popular among Democrats, relatively speaking.”
Garner said Gordon’s approval rating was almost twice what his disapproval rating was amongst Republicans.
Economy
Overall, respondents didn’t have a positive outlook on the future of the national or state economy.
About 38 percent of respondents said that the national economy will improve in the coming year. For Wyoming, only about 27 percent of the respondents expect the economic conditions to improve in the next 12 months.
“The citizens of Wyoming are actually split about where the future of the economy should go. About 47 percent of them feel that the state's economy needs to be diversified and expand to new industries and new technologies,” said Garner. “However, 54 percent of respondents still support expanding traditional industries such as agricultural, coal production, tourism and emphasizing the importance of these sectors and maintaining economic stability and growth in Wyoming.”
Gun control
Williamson said the results regarding gun control really underscored a balance that individuals are trying to strike between safety measures and protecting individual rights.
“I think one of the most interesting results from this survey relates to gun free zones,” he said. “Thirty-six percent of people think that eliminating these zones is beneficial, but 43 percent of people disagree.”
When asked whether it's a good idea to require firearm sales to be reported and recorded, 57 percent responded that it was a good or very good idea. But only 48 percent believed it's a good or very good idea to require a license to purchase or possess firearms or ammunition.
Abortion
There was a wide spectrum of views on abortion rights in the state.
Sixty-two percent believed abortion should be regulated in some way. Eleven percent of Wyomingites believed abortion should never be permitted. But 51 percent support allowing abortion in certain cases like rape or incest.
Yet, 39 percent of respondents hold the belief that women should always have access to abortions as a matter of personal choice.
“There's some differences across partisanship, as you might expect,” said Williamson. “Among self identified Republicans, the most common response is that abortions should only be allowed in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is at risk. Preferences amongst Democrats: 86 percent believe that abortion should always be allowed as a matter of choice.”
