Wyoming
DNC Snubs Wyoming Delegation’s Song, Plays Black Eyed Peas Instead
Many people watching the Democratic National Convention roll call on Tuesday night were surprised to hear the song that blasted through the arena when Wyoming’s delegates pledged their support for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
To many people’s surprise, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas was played as the Cowboy State had its brief time in the national spotlight.
A different song was played for each U.S. state and territory during the roll call.
State Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, one of Wyoming’s delegates, said “I Gotta Feeling” was not one of the song choices that Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Joe Barbuto had suggested to the DNC.
Nevertheless, that’s what played as Barbuto announced their commitment to Harris.
“I was more excited about the message he (Barbuto) gave and the energy we gave than about the song,” Yin said.
Repeated Cowboy State Daily requests for which songs Wyoming suggested weren’t answered by publication time.
Slighted?
Nearly all the songs had some type of connection to the state they were played for.
Massachusetts got a punk song about Boston. Kansas was represented by a song from the band Kansas. Minnesota’s roll call was to Prince, as the pop superstar spent much of his life there.
But there is no known connection of any kind between the 2009 dance hit “I Gotta Feeling” or the Black Eyed Peas and Wyoming.
“I wouldn’t have suggested that song,” Yin said.
If the song was in reference to the musical host of the evening, DJ Cassidy, “having a feeling” that Wyoming will vote for Harris in the upcoming presidential election, he’s making quite a leap of faith. The state hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, and in 2020 and 2016 voted for former President Donald Trump by a larger margin than any other state.
It’s not that country-western tunes weren’t on the playlist during the roll call either.
For instance, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” was played for that southern state, while “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” was played for West Virginia.
Wyoming suffered the same fate as a few other states and territories like Maine and Guam that reportedly had their song choices snubbed.
DJ Cassidy told the New York Post on Wednesday that other picks — like Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” for Maryland, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for Connecticut and Wyoming’s song choice (whatever it was) — were more about the flow of music during the 75-minute show.
“So when there was an opportunity for a state to collaborate with me on a song, when there was an opportunity where there wasn’t necessarily a sure-shot obvious song, I posed … a master list of songs that I thought exuded the emotion of the night, and in several cases, I was able to, you know, put some of those songs into the puzzle,” he said.
15 Seconds Of Fame
When announcing that the 17 Wyoming delegates cast their votes for Harris, Barbuto mentioned how the state was the first to give women the right to vote and elect a female governor.
“With that legacy at mind and heart, the Equality State casts all of our votes for the woman who’s going to be the first woman president of the United States, say it with me now, Kamala Harris,” Barbuto yelled.
Cheering in the background was state Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, Yin, Hot Springs County Democratic Party Chairman Kim Bartlett, and Albany County Democratic Party State Committeewoman Artemis Langford.
Yin said the energy of the moment greatly overshadowed any disappointment that the DNC didn’t pick a song that was more emblematic of Wyoming’s western heritage and rural culture.
“The roll call was a really exciting and energetic time for the delegates to represent their states,” Yin said. “Even if we weren’t able to pick our song, it allowed us the opportunity for the Equality State and Cowboy State to be noticed on a national level.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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