Storm and thunder cleared throughout the day in Jackson Tuesday, where voters ousted two incumbents in one of the state’s few hotly contested local Democratic races for the Board of Teton County Commissioners.
But many Dems forfeited a stake in their party’s primary, crossing over to support more moderate Republicans in the state and federal races. Some wanted to unseat Freedom Caucus members and allies. Others wanted more to support hometown candidates like businessman Stephen “Steve” Friess for U.S. House. Also from Jackson, public lands advocate U.S. Senate candidate Sam Mead. Friess came in second to Secretary of State Chuck Gray in a race for U.S. House. Mead lost by a double-digit margin to Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. KHOL reporters spoke with voters outside polling stations across the county. That’s despite a recent law that requires registered voters to declare party affiliation before candidates have filed.
Jenny Fitzgerald: My name is Jenny Fitzgerald and I particularly care about our county commissioners' races here. With three seats open, it's a really important race, especially if you care about one specific thing or another. I vote based on the conservation line, and so this could be kind of a make-it-or-break-it [election] in terms of what we can accomplish in the next few years.
If we have a conservation-favorable majority, I think that there's a lot of things that need to be done locally and especially in terms of our land development regulations and all the development pressures that our community is facing. This is where we can really hone in and decide if we're going to put our ecosystem first — it is what generates our economy locally — or if we are going to continue to let development pressures and capitalism take over this place that really brought us all here because of the mountains and the wildlife.
Bob Woodall: [I’m] Bob Woodall. I was a magazine editor and a photographer. [I’m] trying to get the lesser of evils. I vehemently disagree with the, quote, Freedom Caucus. In name only, that's all they are. They're an out-of-state group that is trying to usurp Wyoming and bring their outside influence into our state. In the state Legislature, they're changing all the rules. That's why I had to vote, change my affiliation and make myself a RINO [Republican in name only] for the day.
Margaret Gordon: I'm Margaret Gordon and I work in accounting. I would really like to get back to our government working for the people instead of working for particular parties, or people, or interest groups. I think we are struggling with retaining our young people, providing good quality jobs for them and healthcare, particularly maternal health care for expectant mothers. It's kind of scary and I'm glad that I had my kids a long time ago, instead of now.
Sam McGee: Sam McGee, I operate Frederick Landscaping. I don't think the Freedom Caucus is something that's going to help everyone's best interests. I think they're too narrowly focused on their own goals. I think we have a lot going for us here in Wyoming, I think it's the best state to be in. I think that we're struggling on spending our budget appropriately and making sure that we're not wasting our public lands. I want to make sure that my kids have the same availabilities that I have. So, I don't want to see our lands get used for the wrong purposes.
Jenna McMurtry (KHOL): How was your voting experience? Did you have any issues?
SM: No, very smooth, very well run.
JM: And you trust the results that will come out later tonight or tomorrow?
SM: Yes, very much so.
