Declaration of the Independents

Independent voters are the fastest-growing segment of engaged citizens on Wyoming’s political landscape. In the last couple of years, independent voter registration has increased by about 50%, and now numbers around 25,000 of our fellow Wyomingites — a quotient sufficient to sway statewide elections.

There are likely any number of reasons why folks register as Independents (and indulge me for capitalizing the name as a proper noun). Those reasons are truly known only to them, as independence of any sort is a deeply personal decision. But analyzing their rationale and trying to read their minds might teach us all something about our current political atmosphere.

Perhaps it is a deep disenchantment with both major political parties that prompts voters to refuse affiliation with either. The Republican and Democratic orthodoxies themselves may have lost their appeal to cowgirls and cowboys in the Big Empty, and folks may be looking for another political philosophy closer to their own.

The Wyoming Democratic Party, because it has restricted itself, is a mere shadow of its former iteration, and the Wyoming GOP is turning itself into a rigidly exclusive club that demands unquestioning loyalty. Given Wyoming’s core values of getting work done and not being ordered around, it’s perhaps no wonder that thousands of us are exercising our innate independent streak by avoiding both parties.

The tragedy of our current political system is that this uniquely Wyoming independent mindset is prevented from expressing itself in our most important election: the primaries.

Our primary elections are statutorily structured and organized to benefit the major parties, and Independent voters are precluded from participation until the major parties have had their say. By the time the general election rolls around and Independents are able to vote, the choices have been narrowed down to only those candidates who toe one party line or the other. And those candidates likely do not represent the broad political views of open-minded, Independent citizens.

For the state of Wyoming to silence the voices of 25,000 of its citizens until after the major parties have spoken is a travesty and impoverishes our collective political life. That needs to change, pronto!

Until the Wyoming Legislature reforms our election code so that every voice can be heard at every stage of our election cycle, we are stuck with this inequity. But Independent voters can still, with the stroke of a pen, exert their influence on our elections by registering as Republicans in the primary.

Face it: The Republican primary election is the 800-pound gorilla in the voting booth. The winner of the GOP primary almost invariably goes on to win the general election. So, it is in the GOP primary that Independent voters can most effectively influence political outcomes in the Cowboy State.

The Wyoming Republican Party detests “crossover voting” like this and has characterized the practice as some sort of attack on democracy. Horseshit! Voters expressing their political will in any manner they desire is the apex of democracy.

Even though the Republican-controlled Legislature has narrowed the window for switching parties before the primary date, the window is still open until May 13. Independent voters can still register Republican before that date, and affect the outcome of the GOP primary. And I, for one, sure as hell won’t discourage them from doing precisely that.

I’d love to see the day in Wyoming when the only meaningful letter behind a candidate’s name isn’t a blue “D” or a red “R”, but a big ol’ brown and gold “W”. I sincerely hope that our legislature will find the courage to open up our elections so that every voice can be heard at every opportunity. Until then, these are the cards we’ve been dealt and we should play our hand intelligently. The stakes are as high as they’ve ever been.

Even though I have been a Republican my entire life, I am disgusted with the turn my party has taken in recent years. That’s why I understand the ethos of the Independents, and I don’t believe that I’m alone in that understanding.

Who knows? If Independent voters are given an equal opportunity to influence politics in the Equality State, and if my party continues to behave like a spoiled and entitled child who only cares about consolidating power instead of the good of the whole family, the Independents might see their ranks increase by one erstwhile lifelong Republican. Selah.