Wyoming Democrats go to caucus

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-America will be watching Wyoming Democrats this Saturday when the party holds county conventions and caucuses statewide.

The Teton County Democratic Party hosts its county convention at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Snow King Resort. Originally set to take place at the Virginian, the event was moved to facilitate the high voter turnout anticipated by the party.

Larry Hamilton, chairman of Teton County’s Democratic Party, said that in past years, about 200 people have shown up to caucus in this county but this year could see attendance reach 1,000. Still, he said, there is no way to know exactly how many of Teton County’s 3,000 registered Democrats will participate.
The close race between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton is giving Wyoming Democrats more muscle than usual.

“I don’t know when, if ever, we have had multiple campaigns send staffers to the Wyoming at this stage in the race … we are in a state where every delegate counts,” said state party spokesman Bill Luckett. He noted that at least nine counties across Wyoming have moved their caucus to a different site to facilitate larger crowds. Super Tuesday alerted Wyoming Democrats that turnout for caucuses might not just break records, but smash them, two or three times over.

The Wyoming Democratic Party has 18 delegates to send to the National Convention. Caucus votes will be totaled statewide, and the first five delegates will proportionally represent the results. Seven more national delegates will be selected at the State Convention. These 12 total delegates are called ‘pledged delegates’ because they commit their vote to a specific candidate. Nothing legally binds the delegates to vote as promised, but delegates almost always make good on their commitment - unless their candidate withdraws and throws their support behind another candidate.

Five other Wyomingites will be sent to the national convention as superdelegates. These are party and elected officials who automatically get a vote and may choose who they please at the national level. As of now, National Committeeman Pete Jorgensen and State Party Chair John Millin have said they will vote for Sen. Obama, while Gov. Dave Freudenthal, National Committeewoman Cynthia Nunley, and Vice Party Chair Nancy Drummond are undecided. The remaining delegate, called an ‘unpledged add-on,’ will be chosen at the State Convention from one or more people nominated by Millin.

Before the state convention, citizens vote in county caucuses to decide who the first five national delegates will represent, and then choose who will go to the state convention to elect the next seven.

The Teton County Convention convenes at 4 p.m. and first the caucus chair (most likely Andy Schwartz), will be nominated and voted in. A discussion of caucus procedure and rules follows and then voting begins. Registered Democrats can arrive at any point between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., confirm their status as a registered Wyoming Democrat (the deadline to register before the caucus passed on Feb. 22) and receive a ballot. Voting ends at 6 p.m. and participants are not required to stay after their vote is cast.
After the vote, nominating and seconding speeches will be given as a formality, and those who wish to stay will divide into caucuses, one for Obama and one for Clinton, to select which Teton County residents will represent their candidate at the State Convention. The County’s delegate spots will be split according to the percentage vote that each presidential candidate received at the earlier vote.

Teton County has 17 delegates this year to send to the State Convention, a number determined by county population and Democrat voter turnout in the congressional election four years prior. In this case, that is the 2004 congressional race in which Teton County resident Ted Ladd competed. That year of particularly high turnout secured our county a good number of delegates at the State Convention this year.

Those who wish to be delegates to the State Convention must be registered Teton County Democrats who can commit to being in Teton County on Memorial Day weekend. There will be a table set aside at the caucus for those who intend to do so, whose intention must be declared by 6 p.m. The State Convention will be held at Snow King Resort on Memorial Day weekend.
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Wyoming Democrats go to caucus | Planet JH News Article: General Politics

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