LIVE: Teton County GOP Chooses Romney

Saturday, January 05, 2008

By Grace Hammond

JACKSON HOLE, WYO. - Updates appear at the top of the page beginning with 10:45 a.m. - others appear below in chronological order.

12:30 p.m.

Word here from the AP is that 4 of 12 counties have voted for Romney (including Albany, Teton and Laramie counties).

Resolution: "We support President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney and commends [sic] them for their dedication and service to our country." Mostly yes, but a few no votes - the latter shouted.

12:00 p.m.

Again, the results of the fifth and final round of votes at the Teton County Republican Party Convention for Wyoming national delegate:

Schloss 29; Scarlett 24. Joe Schloss, Chairman of the Teton County Republican Party and Mitt Romney backer, is the winner.

11:51 a.m.

More resolutions (some, not all):

Resolution to "oppose socialized medicine" - unanimous pass.

"Support...national social security and national health care reform" - pass.

"Support proper access and use on our federal lands to include multiple uses including snowmobiling and grazing"  -  pass.

11:40 a.m.

A few of the many resolutions:

Resolution for vote: "We support having local authorities immediately contact federal authorities, whenever an illegal alien is charged or arrested for a crime in Teton County." Passes with vast majority, a couple of votes against.

Gingery reminds the audience that only delegates can vote.

Resolution: H2-B visas - unanimous vote to urge congress to renew prior exemption for returning workers so more H2-B visas can be awarded than currently - key issue in the Jackson, where there aren't enough workers.

Resolution: "We oppose any sanctuary cities being located in Wyoming." Unanimous pass.

11:38 a.m.

Gingery's at the podium with platform, resolution and bylaw business. Resolutions go first and changes were proposed at the precinct level. Resolutions are pass/fail, including "We support our troops" and "We support family values" - I'm imagining very few "fail" votes on these issues. Other resolutions are more specific.

11:32 a.m.

"I think it's time for a drumroll," Schloss deadpans.

Fifth and final round: Schloss 29; Scarlett 24. Applause. Schloss, Chairman of the Teton County Republican Party and Romney backer, is the winner.


11:26 a.m.

Fourth round: Schloss 18; Scarlett 20; Mead 15. Will have to go to fifth round. Mead, as lowest, is eliminated.

Both Schloss and Scarlett support Romney.

"This has turned into a real horserace," the speaker says.

11:20 a.m.

Third round: Schloss 11 (supports Romney); Scarlett 21 (supports Romney); Mead 12 (supports McCain); Gingery 9 (supports Paul). On to round four (no majority plus one) and Gingery's eliminated.

11:15 a.m.

National delegate second vote: Schloss 10; Humphries 5; Scarlett 21; Mead 9; Gingery 8. No majority plus one. Humphries gone. Move to third round vote.

Meanwhile, the state (NOT national) delegates will be Jeremy Augenbaugh, Leland Christensen, Keith Gingery, Jan Larimer, Grant Larson, Clarene Law, Bill Scarlett, Joe Schloss, Diana Vaughn, Doyle Vaughan. The alternates will be, in order of votes received: Maralyn Larson, Creed Law, Gayle Roosevelt, Shep Humphries, Kate Mead, Bill Paddleford, Patty McDonald, Lisa DaCosta, Paul Vogelheim, Jake Ankeny.

11:03 a.m.

RESULTS for vote on Wyoming national delegate: Schloss 9; Augenbaugh 6; Humphries 7; Scarlett 15; Mead 6; Gingery 10. Need majority plus one, or 27 votes out of the 53 cast. Don't have it. Will have to drop the bottom vote-getter and vote again, but there's a tie. They conferenced: they'll do a coin toss to decide whether Augenbaugh or Mead goes. Mead calls heads, wins. Augenbaugh is out. New vote.

10:45 a.m.

Floor is open to nominations for the Wyoming national delegate. Speeches have been cut.

Rep. Gingery nominates himself. He's backing Fred Thompson. Kate Mead is nominated. She supports McCain. Nomination for Aughenbaugh. He also supports McCain. Bill Scarlett nominated, supports Romney. Schloss nominates self, supports Romney. Nomination for Shepherd Humphries, supports Ron Paul (burst of applause). Nominations closed.

--

Jackson Hole, Wyo. - "I thought when they called me last night that they were saying the caucus, the real caucus, was today," a photographer said, smiling and waving the idea away.

I assured her: "No - they were right."

"Like their primary? They'll pick candidates?" She asked, looking around at the 14 simple cloth-draped tables in the hotel conference room at the Snow King Resort.

"This is the one. A little different from Iowa and New Hampshire, but this is it."

