Platte County Democrats to Meet Tomorrow Night

Platte County Democrats,

We will meet Monday, November 28, 2011, at the First State Bank Conference
Center at 7pm.

Pete Gosar ran for Governor in 2010 and will be the featured speaker.

Chris Kanwischer, Platte County Clerk, is tracking the redistricting effort
and will provide insight on this important issue.

Please plan to attend and bring your friends. It will be informative and
fun.

Terry R. Jones
Chairman

Letter to the Editor - Terry Jones

Terry Jones has a Letter to the Editor appearing this week. I have seen it in both the Platte County Record-Times and The Casper Star-Tribune. Go check it out!

Press Release: Platte County Democrats Elect New Leadership

Wheatland, WY – Last night twenty Democrats from across Platte County gathered and elected new leadership for a two-year term.

Terry Jones of Wheatland was elected as Chair and Stacey Reichardt of Wheatland was elected as Vice Chair. Rick Robbins of Wheatland retained his position as Secretary and Jeff Wilhelm of Wheatland will continue serving as treasurer. Michael Crowley of Wheatland was elected to serve as State Committeeman. The position of State Committeewoman is vacant and will be filled by appointment.

“I’m looking forward to leading the Platte County Democrats. I hope to see a lot more people at our monthly meetings, including a lot of younger faces,” commented Jones.

Monthly meetings of the Platte County Democrats will resume in April. The time and place will soon be announced.

Platte County Democrats Elect Officers

The Platte County Democrats met at the county library on March 22nd to hold elections and discuss plans for the party. Thanks to all who came out to vote! Our new Chairperson is Terry Jones, and our new Vice-Chairperson is Stacey Reichardt! Continuing as our Secretary is Rick Robbins, and maintaining the Treasurer position is Jeff Wilhelm. Michael Crowley (yours truly) is our State Committeeman, and the position of State Committeewoman will be appointed soon.

We were very fortunate to have Brianna Jones, Wyoming Democratic Party Communications Director, with us to review the party's upcoming goals and to discuss the Affordable Care Act, reviewing some of the benefits available to Wyoming citizens. For example, did you know about 9,000 Wyoming residents with preexisting conditions qualify for affordable insurance, but only 50 enrolled for the program? Go to www.pcip.gov for more information.

Brianna will be pursuing other personal goals starting in May, and thus will not continue in her current position. She has been a great asset to the party, and I know our next Communications Director will have big shoes to fill. Good luck and thanks for all your hard work, Brianna!

Our Platte County Democrats members discussed short term goals, and we will be looking at having regular meetups to work on goals, party promotion, and ways to improve local politics!

If you aren't on the local party e-mail list, please send us a message and you will be added. Also, please add to our discussions by joining our Facebook group. This group requires a request to join, so that we can keep it to just to members of our party.

2012 is just around the corner, it's time to get this party energized! Stay tuned...

Platte County Elections Results November 4, 2008

The results are in, and for the state of Wyoming and Platte County, the GOP has a sweep.

It was hardly a surprise that Mike Enzi (R) and John Barrasso (R) , our state Senators, would keep their elected positions. They earned 76% and 74% of the votes, respectively.

Cynthia Lummis (R) captured the larger percentage of votes, winning our lone congressional seat, 126,016 to 100,724 (2572 to 1710 in Platte County) in a heated race with Gary Trauner.

Our new representative for State House District #3 will be Frank Peasley (R), in a close race against Terry Jones (D). The final votes for Platte County were 1522 to 1240. District #5 will continue to be represented by Matt Teeters (R), who earned 66% of the vote in Platte County. The state senate race was a blowout. Jim Anderson (R) defeated Jay Wright (D) with 67.5% of the votes in Senate District #2.

More locally, we now have an all-Republican County Commissioners Board, with Terry Stevenson (R) defeating incumbant Joe Reichardt (D), 2559 to 1843. He will join Tim Millikin and Dan Kirkbride.

The people elected for the Hospital District Board were Rick Bowen, John C. Bunker, Crystal Gamblin and Lori Modesett. Chuck Witte lost his position by 30 votes.

Wheatland will have Alan Madsen and Bob Shoemaker as city councilmen.
Guernsey will have Audrey Brown as a councilwoman for a four year term. Penny Wells and Cindy Frederick have been elected to hold two year terms.

Constitutional amendments A and B both passed, as did the Senior Citizen Tax Continuation.

Further results for school district positions, judges, resource conservation districts and the like can be viewed here, under "Election Results".

Although the news from the national stage was overwhelmingly positive for Democrats, the state and local winners reflect the fact that Wyoming is still a stronghold for the Republican Party. I hope that the elected officials will make thoughtful decisions, and I encourage them to remember the nickname of our state. We are the Equality State. Let that be reflected in your work for the people of Wyoming.

And to our Democratic candidates, I congratulate you for your tireless efforts of campaigning. In this state, you have the struggle of earning each and every vote, simply for having a "D" behind your name. I've been able to listen to many of you, and know that you have selfless desires for a better way of life for this and future generations. Keep believing in those dreams, and never forget the mantra: Yes we can!

Get out the vote Platte County

By the end of the day, it will be "times up" for donating money to your favorite candidate(s). Most of the political hopefuls and diehards will be hitting the streets this weekend, a last push to find those few extra people that haven't quite decided to whom they will cast their ballot. This is the pre-party to the Superbowl of politics, Election Day. And like a diehard sports fan, I feel the need to trumpet the virtues of my team. We have some great players, and I'd like to see some touchdowns on Tuesday. First, Barack Obama is looking good but he needs every vote he can muster. Statewide, our best chance to bring home gold is with Gary Trauner with a U.S. House Seat. Locally, I'm thinking Terry Jones has a decent shot at getting the win in State House District #3.

Enough sports analogies. My point is, if you have a candidate that you want to support, this is the time to do it. Call your candidates and ask what you can do. Get out the vote!

Republicans flood Platte County with newspaper ads

Wow! The local Republicans hit the Platte County Record Times hard this week. Multiple ads from most of the candidates, and a reminder from the Wyoming Republican Party to "Vote Republican". House District #3 candidate Frank Peasley has a half dozen ads himself. He is running against Terry Jones. This ad amused me, I've done some editing:


I have a working relationship with his son here in Wheatland, who I consider a good guy. I just think this scare tactic of picturing a solely Democratic representation is a bit much. By all estimates, Enzi and Barrasso are safe in their seats, so there's a pair for the "R" column. And besides, wasn't it not so long ago that besides Governor Freudenthal, the representation we had was strictly Republican? Until the Dems won the Congress in 2006, we were completely lopsided in the GOP's favor. Our current elected officials representing Platte County and Wyoming (Enzi, Barrasso, Cubin, Anderson, Teter, Meier and Alden) are ALL Republican. So I ask the rebuttal question to our local citizens, Don't you want at least one Democratic voice heard? I know I do.

Debates and more debates

In this article from the Casper Star Tribune, Terry Jones and Frank Peasley field questions about a statewide smoking ban, penalties for drunk drivers, health care, spending of budget surpluses, business promotion and housing shortages, among other things.

From the Gillette News-Record, this article covers the Trauner, Lummis and Herbert debate from October 5th. They discuss partisan politics, the federal bailout, the Wyoming Range Bill, and retirement benefits for congress. Is it just me or do those three names together look like a law firm? Just saying.

Coming up tomorrow is the forum at the Platte County Fairgrounds. 7-9 p.m., or until the last debater is standing.

Don't forget about Wednesday, the third Presidential debate will be broadcast on a television near you. Bring it on home Barack!

Meet the Candidates, Part II

Terry Jones spoke next at the forum. He is the only person running for either a state house or senate seat that is from Platte County. He would represent House District #3. He has worked forty-two years for the railroad, has been in Wheatland for 16 years. For two decades he has been with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Union, serving as Chairman for many of those years. He is endorsed by Wyoming Public Employee Association, NRA, AFL-CIO, Wyoming Education Association. His campaign issues discussed included property taxes, noting that Platte County may see their taxes increased the way others around us have, and would like to do something proactively before that happens. He discussed workman's comp, stating that currently your employer can absolutely stop workman's comp. He also discussed not letting land swaps happen and conserving our public lands. He noted areas where Democratic issues have succeeded in our state, including government transparency, the Hathaway scholarship, and the sales tax on food.

In the Q&A session, the current district map was discussed. Terry feels Platte County with a population of 8,000 people qualifies to have it's own district, noting that they will redistrict this county after the next census. He would like to be the voice of Platte County when this issue comes up. He was questioned about what issues face our children in Platte County. Terry felt strongly about education, starting with Head Start funding. He was asked about ideas to bring jobs into the county. Terry was hopeful that with good labor unavailable in Casper, that businesses may look to Platte County for their labor force, and he would like to provide the Wyoming Business Council with more funding to help promote business in Wyoming. He also stated that part of the problem is employers in the county not wanting to pay a salary beyond a certain level, $1200-1500/month. Questions about the nursing home situation were discussed briefly, and were deferred to our county commissioner candidate, Joe Reichardt.

