LUSK, Wyo. (AP) — 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.

Tuesday’s primary will be the first election since the law took effect.

In Niobrara County’s grassy rangelands and pine-spattered hills adjoining Nebraska and South Dakota, it’s not easy being blue.

A paralegal for the Republican county attorney, Blackburn hears a lot of right-wing views around town.

“Normally I just roll my eyes and walk away because I’m fighting a losing battle and I’m fully aware of that,” she said. “Maybe that is why I’m well-liked, because I keep my mouth shut 10 times more than I want to.”

Not that she’s politically shy. She flies an LGBTQ+ flag in support of her lesbian daughter at her house in Lusk, a ranching town of 1,500 and the Niobrara County seat.

In political season, Blackburn stocks up on Democratic political signs to replace those that get swiped. She speaks approvingly of policing reform, taxation for government services and the transgender social media celebrity Dylan Mulvaney.

Maybe because she’s open about those views — and far too outnumbered to put them into action — Blackburn really does seem well-liked in Lusk, where she recently served nine years on the Town Council.

“I won two elections here. Even though that’s nonpartisan, people still knew I had left-leaning values,” she said.

Nationwide, Democrats account for fewer than 3% of voters in three counties this year, up from one county in 2020 but down from seven in 2016. There were none with such a low percentage of Democratic registrations in the presidential election years of 2012, 2008 and 2004, according to the AP data.

The most Republican counties in recent years are concentrated in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The most Democratic areas, meanwhile, are much less one-party-dominant.

The District of Columbia, where 77% of voters are Democrats, ranks second for Democratic dominance. First is Breathitt County, Kentucky, which through tradition is 79% Democratic but not to the core. Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has family there and in 2020 the county went 75% for former President Donald Trump.

Niobrara County was not always quite so Republican. It had more than twice as many Democrats, 83, in 2012, and in 2004 there were more than four times as many, 139.

The Democrats’ struggle in Wyoming mirrors the party’s challenges across rural America, where the party has been losing ground for years.

It wasn’t always this way. Seventy years ago, Democrats were a political force across southern Wyoming, where union mining and railroad jobs were abundant. Now, the party’s only strongholds are in the university town of Laramie and resort town of Jackson.

Meanwhile, as Wyoming Democrats face difficulty fielding viable candidates at all levels, many Democrats have been switching their registration to vote in more competitive Republican primaries, then changing back for the general election.

“You feel skeevy and dirty when you do it. But you do it anyway and you change it back as soon as you can, because you don’t want to start getting the Republican mailings,” Blackburn said.

Republicans decided they’d had enough. 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.

Party-switching had “undermined the sanctity of Wyoming’s primary process,” Wyoming’s Republican secretary of state, Chuck Gray, said in a statement of approval.

Wyoming’s Republican and Democratic primaries on Tuesday will be the first in modern memory where voters won’t be able to change party affiliation at the polls.

For Democrats, it will be slim pickings. Statewide, obscure candidates who have done little campaigning are unopposed for the Democratic nomination for U.S. House and Senate.

In Niobrara County, no Democrats are running. They aren’t contesting a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives or an open seat on the county commission, the two major races, or even running for local party positions.

Yet the area had a Democratic state representative not too long ago: Ross Diercks, who is recognized and warmly greeted at the Outpost Cafe, a homey breakfast and lunch spot in Lusk.

A former middle school English teacher, Diercks was a Republican before deciding the GOP didn’t do enough to support public education. He beat a Republican incumbent in 1992 to launch an 18-year run in the Legislature.

Knowing voters personally and keeping up on issues helped him hold office. When he got a C-minus on a National Rifle Association questionnaire, for example, he resolved to improve. For subsequent elections, he scored A’s on the survey.

Many Republican lawmakers are friends. When one from just down the road died, he sang at his funeral.

Then in 2022, Diercks temporarily switched parties to vote in the GOP primary against Harriet Hageman, who was challenging then-Rep. Liz Cheney for the state’s lone House seat. How many other Democrats did the same is hard to count, but Diercks was far from alone. Hageman, the daughter of the lawmaker Diercks unseated when he first won his state legislative seat, nonetheless won the race by a wide margin.

