As the campaign season gets underway, there’s been a lot of talk about voters switching parties, but local election records indicate there hasn’t been a whole lot of actual switching.

Between the start of the year and the May 13 deadline to declare or change party affiliation, 165 Park County voters made a switch, according to elections records analyzed by the Tribune. With 17,021 registered voters in Park County, that represents less than 1% of the electorate and a steep drop from the switches that occurred in the last two midterm elections.

“We’re just seeing people stick with their affiliation, or change and stick with that [new affiliation],” said Park County Elections Deputy Katie Johnson.

As in past years, most of those who changed their affiliation — 134 of the 165 voters — did so to join the Republican Party and most made their switch in the weeks leading up to the deadline.

Republicans hold all of the county’s partisan offices and now make up 85% of the county’s registered voters. The party will almost certainly have the most — and potentially the only — candidates on the primary election ballot, which is one reason why some voters choose to affiliate with the GOP. However, the Democratic Party has been urging its members to remain as Democrats.

A call to affiliate

The Sheridan-based nonprofit WY Vote ran a social media campaign in the runup to last week’s deadline that encouraged unaffiliated voters to register as either a Republican or Democrat. The Sheridan-based organization and members of its Park County chapter noted that, unless you’re affiliated with one of the two major parties, there’s little or nothing for you to vote on in the Aug. 18 primary.

“Unaffiliated means you don’t get a voice,” read one of WY Vote’s messages.

Republican state Senate candidate R. J. Kost of Powell ran a campaign ad in mid-April that included information about changing party affiliation.

“Be Aware: Many Primary Election ballots have only Republicans to consider,” read a portion of the ad, “so your voting options are limited if you’re not a registered Republican.”

The messaging drew the ire of the Park County Republican Party, as some party leaders saw the ad as an invitation for Democrats to participate in the GOP’s election. An overwhelming majority of the Republican Party’s governing committee voted to issue a letter expressing “no confidence” in Kost’s campaign for Senate District 19.

Kost countered that he was only trying to provide information to voters about the state’s current rules.

Leaders of the Democratic Party specifically discouraged their members from switching. Park County Democratic Party Chair Ann Pasek sent a message ahead of the deadline that made several arguments against so-called crossover voting, including that Democrats lack the numbers to influence the results of the Republican primary.

“Stand by your party!” Pasek wrote to her mailing list on May 12. “Do your part to keep the party viable.”

Less switching this year

The 165 voters making a switch this year represented a significant drop from the 417 folks who switched in the runup to the 2018 primary and the 1,165 local voters who changed affiliation ahead of the 2022 primary; in the August 2022 primary — which featured a hotly contested race between then-U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and now-Rep. Harriet Hageman — formerly Democratic and unaffiliated voters made up about 10% of the GOP electorate.

The Legislature decided to restrict crossover voting in its following session by prohibiting voters from changing their political affiliation once the candidate filing period opens. However, the county’s data indicates many of the local residents who had previously made a switch just never returned to their prior affiliation, shrinking the pool of potential “crossover voters” for this cycle.

Between Jan. 1 and the May 13 deadline, 64 local Democrats crossed the political aisle to become Republicans, while 21 Republicans switched to the Democratic party.

Among unaffiliated voters, over 95% of them decided to remain independent, but 62 became Republicans and five joined the Democratic Party.

The GOP experienced a net gain of 108 members as a result of the various changes. 

While registered voters are now barred from changing their affiliation until after the primary, those registering for the first time or whose registration is inactive remain able to sign up with the party of their choice as late as Election Day, Aug. 18.

As of Thursday, Park County had 14,551 registered Republicans, 1,225 unaffiliated voters, 958 Democrats, 97 Libertarians, 30 Constitution Party members and 160 voters registered with other parties.