Enzi to announce; self-funding; new Dem director; GOP dollars

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

By Grace Hammond

Third term’s the charm
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Speculation was the name of the game last week as whispers grew louder about whether or not Republican Sen. Mike Enzi will run for a third term. Enzi was mum on the issue until Monday, when he declared his intention to announce his decision at - where else? - an ice cream social at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Gillette City Hall.
House Speaker Roy Cohee of Casper has announced he will seek another term in the Wyoming House this year. However, he won’t “openly campaign” for the speaker spot, he told the Casper Star-Tribune.

After three terms, Rep. Monte Olsen, a Republican of Daniel, has announced he will not run again. Olsen told the media he wants to focus on his health. He suffered from broken ribs, and internal and facial injuries last year after he was run over by a car driven by his wife.

Nick Carter, of Gillette, formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate at a press conference in Casper last week. Carter, a Democrat, plans to run for the seat now held by Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed to office after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas last year.

Raised money raises eyebrows
The Federal Election Commission’s release of first quarter numbers for Wyoming’s U.S. House candidates kicked up some dust. The real dirt was not in the grand totals but in the amount of money each candidate has invested (or not).

Two of the five candidates did not contribute any personal funds to their war chests: Democrat Gary Trauner of Wilson, who leads the total fundraising race by a large margin, and Republican Bill Winney, whose totals came in fourth, respectively.

Republican Mark Gordon of Buffalo led the Red team as the highest-grossing Republican in total but contributed $297,000 of his own funds during the first quarter, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports. Republican Cynthia Lummis’ campaign announced she had kicked in $67,000 in personal funds, which brought her into third place in total funding. State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer of Cheyenne contributed $50 of his own money, according to FEC reports, with the lowest amount of total funding.

Head of the class
It was a slam dunk for Bill Luckett of Sheridan when the Wyoming Democratic Party’s Executive Committee voted unanimously to appoint him the party’s new executive director, effective April 7. Luckett, 35, has served as the party’s communications director since August 2005.

Accepting the position is “exciting, it’s also a little daunting,” he told The Planet in a phone interview. “There’s a lot going on right now.”

The University of Wyoming graduate is a former politics and state government reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune.

Luckett said he will prioritize planning for the Democratic state conventions on May 24.
“We haven’t seen a year like this in decades,” he said, referring to the state Democratic Party’s recent revitalization. “It’s really cool to have so many new people who showed up at the caucuses and are going to the state convention as delegates and are otherwise paying attention to politics for the first time.”

Republican trust fund
Luckett isn’t the only one taking notice of the state Democratic Party’s newfound swagger. State Republicans have expressed concern about the national Democratic Party’s apparent willingness to pour money into Wyoming. Because Republican money will likely get tied up in the three federal races taking place this year, state House and Senate Republicans are taking pains to invest in their party’s interests through the creation of the Wyoming Republican Legislative Trust.

House Speaker Roy Cohee, R-Casper, chairman of the trust, told the Planet the initial goal for the non-profit, political organization will be to raise $250,000 to support potential and current Republican legislators.

Luckett, the new Democratic Party chairman, believes the establishment of the trust is a good sign for Democrats.
“That’s an indication that they feel they need to do something new, because they’re concerned about the momentum on our side,” he said.

Cohee described the genesis from his point of view: “Given the amount of resources available to the state party, those of us in the legislative leadership kind of thought, you know, it might be a sensible thing for the Republican members of the legislature to be a little considerate about where their funds are going to come from, particularly in the tough elections,” he said. “This isn’t intended to be reactionary, but according to the Democratic information we’ve seen, they intend to field a candidate in every legislative state. …  It’s a rare time we see three federal races in Wyoming.”
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Enzi to announce; self-funding; new Dem director; GOP dollars | Planet JH News Article: General Politics

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