Special Report: Plight of the Rocky Mountain Democrat / The Jackson Hole values of Keith Gingery

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

By JH Weekly Staff

Plight of the Rocky Mountain Democrat
by Jake Nichols
Jackson Hole, Wyo.- Politics and time – they keep marching on. America, excepting Arizonans, just sprang ahead, sort of like the Democrats did on the national stage in 2008. In November we will, as the Dems are expected to do, fall back. Is it Daylight Savings Time or the natural course of politics?

Democrats nationwide seemed braced for the midterm backlash, when the president’s party historically suffers heavy casualties in the first ensuing midterm elections. Polls show a detectable amount of angst among many Americans over the cost of healthcare reform, government bailouts and other massive expenditures, according to CNN. “Brown shocks Coakley” headlines rocked traditionally ‘blue’ Massachusetts, and the President’s approval ratings are heading downhill faster than Lindsey Vonn. Facing Republican pushback throughout the country, Wyoming Democrats are similarly jumping ship.

As the national political scene plays out, Wyoming too will have open seats to fill with the recent announcements from top Democratic leaders Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Rep. Pete Jorgensen, that they will not seek another term this fall. What does this mean for Wyoming Democrats who may have felt they were making headway, at least in Teton County? How will state and county Republicans react to the retirements of a four-term district rep and a popular two-term governor?

Donkey moves towards endangered species list
Some state Democratic leaders say a little pushback is to be expected.
“First midterm elections for a party that has taken over the White House is frequently challenging,” said Bill Luckett, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party. “The Republicans may have an opportunity” to grab more offices in the upcoming elections.

Republicans will almost certainly benefit from the impending backlash in the state, but it’s unclear whether it will be as severe as some predict, or how it will influence Wyoming voters.

“Losses for the president’s party at the first midterms almost always happen,” said political analyst Larry Sabato. The oft-quoted professor is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. There are few exceptions, Sabato said. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was so popular, his party bucked the trend in 1934, and the GOP held strong in 2002, largely on President George W. Bush’s response to 9/11.

Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen said she thought it might be too soon to call it nationwide trending. “A lot will depend on health reform passing,” Petersen said.

The historical swing at first midterms hasn’t been as bad, statistically, as later midterms. Sabato’s records from 1946-2006 show an average of 17 House seats lost and one Senate seat in a first year midterm as compared to later midterm averages of 29.8 and 5.6, respectively.

High-profile Democrats like Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota have been the poster children of perceived ship-jumping by blue incumbents.

Luckett disagrees. “More Republicans have announced their retirement than Democrats,” he said.

Indeed, nationwide, 19 House seats will be up for grabs because of retirements, while retiring Democrats will leave 15 seats open. In the Senate, six Republican incumbents will not seek reelection while five Democrats announced they will give up their seats.

At the state level, Sen. Mike Massey, Laramie Democrat, will likely step down. Ten House seats will be up for grabs, split evenly between the announced dropouts of five Democrats, including Teton County’s Pete Jorgensen, and five Republicans, most recently, House Speaker Colin Simpson, a Cody Republican whose name has been brought up as a possible candidate for governor.
But the numbers do not always point down a straight line.

“I don’t think the numbers matter very much,” Sabato said. “You have to look at who’s retiring. A lot of these guys are just following through on long-planned retirements. Others have stepped down to run for higher office.”

Replacing Freudenthal
Colin Simpson announced he will make a run for governor, tapping former GOP Party Communications Chief Joe Milczewski as his campaign manager. Matt Mead, former U.S. Attorney and grandson of late Governor and U.S. Senator Clifford Hansen, has already announced his candidacy for Freudenthal’s job. Simpson and Mead come with the most political pedigree. They have been joined by Ron Micheli and State Auditor Rita Meyer. State Republican Party chairperson Diana Vaughan called all four “very viable candidates.”

Replacing the popular Democratic governor will be a monumental task for GOP leaders, who acknowledged “Governor Dave” often behaved more like an Independent than a Democrat.

“He took certain positions that sometimes were counter to traditional Democratic issues. He was not the first Democratic governor to lead the state this way, just one of the best,” Luckett said.

“We’ve had a history of that,” Petersen added, referring to former Democratic governors Mike Sullivan (1987-1995) and Ed Herschler (1975-1987). “Governor Dave was the best at getting something done for the sake of Wyoming and its people without caring who got the credit.”

While Wyoming voters have historically preferred their politicians to be either Republican or “Rocky Mountain Democrats,” as Petersen put it, the state has demonstrated an independent streak 3when it comes to its governor – electing 13 Democratic governors out of 31 in its history.

Petersen said prominent state Democrats like Larry Clapp, a trial attorney and former mayor of Casper, as well as Cheyenne attorney and former candidate Paul Hickey will challenge Republicans for the governor’s mansion.
“If anybody put a gun to my head, I would check the Republican box [for governor of Wyoming],” Sabato declared. “Wyoming is a 70 percent Republican state and after eight years [of Democratic leadership], I think things are ready to swing back.”

