Is Wyoming turning hard right?

[Lognog]

There were a lot of primary challenges last night and many Republicans lost or only got 60ish%. Are Wyoming Republicans about to look more like Texas Republicans

[Duke of York]

It doesnt matter all the much if they are given that Democrats leave many seats in the legislature uncontested

[We Live in Black and White]

So Wyoming is a weird place. We still have very tangibly moderate Republicans in the House and Senate, and a base of voters who like them, which is why the worst excesses of the conservative GOP legislature have had difficulty making it past the chopping block. Case in point: arch-conservative state representative Richard Tass lost his primary last night to Barry Crago, the Johnson County Deputy Attorney, in a challenge that was ostensibly from the left, and by a substantial margin at that. Additionally, a lot of primary challenges in Wyoming are vanity affairs by people who want to climb the political ladder, which was the case in the Tyler Lindholm vs. Chip Neiman primary in the Crook County district. The two are basically indistinguishable politically (they don't even know what a moderate is in Crook County, I don't think), and Neiman ran and won basically on the grounds of opportunism.

Now, with that being said, the rest of last night's primaries were definitely challenges from the right. Thomas Crank, who is one of my city's representatives, is one of the two most liberal Republicans in the Wyoming Legislature, and he's had to fight off Scott Heiner - a paleocon whackjob - two times now. Likewise, Jeremy Haroldson, who looks to have come out victorious, is far to the right of sitting Representative Dan Kirkbride, as is Troy McKeown in relation to defeated Senator Michael von Flatern. So, in the end, certain places traded right and others traded left, but the balance of it has remained mostly the same.

[ElectionsGuy]

Perhaps there is something in Wyoming that the legislature voted on that angered the GOP base, but this phenomenon of some Republican incumbents underperforming isn't unique to Wyoming. A lot of Republicans have been doing poorly in primaries (but usually not by enough to be significant or to lose) because a lot of Republican voters are upset with their incumbents and have been for a long time. A lot of the base sees them as inadequate/weak or traitors on certain issues. Very different dynamic from the Democratic party where for the most part the base of the party approves of their leadership with the exception of some of the most DINO members like Lipinski. Upsets like AOC and Cori Bush are large exceptions.

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Bold take: WY will vote Kanye in November

[DINGO Joe]

Wyoming and Alaska have the same problem--they're both heavily reliant on revenue generated from resource extraction and it's now cheaper to generate resources elsewhere.  It leads to huge structural issues with their budgets and a politician's greatest nemesis--hard choices.

[NYSforKennedy2024]

Bold take: WY will vote Kanye in November