Democrats are dwindling in Wyoming. A primary election law further reduces their influence

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Democrats are dwindling in Wyoming. A primary election law further reduces their influence

https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-primary-democrats-switching-registration-republicans-5954c50500556a36f6664cc0bce2a6d6

The Wyoming Legislature, where the GOP controls over 90% of the seats, passed legislation last year banning voters from changing their party registration in the three months before the August primary.

Democrats are dwindling in Wyoming. A primary election law further reduces their influence

In some far reaches of rural America, Democrats are flirting with extinction. In Niobrara County, Wyoming, the least-populated county in the least-populated state, Becky Blackburn is one of just 32 left.

Her neighbors call her “the crazy Democrat,” although it’s more a term of endearment than derision.

Some less populated counties have fewer. There are 21 Democrats in Clark County, Idaho, and 20 in Blaine County, Nebraska. But Niobrara County’s Democrats, who account for just 2.6% of registered voters, are the most outnumbered by Republicans in the 30 states that track local party affiliation, according to Associated Press election data.

In Wyoming, the state that has voted for Donald Trump by a wider margin than any other, overwhelming Republican dominance may be even more cemented-in now that the state has passed a law that makes changing party affiliation much more difficult.