WYOMING 2024 PRIMARY ELECTION CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT: In A High Spending Primary, Do Winners Spend More? 

A new analysis by the Equality State Policy Center (ESPC) highlights the intricate relationship between campaign expenditures and election outcomes in Wyoming’s 2024 primary election. While conventional wisdom suggests candidates who outspend their opponents have the advantage, the role of Political Action Committees (PACs) and Organization expenditures reveals a more nuanced picture.

In Wyoming’s 2024 primary election, where over $4.5 million was spent by candidates, PACs, and Organizations, the connection between spending and winning becomes harder to track due to the complexities of uncategorized spending.

COUNTING THE COSTS: WHY HAND-COUNTING THREATENS WYOMING'S ELECTION INTEGRITY

The Equality State Policy Center (ESPC) released a new brief underscoring the potential risks and consequences associated with proposals to replace machinery with manual hand-counting of ballots in Wyoming elections.

Currently, Wyoming employs safe and secure voting systems that are complemented by rigorous auditing procedures, public testing, and the diligent oversight of our experienced county clerks. These measures ensure accuracy and transparency, mitigating the risk of human error and maintaining public confidence in the results. 

A shift to hand or manual counting would undermine our processes and principles that maintain safe and secure elections in Wyoming.

wYOMING CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT

In light of the escalating concern over campaign finance practices impacting Wyoming's elections, the Equality State Policy Center (ESPC) has released a report brief on political campaign spending in the state. 

"Expenditures by political candidates and contributions to their campaigns can have an outsized impact on election outcomes, especially in a state like Wyoming, where races can be won with only a handful of votes," writes Marissa Carpio, Policy Director of ESPC. 

From local legislative campaigns to statewide executive offices, the surge in expenditures underscores the need for robust regulations to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process. Most notably, ESPC's report will emphasize the necessity for legislative scrutiny and enforcement measures.

GENDER LENS PROJECT - ESPC RESEARCH

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The Gender Lens Project is designed to change our policy conversations and improve state-level decision making by emphasizing the contributions of women in the Equality State’s economy and in our local communities.

This project builds on ESPC’s capacity for policy analysis, statewide outreach and delivers original content and sparks new conversations that highlight where women are – and are not – included in key conversations and policy in the Equality State. Check out our reports, partnered with the Wyoming Women's Foundation: