Democrats elect new state officers and Young Democrats leadership

Democrats elect new state officers and Young Democrats leadership
New Chair Leslie Petersen: Party must maintain its momentum of past four years

CASPER - The new state chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party said she is excited to be working with such a strong team of leaders that will guide the party over the next two years.

"I’m excited about this opportunity to help elect progressive leaders at all levels of government throughout Wyoming," said State Chair Leslie Petersen of Wilson. "I'm pleased to have such a great Executive Committee to work with and thrilled with the newly elected Young Democrats who are full of energy, enthusiasm and technological expertise."

The Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee elected new officers in Casper on Saturday, April 18, and the Young Democrats of Wyoming also met to elect representatives on the state party governing board.

State party officers elected Saturday include State Chair Leslie Petersen of Teton County, Vice Chair Mike Bell of Laramie County, Secretary Linda Barton of Fremont County, and Treasurer Chuck Herz of Teton County.

In addition, the Young Democrats of Wyoming elected the following officers for the next two years: Dana Walton, chair; Rey Fuentes, vice chair; Sean Williams, state committeeman; and Ellie Bolender, state committeewoman.

Chairman Petersen said two of her highest priorities for the coming election cycle will be spreading the Democratic Party's message and finding quality community leaders to run for elected office.

"We need to let the people of Wyoming know the many ways in which Democrats are working for the best interests of working families," she said. "Getting our message out is a critical component of the work we need to do over the next two years."

She said Democrats need to maintain their momentum from the past two elections, in which Democrats have gained a total of five state House seats. At the same time, the party needs to improve its performance statewide in county-level elections.

"There are a lot of good leaders in this state who are Democrats and who would make good elected officials," Petersen said. "Our mission will be to find those people and get them elected to office."

About Leslie
Petersen has previously served as a Teton County commissioner and has been involved with various conservation, political and natural resource boards. She has been a Teton County Democratic Party activist for years, is a former Teton County party chair, and served as the county's state committeewoman for the previous election cycle. She also worked as legislative liaison for former Wyoming Gov. Ed Herschler, and she was the Democratic Party's nominee for secretary of state in 1982 and for a state House seat in 1990. Petersen has helped organize fundraising events for presidential candidates Sens. John Kerry and Barack Obama that she said each raised more than $450,000. She is a retired realtor and is married to Hank Phibbs, chairman of the Teton County Commission.

About the Young Democrats of Wyoming
The four officers of the Young Democrats are all involved with the Rocky Mountain Democrats chapter at the University of Wyoming. Walton and Fuentes worked for the state party for several months during the 2008 election cycle.

Walton said the group plans to focus on identifying and recruiting volunteers and candidates for office. Added Fuentes, "We want to bring more young people into the Democratic fold."