How Wyoming can become a two-party state

Excuse me for entertaining the anachronistic notion that a two-party system would be a healthy thing for the citizens of Wyoming. Not much chance Wyoming will turn Blue or even purple in the near future, however, the irony of conservatives ignoring climate change is that we may find ourselves a bluish-shade of purple as sea levels rise and west coast liberals are forced inland.

Until then, Democrats have to fight to avoid extinction. Each year, fewer eligible voters register to vote as the margin between registered Republicans and registered Democrats grows wider.

All five state elected officials are Republicans. With the exception of Dave Freudenthal’s two terms as governor, ending nearly a decade ago, no Democrat has been elected to any statewide office since 1990. A Wyoming Democrat hasn’t served in Congress since Teno Roncalio’s 1978 retirement. The vast majority of county officials are Republicans as are the majority of registered voters in 22 of 23 counties.

Does it matter? The sheer numbers don’t. It makes no difference that there are more members of one party than the other. It is not about partisanship. What matters is the way in which those numerical differences translate into public policy. The numbers alone don’t explain the harm one party rule is currently doing because that party no longer has to appeal to the center.

Wide swaths of Wyoming families are not being represented. Their concerns routinely go  unaddressed. Republicans are captive to a radical right, conservative Christian cabal. While the minimum wage goes unchanged and the healthcare needs of the uninsured are ignored, the legislature tilts at the windmills of culture wars.

Without a robust challenge from another party, the Republicans are freed of any rational restraint. 

As Wyoming’s Democratic Party heads for hospice care, it could have one last breath before going the way of the Wooly Mammoth. To save itself, the Wyoming Democratic Party  must find a way to become relevant in the lives of low and middle-income Wyoming families.

Here’s how.

Stop spending money on office space and equipment, staff, and candidates. Start spending on the initiative process to give voters an opportunity to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and to expand Medicaid.

These are proposals that will significantly improve the lives of thousands of Wyoming families, a large percentage of whom are otherwise not likely to registered to vote because today’s politics are irrelevant to their daily struggle.

Wages and medical care keep them up at night worrying about their children. These are the issues that matter to them and will motivate them to participate in the political process. 

Wyoming Republicans have demonstrated they have no interest in serving these families. Give up any hope you have that this might change. Take these matters directly to the people by placing the two issues on the 2022 ballot.

The Wyoming initiative process was designed to not work. You can’t gather enough signatures using volunteers. Since the citizen-oriented process was put on the books, 32 initiatives have been proposed. Three passed. Those that didn’t make the ballot relied on volunteers to gather the large number of signatures required.

The proponents cannot rely on volunteers to get the more than 30,000 valid signatures required to put the question on a ballot. Neither can one rely on volunteers to draft language that won’t run afoul of existing law. 

It won’t be cheap. If you are serious about getting this done, you must have sufficient funding to contract an organization with the resources and expertise to get it done.

Then, sit back and imagine the 2022 election. Working families’ wages and access to healthcare will be on the ballot next to the governorship, the other four statewide elected officials, candidates for congress, and the state legislature.

Every campaign will feature two candidates. The Republican will oppose minimum wage increases and the expansion of Medicaid. The Democrat will support both.

Now, tell me who you think will win the bulk of those contests. The people. That’s who.