Wyoming over party: A path forward for Democrats

Five generations of my family have grown up in Wyoming. From Powell and Riverton, to Sheridan and Douglas — as blacksmiths, lawyers, educators, and soldiers — the Democratic party has run in all of their blood. Historically, Democrats have succeeded in Wyoming not due to alignment with national identities but their divergence from them.

Opinion

My grandfather, Mike Sullivan, a Democrat from Casper, was elected governor in part because of his conservative stances on Wyoming issues. He was a Democrat not because his politics necessarily aligned with the positions of national Democrats, but because his values aligned. Wyoming’s problems are different. Indeed, Wyoming’s people are different. Wyoming Democrats need a path forward separate from the Democratic machine that dominates national headlines.

Wyoming Democrats seem to have forgotten the time when they contested statewide elections. A quick look through the Wyoming Democratic Party’s 123 policy positions across 14 issue areas, adopted in 2024, shows a significant skew towards national identity and away from Wyoming specifics. Included, among many other positions, are advocacy for a nationwide high-speed rail system and seven points on foreign policy. Wyoming is only mentioned in 12 of these 123 policy prescriptions.

Compare this to the 23-point platform passed by the Republicans. Scott Merrifield, the executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, has written about the importance of political parties as instruments for values. One hundred twenty-three policies are not values; they are demands.

Wyoming Democrats should not be expected to act or look the same throughout the state. The priorities of voters in Jackson are vastly different from those in Star Valley or Cheyenne. The state party needs to focus on creating a forum for critical thought grounded in Wyoming values — courage, pride, follow-through, fairness, duty, integrity, principle, and restraint. Democratic voters can decide their policy preferences by choosing whom to vote for. Candidates should understand their policy priorities through deep engagement with their local communities, while still being bound by values.

While attending the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2024, Vickie Goodwin wore multiple pins and badges from previous conventions, including a 1984 San Francisco button. 2024 was the seventh for Goodwin, including the virtual convention in 2020. (Kaycee Clark-Mellott)

The Wyoming Republican Party continues to move away from values and into intra-party turmoil, performative Cowboy costumes, and purity tests. Wyomingites deserve a space for value alignment on the core principles that make us a great state. There needs to be options for coalitional change. Right now, Democrats are switching parties to have any voice at all in Wyoming politics. Democratic leadership needs to understand that this is not a fight over policies; it’s a fight against extinction.

Rather than calling our fellow Wyomingites out, it may be time to call them in. The party needs to embrace traditional and thoughtful Wyoming Republicans’ voices to cross the aisle and fight against growing extremism and the destruction of Wyoming values. Independent thinkers wishing to be free of pledges and purity should feel welcome to find a home in the Democratic Party of Wyoming.

Instead of a policy bible, the path forward is cultural change focused on the deliberate inspection of what is best for the people of Wyoming, led by a few specific values-based priorities:

Respect for the land to preserve our home for our children.
Plain talk: decency and honesty before all else.
Freedom of speech and thought to keep Wyoming independent.
Rural representation: every corner of the state at the table.
Wyoming over party to benefit all.

This is the ground that Wyoming Democrats should stand on — step away from national issues and towards better governance for Wyoming.

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