Barrasso leads GOP in voter support as multiple Wyoming counties report 100%-plus turnout

CASPER, Wyo. — In an election where Wyoming counties saw more than 100% voter turnout, Republican Sen. John Barrasso was lent greater support than the man who endorsed his reelection, former President Donald Trump.

That’s according to the unofficial election results available from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday. Results will remain unofficial until certified by local and state canvassing boards.

Barrasso earned 198,366 votes statewide, dominating his Democratic challenger, Scott D. Morrow, who earned 63,706 votes. Support for Barrasso grew leaps and bounds over his election in 2018, when he received 136,210 votes, per the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office records.

This year, Barrasso earned more Republican votes than any other candidate in the state, including Trump, who, with his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, earned 192,576 votes. That by far dwarfed the number of votes for their Democratic challengers, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, who received 69,508 votes in Wyoming.

Trump’s support among Wyomingnites this year waned slightly from the 2020 election, when he received 193,559 votes with then-Vice President Mike Pence. Both the 2020 and 2024 elections were up substantially from the 2016 election. That year, Trump and Pence picked up 174,419 votes in Wyoming.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, another Trump-supported Republican, earned 184,626 votes to retain her seat, a commanding lead over her challengers: Democrat Kyle G. Cameron with 60,763 votes, Libertarian Richard Brubaker with 9,219 votes and Constitutionalist Jeffrey Haggit with 5,360 votes.

Support for Hageman, who unseated incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney in 2022, was considerably higher this year than her initial election in November 2022. That year, she picked up 132,206 votes.

Ballots Cast

In all this year, there were 271,043 ballots cast in the general election, according to the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office. That number may increase slightly as some provisional ballots were still being counted Wednesday.

Those counts were happening in Laramie County on Wednesday morning. County Clerk Debra Lee said there weren’t enough remaining ballots to sway any outcome. She added there don’t appear to be any recounts either.

Laramie County was among those that saw greater than 100% voter turnout. The county reported 40,452 registered voters Nov. 5, but had 43,583 ballots cast as of a 11:53 p.m. report. That’s a 107.74% turnout.

“Wyoming has same-day registration, so that’s why the math looks that way,” Lee said.

Some voters reported that they were no longer registered and the county had no voting history for them despite having participated in past elections. In April, Cap City News reported that over 15,000 Laramie County residents were removed from the voter registry in February, following an annual purge mandated by state law. To be eligible for this year’s elections, affected residents would have to re-register. Lee referenced that purge when asked about the complaint.

Natrona County saw a massive addition of voters as well, with County Clerk Tracy Good reporting a 113.26% turnout. The county had 30,197 registered voters with 34,202 ballots cast, according to an election report printed at 10:57 p.m. Tuesday.

Similarly to Laramie County, Campbell County reported a 107.7% voter turnout. There, registered voters totaled 17,109. A report printed at 12:24 a.m. Wednesday shows 18,443 ballots cast.

On Monday, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray reported that Wyoming was seeing an increase in turnout across the state compared with turnout numbers from previous election cycles. As of 3:20 p.m. Monday, absentee turnout by mail and in person was 112,824, about 44% the number of registered voters in Wyoming.

Despite the overwhelming turnout in some counties, the state did not trump the 2020 election turnout. The 2020 election saw 278,503 ballots cast statewide, up considerably from the 2016 general election’s 258,788, per Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office records.

Stew Dyer at Cap City News contributed to this report.

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