Cash and absentee votes shaped elections L ast that istered week, was Teton above ballots the County were cast national voters. by estimated 43 percent of all Teton years and older who voted. That basis our turnout was awful: More 63 percent of all regOn a relative basis average. So was the County residents 18 noted, on an absolute than one-third of all registered voters, and nearly three-fifths of all adult residents, couldn't be bothered to vote (Table 1 on 9C). Tearing apart the results, I drew five lessons. 1. In Teton County, the more conservative you are the worse you will do. Here's an amazing fact. To represent us in the U.S. House of Representatives, Teton County voters chose Democrat Richard Grayson. Mr. Grayson is a resident of Arizona and has likely never set foot in Teton County. Or even Wyoming. Yet among Teton County voters he beat the incumbent, Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis, 46 to 43 percent. How could this happen? nation is that the vote was Why? My best guess is that not just deeply conservative promising conservative. That where in Wyoming, but not Could Teton voters have a woman? Perhaps. But in that are part of similarly brash and cumbent Marti political newcomer ceived even fewer It may be just a Wyoming State House District 22, the uncompromising conservative inHalverson lost to another woman, the Natalia Macker. Rep. Halverson revotes (570) than Lummis (579). coincidence that, on a poor night for Teton County's Republicans the two Republicans who fared the worst among local voters were the two most unabashed conservatives. If I were looking at winning a local election in 2016 or beyond, though, I'd bet their poor showing was anything but a coincidence. Corpus Callosum Jonathan Schechter The only reasonable explaa repudiation of Lummis. it was because Lummis is but a brash and uncomapproach plays well elsein Teton County. opposed her because she's the Teton County precincts 2. Teton County's Republican party is like America's Democratic party: Its candidates can win, but voters' inclination is to vote for the opposition. As is true for so many other facets of the community, the economic and demographic changes that began sweeping over Jackson Hole around 1990 have changed the valley's politics. If Teton County been on the presidential have marked the sixth Democratic presidential how the county voted on page 9C). As a result, Teton County local partisan office has "resident" Dick Cheney hadn't ticket in 2000, 2012 would consecutive local victory for the candidate, a sharp contrast to between 1960 and 1988 (Graph 1 residents' default choice for any become the Democratic candidate. See CORPUS CALLOSUM on 9C