The new law keeping Diercks and others from switching their registration so easily has him exasperated with the GOP.

“How far are they going to go to limit one’s ability to vote? If it really comes down to purifying the party, on a voting level all the way up to the elected officials, pretty soon there isn’t going to be anyone left who’s pure enough to be in the party,” Diercks said.

Truck driver Pat Jordan supports many left-leaning goals, including universal healthcare, but said he only registers as a Republican.

“The best way to participate in meaningful change is to try to sway the dominant party,” said Jordan, who lives in Niobrara County. “You know, we need to have a government that serves the people, all of them, not just Republicans and not just rural and not just urban and not just Democrats — and definitely not just the rich and the wealthy.”

Last winter, dozens of locals gathered outside to honk and cheer as one Democrat left town. But they weren’t cheering as Ed Fullmer was headed off for good.

Fullmer was on the high school boys basketball team bus as they left for the state championship. They lost, but Fullmer coached the Tigers to their best record in a decade, 20-8.

He said people know his views but rarely put him on the spot about politics.

“Most people don’t want to dive into those type of discussions,” he said. “They respect you for what you do, how you work.”

Blackburn, for one, intends to hold her political ground, even as it shrinks around her.

“I am who I am, and I have the views that I have,” she said. “And I don’t care if it bothers people or not.”

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SAN FRANCISCO – With four minutes and 44 seconds left in the first half of the San Francisco 49ers’ first pre-season game against the Tennessee Titans, Malik Mustapha made a name for himself.

The 22-year-old rookie safety had a monster hit that invigorated the 49ers’ defense attempting to make a goal-line stand. 

Four days after the electrifying tackle, in a one–on-one interview with KTVU, Mustapha said that was just the beginning. 

Right now, he’s focused on adjusting to life in the NFL both on and off the field. 

Mustapha, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, had never been to the Bay Area before being selected by the 49ers, and like many first-timers, he was shocked by the cold summer weather.  

“I didn’t realize how cold San Francisco got,” Mustapha said with a laugh. “Santa Clara might be 80, next thing you know, it feels like 40 or something when I get to San Francisco.”

The first thing he did in San Francisco? Rent a small yellow GoCar and take in all the sights, sounds and food. 

As a self-described Hibachi connoisseur, he said he has yet to find any Hibachi in the Bay Area that compares to that of the South, where he is from. 

He was disappointed at the lack of “YumYum” sauce, a mayo-based Japanese steak house sauce mainly used on grilled shrimp, chicken and vegetables. 

“One of the waitresses looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it,” Mustaha said laughing. “That was an adjustment for me.”

On the field, Mustapha wants to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge from his teammates as he can. 

Fellow safety Talanoa Hufanga took Mustapha under his wing when he arrived in Santa Clara, even inviting him to his daughter’s first birthday party. 

That gesture made a big impact on Mustapha, who moved across the country without any family nearby. 

“It was nice being around a lot of family, me coming here alone, it’s an adjustment, but at the same time I know I am here,” Mustapha said. “I know what I want to set up for my future.”

Off the field, Mustapha’s siblings are the driving force behind his desire to dominate on the field. 

“They came into my life at a young age and changed my life for the better,” Mustapha said. “I had to be a second mom to them, but I depended on them as much as they depended on me.”

Mariam, 10, and Muhamahed, 12, live more than 7,800 miles away in Nigeria with Mustapha’s father.

“I rarely see them, that’s why I’m trying to get to a point where I do what I’m supposed to do and get them over here and move them back to the States,” Mustapha said. 

He wants to bring his siblings to the U.S. to finish school and go to college, and Mustapha hopes football will be the catalyst to make that a reality. 

“I always live by a quote: prove yourself right don’t prove other people wrong,” Mustapha said. “I don’t think I’ve arrived in any shape or form but at the same time I feel like I’ve taken a step in the right direction.”

The Denver Broncos entered 2024 riddled with questions. Most eyeballs will rightfully be on rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

Will he wind up being the quality of quarterback that gives Denver its first long-term option at the position since Peyton Manning and someone who can give the team a fighting chance against the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert going forward?

