Wyoming Is A Moderate/Conservative State

Wyoming has often been called "the most conservative state" because, in recent years, Wyoming has been run almost completely by Republicans. Donald Trump got more votes per capita than any other state.

But the Cowboy State has actually been one of the most moderate states in the union, thoughout it's history.

Since 1890, Wyoming has had a mix of Democratic and Republican governors. It has almost been an even split. For most of the state's history, its House and Senate have been a mix of both, until more recent years when the GOP took over almost all seats.

Wyoming's elected Democrats have always been mostly moderate, as have its Republicans. Even two-term Governor  Dave Freudenthal was a moderate Democrat. Governors Matt Mead and Mark Gordon were both moderate Republicans. The new choice of Eric Barlow is, once again, the state choosing a moderate.

A pile of political buttons sitting on top of a table

A couple of great examples might be the expenditure of money for a shooting complex near Cody. A true conservative would have left that project solely up to the private sector. True conservatives would close down the State Loan and Investment Board, once again leaving that to the private sector alone and keeping government out of acting like a bank. Let's add in that Wyoming would have never ordered power companies to get involved in carbon sequestration projects. That is not the role of government.

Having the letter "R" by the name of a Wyoming politician does not make that person a conservative. Many liberals in the state have run as Republicans just to get elected. Even those who see themselves as conservative look to government to solve their problems rather than free market solutions.

The recent rise of the Freedom Caucus was a push toward a more conservative Cowboy State, but most of them were pushed out in this past primary election.

No matter who was in charge, the state has constantly had a larger government per capita than most other states. Wyoming spends a lot of money on big-ticket projects.

Still, the state embraces traditional values, for the most part, along with its cowboy culture that it is very proud of.

Perhaps a better way to put it is that Wyoming is conservatively moderate, compared to other states in our nation.