Jason Wright, running for State Senate District #2, spoke next. He works in the IT department at the hospital in Douglas. He'd like to inject some new ideas into the legislature. He would like to push Wyoming into a leadership role on some important issues. He feels Wyoming, having the unique situation of having a small population and a budget surplus, would be able to adopt the first single payer healthcare system in the nation. He also is an advocate of preventative healthcare. He envisions if Wyoming had a single payer healthcare system, there would be a rush of businesses coming to the state for the advantage of not have to pay for health insurance costs to their employees. It would take the burden of healthcare costs and put it on society, and would allow them to be more competitive from this state.

Mr. Wright discussed was the idea of having having curbside recycling in Wyoming, and other forms of transportation to get around the state. In the Q&A, there was quite a bit of talk about using the rail system for traveling, also a state bus system and again a high speed rail, which would follow the current highway system. Jason Wright will be competing against Jim Anderson(R) on November 4th.

Russell Johnson of Veteran, WY is running for State House District #5, a position currently held by Matt Teeters(R) from Lingle, WY. He spoke about his two big issues, taxes and alternative energy. He believes taxes are a little misshapen where farmers, ranchers and some businesses are taxed on personal property. He proposes a state tax starting with over-the-median income, involving only the elite wealthy. For alternative energy, Wind and solar power are on his list of priorities. He is on a committee to start up a wind power district in his local area.

Joe Reichardt, one of three county commissioners for Platte County, spoke last. The county has many current issue, he said, but the situation with the nursing home is what is currently on people's minds. He wanted to make clear that Hospital District Board is responsible for the negotiations with Banner Health. He felt that Banner has been trying to get out of the nursing home business for awhile now, but feels that they signed a contract, and should take the profit and loss together. He stated that there were currently three possible outcomes. 1. Banner stays to run the hospital, and the nursing home closes. 2. Banner stays to run the hospital and nursing home, and they come up with an arrangement that would be acceptable for both sides for this to happen. 3. Another firm would take over and run both the hospital and nursing home. There was a lot of discussion regarding the nursing home, and Mr. Reichardt encouraged people to attend the meeting being held at the Cole Building in Wheatland at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14th.

Our Party Chairman, Don Kneeburg, did a great job giving everyone the opportunity to speak while keeping within the time frames allotted. This forum was a great opportunity to learn a little more about these candidates.

There will be another opportunity tomorrow, October 14th, to pose questions and to hear more from these candidates and others at the 4-H building (Platte County Fairgrounds) from 7-9 p.m. Please attend and bring your questions in written form.

Platte County Democrats hold forum

It was a good afternoon in Wheatland as the Platte County Democrats hosted a Meet the Candidates event at the First State Bank Conference Center. I will update with information on what the candidates talked about by tomorrow. I'm grateful to the candidates for taking the time to talk to us, I am very pleased with our Democratic Party choices. Below are a few photos of the event. More soon...

Donate to our Wyoming Democratic candidates

Have you supported our local candidates? It's a real easy thing to do online. Actblue.com is a one stop spot to donate to our Democratic Party candidates, including Gary Trauner, Chris Rothfuss, Nick Carter, and Terry Jones. We have a little over a month until the general election. If you can, chip in a few dollars and show your support. I promise you will get a warm fuzzy feeling inside when you do!

Platte County Democrats Meet the Candidates

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Sunday October 12th is your chance to meet the candidates! Take the time to come meet the candidates running for legislature, including Gary Trauner, Nick Carter, Chris Rothfuss, Terry Jones, Joe Reichardt, and others.
When: Sun, Oct 12, 2pm – 4pm
Where: First State Bank Conference Center, Wheatland, WY

Platte County Gearing Up For Election

The plattecountywyoming.com website has the latest election news, including forms for absentee voting and voter registration. If you haven't registered yet, get going!! From the site, take a look at the 2008 General Electoin Ballot Proof. Not much going on with the Wheatland Town Council positions. Two candidates, two positions open. Hmmm. The County Commissioner race will be worth watching. There's one position available, with our Democrat incumbant Joe Reichardt and a Republican candidate Terry Stevenson both aiming for it. There's a couple of constitutional amendments and a taxation continuation on the ballot. Those always seem to catch people off guard. Terry Jones has been stumping (came to my house this week!) for the State District #3 House Rep position. He's up against Frank Peasley.

There's some good races. Be sure to visit with your candidates and give them your support!