Oil, Trump drive huge voter turnout
Oil, Trump drive huge voter turnout
By Camille Erickson and Morgan Hughes
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
CASPER – Wyoming voters came out in droves to cast their ballots on Election Day for both local and national candidates, with the presidential race taking center stage in voters’ minds.
Natrona County’s clerk expected the number of county residents who voted this election to set a new record, as of 5:15 p.m.
A majority of Wyoming residents interviewed at the polls by the Star-Tribune expressed strong support for President Donald Trump, and an accompanying fear that the Biden administration would spell the end of some of Wyoming’s economic and cultural pillars: oil, guns and low taxes.
Nearly all emphasized the historic importance this election held for the state and the country.
Many voters who spoke Tuesday with the Star-Tribune said the future of the energy industry was among their primary concerns.
Presidential candidate Joe Biden has touted an energy plan focused on renewable sources, and some worry if he’s elected, Biden would dramatically pivot the country away from oil and coal — essential industries for Wyoming’s economy.
Biden has maintained he has no plan to ban fracking.
Pat Sullivan, 40, has lived in Wyoming his entire life and came out to vote in person on Election Day to keep the president in office. It took him and Allie Sullivan roughly 10 minutes to vote in person at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department on Tuesday afternoon.
Ultimately, the Sullivans both voted for Trump out of concern that Biden would kill the oil industry to which they both had devoted their lives. Higher taxes and less money for their retirement funds also motivated them to get out and vote.
“At stake is a lot: socialism, taxes, loss of jobs,” Pat explained. “I’m 40 (years old). I got a 401(k). I need that thing.”
“We’ve both worked really hard to get ‘em,” Allie added.
Todd Rodgers waited with his daughter, Anna, Tuesday evening outside his polling place at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds.
He stood in a line that stretched far beyond the doors to the building and into the adjoining parking lot.
For Rodgers, voting for Trump is the only way he can envision saving energy jobs in the state.
“The Democratic party closed down my state,” Rodgers said. “Coal, oil... and they say wind energy is going to make up that gap.”
Rodgers is skeptical of renewable energy. He’s voted in the last six presidential elections, he estimated, but said this year he felt more was at stake.
Another voter named Linda said she was also concerned for the state’s bedrock industries. She’s been in the oil and gas industry “all her life.”
Linda declined to give her last name for fear of repercussions at her job.
“(This election) is just scary all the way around,” she said. “I really think if Biden (becomes president), we will see our oil and gas go down. All these poor people who work for the oil fields are going to lose jobs.”
But Linda’s focus rested not only on the national election results.
She was also eager to vote for her local candidates.
“I think we should actually vote for our city representatives and the locals,” she said. “That’s one of the biggest things.”
Jennifer Clifton, who voted at Casper’s Restoration Church in the early afternoon, said she supported Trump for several reasons, including her family’s livelihood.
“My husband is oil-field,” she said. “(Biden) wants to get rid of oil.”
Biden has made repeated efforts to clarify his stance on fossil fuels, stating in late October: “We’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time.”
Although others in the Democratic coalition have pushed Biden to take a stronger stance on pivoting to renewable energy.
While a majority of voters told the Star-Tribune the future of energy was a major motivator for them, many had more than one reason for supporting Trump.
Social unrest, abortion and the specter of socialism were all factors motivating voters Tuesday.
Clifton, who first attempted to vote at 7 a.m. but encountered a line out the door, returned in the early afternoon to ensure she could cast a ballot.
She said abortion was a major concern of hers. Trump has appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court during his four years in office — a major victory for anti-abortion activists who hope a conservative majority in the nation’s top court could mean the eventual overturn of the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Casper resident Ken Patterson also pointed to social concerns as a primary reason for supporting Trump.
He said he thinks this election “is going to be a turning point for our country,” regardless of who wins. But he said he worries if Biden wins, there will “be more violence,” referencing the social unrest that erupted across the U.S. over the summer following the police killing of unarmed Black man George Floyd.
If Biden wins? “I’ll pray,” Patterson said.
Patterson shared skepticism about the political process as a whole, not just one party or the other. But he said he still felt it was important to show up Tuesday.
“People died for my right to vote,” he said. “If everyone here didn’t think we made a difference, I’d bet the outcome would be different, especially for local races.”
Penny and Paul Van Hise echoed that sentiment.
They’ve been voting since 1972. For the past 30 of those years, they have been exercising that right in Wyoming. Despite word of long lines, the two had “no problems at all” voting in person at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
“Everything went well,” Penny said.
Yet the stakes for this election felt especially high for her.
“I’m concerned about where our country is going,” Penny said. “We want some say in who gets elected into office.”
“It’s going too far to the left too fast,” Paul added.
Paul said he always has concerns about the integrity of the election, though he feels Wyoming was spared from issues facing other states.
“The more separated the two sides are, the more there are chances for that kind of chicanery,” he said.
The couple did not observe any partisan or nonpartisan poll watchers inside the Wyoming Game and Fish Department when they voted.
“Another concern is we are still so divided (as a country),” Penny added. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens.”
Two issues motivated lifetime Wyoming resident Anthony Ray to come out to vote on Election Day at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds: preserving gun rights and banning abortion. He said this election felt different than others before.
“(The country) is getting so out of hand with rioting and radicalization, socialism, progressiveness, Communism, whatever you want to call it. We’re losing the American sense of things,” he said. “People are just trying to turn it into something America was never meant to be.”
Matt Powell admitted the 2020 election did feel different due to heightened “tension and polarization.”
“It just feels like all the marbles are all over the place this year,” he said. “I don’t know, there is a lot at stake, it feels like.”
Wyoming saw record voter turnout this year. Many people voting this year said they had voted in 2016, but this year felt “more important,” as one voter said.
For many, 2020 was their first opportunity to cast a ballot in a presidential race.
Dawson Palmer, 20, was among that crowd. He waited for his turn to vote Tuesday at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds accompanied by his mother, Lori.
Lori said she was “incredibly proud” of her son for choosing to vote this year. Palmer said he supported Trump but hasn’t paid close attention to the lead-up to the election. He said his decision to support Trump ultimately came down to the unrest that occurred over the summer.
“I just don’t want to see that happen again,” he said.
The majority of young voters the Star-Tribune spoke with Tuesday were neither Trump supporters nor staunch Democrats. Jace Qureshi voted with his mother, Malinda Harvell, Tuesday at Restoration Church. They both voted third-party.
“It seems the other two candidates create a lot of division,” Qureshi said.
Brothers James and Michael Burk voted together Tuesday. It was Michael’s first time. He said many of his friends said voting doesn’t make a difference, but Michael’s perspective is to “do it anyway.”
For James, the simple act of voting with his peers, regardless of who they vote for, was a “unifying” act. It’s one of the only times the entire country can act in concert, he said. The pair both voted for Biden.
“I think it’s time for things to calm down,” James said, adding that he thought a career politician, like Biden, would be a better president because he knows how the process works. But Biden still needs to earn his trust. He said he wants more transparency from the government and wants to be treated like he’s smart enough to make his own decisions.
At the end of the day, though, James said he’s just grateful to have a vote.
“It does feel good, because no one gets to look over your shoulder and tell you you made the wrong decision,” he said. “It’s your choice.”