Some Wyoming political insiders say Freudenthal’s announcement was well-timed: it allowed his party leaders time to find and vet a replacement, but he wasn’t a so-called lame-duck during last month’s legislative session. However, it didn’t come as a surprise to GOP leaders.

“He kept his cards close to his vest,” Luckett said. “At the same time, we got the message loud and clear not to count on him running for a third term.”
Vaughan, while eager to see her party get a boost, was respectful. “We didn’t really agree with him politically, but the governor has given the past eight years of his life for the state,” she said. “I think the governor, in his mind, was trying to do what he thought was best for the people of Wyoming.”

Vaughan also commended Freudenthal’s relationship with the state legislature, where the governor was often able to transcend partisan tug-o’-wars.

Luckett said Freudenthal has made it known to his party that any endorsement from him should not be solicited. “That’s going to be entirely up to Governor Dave,” Luckett said.

Trickle down Pete Jorgensen
The resignation of Freudenthal has already had some ripple effect. Teton County Rep. Pete Jorgensen, of House District 16, said it was one of the main reasons he announced his retirement last week.

“I’m getting older,” said Jorgensen, who is 75. “I didn’t want to look at another two years down there [in Cheyenne]. It was great serving with Freudenthal. He’s just a very capable guy.”

As a member of the prestigious Appropriations Committee, Jorgensen also departs with his financial acumen at a time when Wyoming must tighten the belt after years of surplus.

“We saw it coming,” Jorgensen said. “The last two years, I told them the end is coming and it did. I would say [the Town of Jackson] is ahead of the game and the County, well, they feel just OK.”

Teton County Republican Kate Mead has said she would not run for the legislature. Jorgensen defeated Mead by a whopping 2,515 to 1,670 votes in 2006. Former County GOP leader Joe Schloss said he was thinking about filing his candidacy. Schloss soundly lost to ‘Re-Pete’ in 2008 by a 66 to 33 percent tally.

No Democratic candidate has emerged to fight for the seat Jorgensen is vacating. JHW


The Jackson Hole values of Keith Gingery
by Ben Cannon
The politicians who represent Teton County in the state legislature routinely face opposition, even ridicule, from fellow lawmakers who represent other parts of Wyoming. The positions of many Jackson Hole residents – on issues such as wildlife management and tourism– are often at odds with those of many Wyoming citizens outside of the valley.

For example, when Rep. Keith Gingery –whose District 23 seat covers South Park, East Jackson, Moran, Alta, Buffalo Valley and Dubois– once tried to introduce legislation that expected a certain level of tolerance of wolves, he was nearly hissed off the floor of the house. While many Jackson Hole residents root for the success of the formerly endangered wolves, many more Wyoming residents outside of Teton County hold firm beliefs about the threats they pose to livestock and wildlife and numbers.

“That’s the kind of issue that puts me at odds with other legislators,” Gingery said recently, referring to the polarizing wolf debate. “My community is just so much different than the others.”

But Gingery said that, even though he often feels alienated for his Jackson Hole views, he plans to return to Cheyenne next year. The 40 year-old Republican on Monday confirmed he will seek reelction.

Gingery has become a star of the county Republican party, though he, too, has known what it feels like to be an outsider in Cheyenne. He has taken unpopular positions on conservation, like his support for a bill to protect some wilderness areas from roads, and his endorsements of various tourism initiatives have elicited guffaws from the many Wyoming legislators who don’t perceive that Wyoming tourism benefits much of the state outside of Jackson Hole.

“In the past I’ve always gotten a little resentment over earmarks to support tourism,” Gingery said. “But if somebody is driving toward Yellowstone, it benefits your county because they’re inevitably going to stop there.”

Recently, Gingery may have won some support from the eastern side of the state when he helped Cheyenne-area legislators secure funding for a large new visitor center beside the interstate near the Colorado border.

But the representative from Jackson has seen little success procuring state money for earthquake monitoring, which is an issue of concern for the Jackson Hole community but is a priority among very few Wyomingites outside the valley.
“[Other legislators] go, ‘What do we care if there’s an earthquake in Jackson?’” Gingery said. “That’s an area where I’ve had a lot of frustration.”

When he joined the state legislature in 2005, Gingery said he did not predict that he would still seek reelection five years later. But it took him years to learn how to work the system, he said, and his influence in Cheyenne is growing. He chairs the influential House Judiciary Committee, a position he was awarded due to his experience in law and profession as deputy county attorney.

“It takes so long to build up relationships in Cheyenne and to understand the relationship,” Gingery said. “I’m just now becoming effective at what I do.” JHW.

Photo by Ben Cannon
Rep. Keith Gingery

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