There is so much to write about concerning politics this
time of year in Wyoming – where on earth do I start?
Perhaps the
biggest thing that will affect the most people is the fact that four of the
five top statewide elected officials are being elected this year.
The five
people in these slots (Governor, Secretary of State, State Supt. of Public
Instruction, State Auditor and State Treasurer) make up the five board
positions on a great many of the decision-making bodies in the state. The State Land and Investment Board (SLIB) is
perhaps the most notable. Decisions made by members of that group of the five
state elected officials affect just about every county, city and town during a
four-year cycle.
Thus, it is
important for voters to check out the candidates of how they feel about their
future voting trends while serving on this board.
A big
distinction is that some candidates have strict constitutional views, which may
cause them to vote nay on projects that are important to cities and towns. Up
to now the SLIB board has been pretty liberal (although they will deny using
such a horrible word) in their decisions in choosing to help out cities and
towns with their needs.
Although the
governor’s race is getting lots of press and airtime, there are two other races
that deserve a good look by voters.
Both the State Auditor and State Treasurer
races have hard-working candidates crisscrossing the state and doing everything
they can to get your attention.
I am just
writing about the Republican primary races because these two are
contested. We will talk about the
Democrats and the governor candidates in a future column after the primary.
State Auditor
Cynthia Cloud of Cody is retiring, which opens the door for two aggressive
Republican candidates who offer up different approaches to the office.
Kristi Racines
of Cheyenne is a CPA who currently works for the Wyoming Supreme Court. She
brings the assumed tools necessary to a job that contains the title “auditor”
in it.
She has been
pounding the pavement hard all over the state and often takes her young
children with her. She has made a good impression but needs to spread her
message outside of her hometown of Cheyenne.
Her opponent
is three-term State Legislator Nathan Winters of Thermopolis, who is an
ordained Baptist minister. Nathan is also
working hard and often brings his wife and three kids along, to make it a
family affair.
He admits to
being extremely conservative and is probably somewhat to the right of Racines.
He often talks principles as part of his stump speech.
State Treasurer Mark Gordon of
Kaycee is in the race for governor leaving his office open to two state
senators who offer contrasting styles and different backgrounds.
Leland Christensen of Alta (west of
Jackson Hole) is a former law enforcement officer and auctioneer. It is hard to find anyone who does not like
Leland.
He is looking forward to serving on
the state boards and admits that he will be relying on the Treasurer’s staff to
do the heavy lifting in the office if elected.
Curt Meier of Torrington offers a
sober countenance, which works against him in a statewide contest. He is well qualified for this job or any
other state job. But he often comes across as dour. I have known Curt for a
long time and he is as easy-going as Leland. It’s just hard to get him to crack
a smile.
My advice to voters is to pay
attention to these folks and then make your decision. We are blessed to have good people running.
Watching the campaigns always
causes me to bring up two things I do not like about Wyoming campaigns:
First, we should have our primary
any time but August. It is a great time for parades and county fairs but not
nearly as good a time as May or June. Too many people are enjoying themselves
in July and August to be paying attention. No wonder our primary election vote
totals are so small.
Second, is the importance that
debates can play. Often a very capable candidate gets tongue-tied and comes
across poorly. In reality, no state official would make a decision based on a
moment’s notice in the glare of the TV cameras. So again, I would advise voters
to give all the candidates a little bit of leeway when watching them trying to come
up with the right answer during a moment of intense pressure. That is not how
important decisions are made in the real world.
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