The Wyoming GOP dreamed big this election cycle, moving their county conventions - held simultaneously today in each county around the state - forward a month from the earliest allowed date of Feb. 5 to Jan. 5, sacrificing half of their delegates in the process in a calculated move to garner more national influence and draw more candidates to the state. The candidate part worked - no candidates came to the state last cycle, said Joe Schloss, the chairman of the Teton County Republican Party, but this cycle, Romney, Thompson, Hunter, Brownback and Paul all came through. The biggest campaigns in Teton County and probably the state, Schloss continued, have been Romney and Paul's.

Wyoming's big day itself has not, as yet, garnered substantial national attention. The context is Iowa and New Hampshire, where a full-on political army invaded the states to kiss babies, shake hands and hand out schwag. In this area, when Laura Bush dedicated the Craig Thomas Visitor's Center in August in Grand Teton National Park, a smattering of newspaper reporters and Wyoming TV anchors showed up - today, it's local press and no television. However, that's not to say that there isn't more press in other counties, only that the event seems to have taken some people, like the photographer who showed up unsure of what this was, off-guard.

It's the first year, though, Schloss noted, that this event has been smack-dab in the middle of Iowa's and New Hampshire's. Campaigns didn't necessarily know the change was coming - they couldn't prepare in the same way they could for Iowa and New Hampshire.

8:56 a.m. - UPDATE (Our blog software is MIA - I'll be doing live updates on this article through this county convention)

"The flag seems to have gone missing," Schloss says, taking the podium. The event can't start - the first thing on the agenda is the pledge of allegiance, to be followed by a prayer and then call to order.

People continue milling around the room until it's marched smartly into the room, over a woman's shoulder.

"Nothing like starting your day off with shoveling some snow, huh?" says Jeremy Aughenbaugh, the secretary, conducting the roll call for Delegates and Alternates. He's not kidding. It 'puked' last night, as they'd say on the mountain - almost a foot of snow.

9:10 a.m.

Schloss is at the podium. "Presently, the event that you're sitting at today, our county convention and caucus, is one of the single most important events of the year," he says.

"Basically, we want to take Teton County and make it a red county again," he continues, referring to the contextually liberal area that includes Jackson Hole. "Hollywood liberals" is a common scornful statement other Wyomingites might toss in Jackson's general direction.

Senator Grant Larson takes the stage. "I want to thank you all for coming out, because it has been hard," he says. "The number of Republicans in Teton County has become not less, but a smaller percentage every year for I can't tell you how long. We must try to get back to becoming the majority, which I don't believe we are now, registrations to the contrary."

9:20 a.m.

Representative Keith Gingery is up. He opens with state and local issues - improved mental health services and a new sex offenders bill, both successes this year, he says. "I'm extremely excited about seeing all the new faces," he says. "We need to make sure those same faces keep showing up, and we need to sustain their enthusiasm and keep them active."

"We have some hard elections ahead of us. Most of our state and legislative seats are up...we need to work on those. On the county commission side...we lost our majority on the commission. That is making some serious changes for our county. Leland and Bill are doing the best they can, but without that majority, they're just two guys sitting there."

Gingery was "opposed to moving this up to January...up to last night. [Fred] Thompson called me and I flip-flopped," he said, and the room laughs. "He wouldn't have called me in March, probably," he kids.

9:28 a.m.

Commissioner Leland Christensen is next. He and Commissioner Bill Paddleford had "mixed feelings" about the 25 percent housing exaction issue. He talks about the success of the START bus and other county services. He stresses the importance of the comp plan. He talks about the environment and how to maintain and preserve wildlife habitats in the area.

"I want you to know that we've been able to do this without raising the Mill Levy - I'm not saying taxes [haven't been raised]. But not the Mill Levy. Blame your neighbors...." A small chuckle. "No, don't be afraid to meet your neighbors and [reach out to them]."

"It's our time. We can get 'er done."

9:38 a.m.

"Fifty-two of 57 possible delegates are here and present," says Sherry Daigle, Vice Chairwoman.

9:40 a.m.

Jan Larimer has sent a statement. She hopes to be elected a delegate from Teton County to the State Convention, even though she had a conflict and couldn't be here this morning.

9:55 a.m.

Three people have withdrawn as potential state delegates. Two have been nominated. Top 10 win, next 10 alternates. Short break for voting. Rep. Gingery notes that the "flip-flop" was a joke - he's still opposed to this caucus having been moved forward. He doesn't think the party has seen any benefits or that it's moved the Wyoming GOP into the national press. "It'd be nice to have a Western state primary," he says. He'd also like to see the Dems and the GOP caucus on the same day, as well.

In the meantime, a re-vote is going to be conducted due to a ballot issue.

10:35 a.m.

Still counting after the ballot fandango.

CONTINUE TO TOP FOR LATEST UPDATES

Photo by Jonathan Adams.www.jonathandanieladams.com. Gov. Mitt Romney shakes hands with Jackson Hole locals who attended an informal Meet ’n Greet at the 49er Hotel on Wednesday.

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LIVE: Teton County GOP Chooses Romney | Planet JH News Article: General News

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