Population declines in the Big Horn Basin have the region’s lawmakers concerned that a redrawing of the state’s legislative districts might reduce the Basin’s representation in the Wyoming Legislature. But they are trying to hang on to the region’s nine current seats. 

“I’m not willing to give up, and I’ll go down fighting to keep our representation in the Basin,” said Rep. Mike Greear, R-Worland. 

Greear was among the Basin’s senators and representatives who met last month in Worland to discuss redistricting options by which the Basin could maintain its six representatives and three senators, while still meeting state requirements for district populations.

States are required to redraw their legislative districts every 10 years, following the release of the latest census data. Unfortunately for the Big Horn Basin, its population growth lagged behind the state as a whole from 2010 to 2020. While Wyoming grew by an average of 2.3%, the Big Horn Basin’s overall population stayed effectively flat at 53,451 residents, as a 5% increase in Park County was offset by drops in Washakie, Hot Springs and Big Horn counties. 

With the newest census data in hand, the Wyoming Legislature will consider redistricting plans in the next session.

“Those that gain population want more representation and that’s the way it goes,” said state Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, but “we don’t want to lose.”

The boundaries of legislative districts are drawn so that the state’s 30 Senate districts each share the same portion of Wyoming residents, with deviations from that even split being no more or less than 5% in any single House or Senate district. Two House districts are nested inside each senate district, for a total of 60 representatives across the state.

As the Big Horn Basin delegation works on a plan to retain representation, it’s the House district’s boundaries that are under examination, said Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell. That’s because redrawing their lines to meet state requirements would also make Senate districts fit the requirements. It’s also where the best options are for the Basin.

With the newest census data, Greear’s HD 27 has a deviation of minus 15%. HD 28, represented by John Winter, R-Thermopolis, has a deviation of minus 9.66%, and HD26, represented by Jamie Flitner, R-Greybull, has a deviation of minus 8.19%. (Sen. Ed Cooper’s District 20 — which is composed of Washakie, Hot Springs counties, as well as parts of Park and Big Horn counties — has a deviation of minus 12.38%.) 

Meanwhile, the three Park County-based districts — House District 24, represented by Sandy Newsome, R-Cody, HD 25, represented by Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and HD 50, represented by Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody — are all within the 5% deviation. That means some Park County residents may need to be moved into neighboring districts in order to preserve the Basin’s six House seats. 

One redistricting proposal being explored would move the Willwood area south of Powell, which is currently in Rodriguez-Williams’ district, to Laursen’s.

“We’re doing our best to bring Willwood back from Cody because they’re really part of Powell,” Kost said. 

This proposal would also place Meeteetse, which is currently in HD 28, into HD 27. 

Redrawing the boundaries to include populations outside the Basin offers less attractive and more challenging options. Following the 2010 Census, the Wyoming Legislature voted in the 2012 session to include the towns of Shoshoni and Lysite in HD 28/SD 20 in order to reduce its deviation. However, changing the southern boundary of the district to include more people this year won’t help the deviations much, Kost said. 

“From Shoshoni to Casper, there’s nobody out there. You’re not going to get very much until you get to Casper,” Kost said. “And I got a funny feeling people in Casper really don’t want to be represented by somebody in the Big Horn Basin.”

This is why adjusting the House district boundaries within the Basin is the option that appears currently to offer the best hope. However, under the proposal, the deviations would still be higher than 5%.

“We can play with the numbers to get close, but then we’d need to get approval from the rest of the state to be at about 6% or 7%” deviation down, Kost said. 

Whether Wyoming legislators would vote to approve the deviations is anyone’s guess. 

“Legislators from the rural areas support higher deviations. Legislators from the more urban areas — like Cheyenne, Casper, and Gillette — support staying as close to the ideal count as possible,” Greear said. 

It’s also hard to get legislative approval for non-contiguous districts. If the Legislature doesn’t approve boundary adjustments within the Basin senate districts, the only other option to maintain the area’s level of representation is to take population from neighboring counties of Sheridan, Johnson, Natrona, or Fremont.

Residents of those areas might not want to be represented by legislators in the Basin, but “that’s all we got around us,” Kost said. 

Greear points out that another consideration for the Basin’s redistricting efforts are practical matters in balloting. At last month’s meeting, the Basin’s county clerks were present to consult on how elections would play out with shifted boundaries. Between conservation, school and cemetery districts, it’s possible a handful of houses would end up with their own unique ballot. 

“The county clerks are the ones that will need to administer the elections. There’s a practical side they will be looking at for us,” Greear said.  

He added that Worland officials are looking to protest the census numbers. Due to COVID, the census takers didn’t go door to door. 

“Our elderly didn’t get counted because everything was done online or by mail,” Greear said, and the Worland area has a high percentage of elderly people. 

Greear said sewer usage in Worland isn’t reflecting a drop in population consistent with the numbers in the census. With a population of 4,773, according to the latest census, the city lost 13% of its population since April 2010. 

Still, Greear points out that the Wyoming Constitution bases district population on the census. So while a successful protest of the numbers could help with appropriations and other state matters, it’s not going to help with the redistricting issues. 

“There really is no arguing that when it comes to legislative redistricting [that] it’s not accurate” Greear said of the census. “That’s a non-starter, even though I believe it isn’t accurate.”

The Wyoming Joint Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Committee is meeting Wednesday to begin the initial discussions of redistricting in the state. Greear and Kost expect they’ll have a better idea after the meeting what options to pursue. 

Whatever proposals come out of the committee, community meetings will be held around the state to get input on any redistricting plans. 

“The Big Horn Basin, as it is now, doesn’t have many votes,” Kost said. “Trying to preserve our representation is what we feel is important.”

Added French, “we’re going to fight for it.”

“Whether we’ll win everything we want, I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ll do our best.”

(CJ Baker contributed reporting.)