Early indications are that Broncos head coach Sean Payton might have found an ideal fit for his offense as Nix has impressed in preseason and training camp overall. If Nix is the guy, though, the Broncos will likely need to improve upon their passing weapons to maximize the young quarterback on his rookie contract.

Wide receiver, specifically, is a question for the Broncos this season. With Courtland Sutton back following a restructured contract, the rest of the receiver room is replete with unknowns.

Given the lack of sizzle at the position, the 33rd Team’s Ian Valentino ranked Denvers’ wide receiver room as the 22nd-best group in the NFL entering 2024.

“In theory, the Denver Broncos have a receiving corps worth this ranking. Courtland Sutton is more of a quality No. 2 receiver than a star, and Tim Patrick was a good player before missing the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

“Josh Reynolds was a valuable piece in Detroit and will play a role in Denver. Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims were good and productive in college, but one or both need to make an impact right away for Denver to justify being over teams with a better No. 1 option,” Valentino wrote.

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With Sutton having been plagued with subpar quarterback play, a variety of different schemes with a revolving door of coaching regimes, and having to come back from a significant knee injury, it’s unfair to box him as purely a quality No. 2 receiver. He was on the receiving end of many of last year’s improbable Russell Wilson completions, hauling in a whopping 10 touchdowns.

At this point in his career, perhaps Sutton is best served as an X and a high-end No. 2, but with better (and more consistent) quarterback play and a renowned offensive play-caller in Payton, there could be some WR1 upside there — even if Sutton does not become a superstar playmaker.

After Sutton, though, who else steps up and emerges remains to be seen. Patrick was a really promising find by the Broncos when he was handed a new contract in the 2021 season.

However, after suffering season-ending injuries in back-to-back training camps, forgive Broncos Country for being a bit guarded before believing in a healthy over-30 Patrick emerging as a big-time contributor for the team.

It’s Mims whom the Broncos need to take a large step up this season. The 2023 second-rounder is coming off of a Pro Bowl/All-Pro season as a special teams returner, but it will be his ability as a receiver that will determine most of his value and worth, as Denver traded up to acquire him, after all.

While Mims caught a touchdown pass in preseason Game 1 against the Indianapolis Colts and got an early rep with the ones, he was relegated to the second team earning snaps behind Sutton, Patrick, and Reynolds.

Can Mims emerge as a top-three receiver and an explosive play threat the Broncos desperately need on paper? Time will tell.

Reynolds appears to have been a savvy signing by the Broncos. He’s solid, versatile, big, and physical. He may have mistimed a possible touchdown from Nix against the Colts, but he provides an excellent floor as a player with many unknowns.

However, a glance at Reynolds’ contract, in comparison to the current eye-popping wide receiver market, should cap expectations that he’ll be a massive difference-making playmaker. Signing for a two-year, $9 million contract, his $4.5-million-per-year deal ranks 51st amongst wide receivers in the NFL. It’s a contract and market that would indicate he’s a useful player but not someone likely to be the type of dynamic playmaker teams covet.

After those four, it really could be anyone to earn the last roster spot or two. While Franklin was coveted enough by Denver to move up for early Day 3, he has been reportedly up and down leading up to the start of the season.

Apparently, the other receiver from Denver’s draft class — Devaughn Vele — has been more of a standout so far. Perhaps David Sills, Jalen Virgil, Brandon Johnson, or Lil’Jordan Humphrey will take one of the last spots. Special teams will play a big role in the last receivers to make the 53-man roster.

Overall, the Broncos’ wide receiver room has options and names, but after Sutton, who emerges and what quality of play they provide remains to be seen. Luckily for Denver, Payton hasn’t traditionally needed a plethora of weapons to scheme players open and field a plus-offense.

With Payton’s play calling, a smart and accurate quarterback, and an offensive line that can dictate on the ground and keep the quarterback upright, Denver might not need a star-studded cast of pass-catchers. Still, the room doesn’t look outstanding on paper and is a position to monitor going forward this season.

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