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Wyoming Capitol Journal
Tuesday July 27, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 7:11PM EST on July 27, 2010
UPDATED 5:42 P.M. JULY 27, 2010 In case you haven't been reading the Casper Star-Tribune's political Twitter feed today, Republican gubernatorial candidates have been going at each other over whether to increase the state's fuel tax. The ruckus began when GOP candidate Ron Micheli's campaign issued a media release Monday. The release blasted primary opponent Matt Mead for saying at a June 21 candidate forum in Cody that, "I think one of the things we're going to have to take a look at, to be fair -- and you know, you hate saying this -- is I think that we're going to have to look at an increase in fuel tax." An interim Legislative committee is currently studying a potential 20- to 28-percent increase in Wyoming's fuel tax, which is currently 14 cents per gallon of gasoline. Micheli's campaign then put up a Twitter post with a link of Mead's quote at the candidate forum. (See the quote as part of the full debate in this video; the relevant part starts at about the 82:30 mark). "After 7 years of explosive growth of state government, Matt proposes raising taxes to meet future obligations. I disagree with that approach," Micheli's campaign also tweeted. For the record, Mead told the Wyoming Capitol Journal late Tuesday afternoon that as governor, he wouldn't dismiss a fuel tax hike out of hand. "Everything with road funding needs to be considered," Mead said. "I think that fuel tax is a better option than toll roads, because the advantage of a small fuel tax increase (is) out-of-state people pay roughly half of it." But after the Micheli camp's online shot across the bow, Mead's campaign took to Twitter to reply. "Cutting & editting (sic) videos is the easy way out. How do you propose paying for roads and highways?" Mead's camp asked in a reply tweet. The Micheli campaign replied that, "The first priority of the new governor should be to avoid raising taxes and rid the budget of waste with zero-base budgeting." The Mead campaign's reply: "The next governor should be enhancing government efficiency, running it like a business. I have that experience." Meanwhile, Colin Simpson's campaign sent out a media release Tuesday afternoon challenging the other gubernatorial candidates to join him in pledging to oppose any effort to increase fuel taxes. "We need to invest more in our roads and infrastructure, but we need to use current revenue flows to do it instead of dipping into the wallets of our citizens," Simpson said in the release. Rita Meyer's campaign and Twitter account remained silent on the issue Tuesday. If nothing else, all the attention being paid to the fuel tax issue today has gotten at least one state legislator thinking about the issue. "Raising the fuel tax is not a popular topic, but it is one that should be discussed and considered," tweeted state Rep. Joe Barbuto, D-Rock Springs. "I don't like it, but I'll hear it out." CORRECTION: Due to a transcribing error, an earlier version of this blog post erroneously omitted the word "people" in Mead's quote that "I think that fuel tax is a better option than toll roads, because the advantage of a small fuel tax increase (is) out-of-state people pay roughly half of it." Monday July 26, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 8:26PM EST on July 26, 2010
If at first you can't succeed -- try again in two years. That's the mantra of the Constitution Party of Wyoming, which missed gaining ballot access last month by a scant 388 petition signatures. Now, as the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports, party activists are already prepping for a new campaign to get on the Wyoming ballot in 2012. A second petition drive will begin next April, according to the article. The Constitution Party held its first state convention July 9-10 in Torrington, the WTE reported, electing officers, adopting a party platform and organizing its first public event: a celebration of Constitution Day in September. If approved, the Constitution Party would join the Libertarian Party as a recognized "minor party" -- meaning they could submit candidates, but they couldn't hold a primary election. Founded in 1992 as the U.S. Taxpayers Party, the Constitution Party is one of the top three minor parties in the United States. The party's state goals include restoring the Founding Fathers' vision of a limited government based on Biblical foundations. The party's efforts in Wyoming could get a boost from events in neighboring Colorado, where former U.S. Rep. and 2008 presidential candidate Tom Tancredo announced Monday that he's running for governor on the Constitution Party ticket.
Posted by: Jeremy at 3:03PM EST on July 26, 2010
The political arm of the Wyoming Gun Owners has endorsed Ron Micheli in the Republican primary, the gun-rights group announced Monday. WyGO political action committee chairman Anthony Bouchard said in a statement that Micheli was the "only gubernatorial candidate to take interest" in the Firearms Freedom Act that was signed into law earlier this year after a lobbying blitz by WyGO. (To be clear, Colin Simpson voted for the act, and Matt Mead and Rita Meyer have both said they support it). "There is no doubt that Ron Micheli will fight tooth and nail to protect not only the fundamental rights of gun owners, but all the rights of Wyoming's citizens," Bouchard said in the statement Monday. "There is only one choice for Governor of Wyoming in 2010, and that choice is Ron Micheli." Friday July 23, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 4:44PM EST on July 23, 2010
UPDATED 4:50 P.M. JULY 23, 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Rita Meyer’s campaign, as well as the two other major GOP candidates in the race, criticized new TV and radio ads by primary opponent Ron Micheli asserting Micheli is the only candidate in the race with business experience. Micheli’s ads, which began airing Wednesday, tout the Fort Bridger rancher as “the only candidate for governor with true business experience.” But Travis Deti, Meyer’s campaign manager, said in a media release that the ads are “misleading at best,” as Meyer spent years running a dental practice with her husband. “Rita Meyer has committed to running a clean campaign based on facts and the issues Wyoming faces in the coming years,” Deti said in the release. “Surely it is not too much to expect the same from the other candidates, and those playing fast and loose with facts should be held to account." Micheli spokesman Kevin Olson shot back that Deti’s criticism was “off-base.” “Ron Micheli is the only candidate who has relied on his small business to earn his living in recent years,” Olson said in a statement. “Colin Simpson and Matt Mead are trial lawyers, and the fact of the matter is that Rita Meyer hasn't worked outside of government in a long time.” Until now, Meyer’s campaign has focused more on her military and government service than her business experience. It will be interesting to see if her campaign draws more attention to her business history as the campaign starts to heat up. Simpson's campaign also defended their candidate's small-business bona fides. As a lawyer in Cody, Simpson "has made a payroll for 23 years," campaign manager Joe Milczewski said in a statement. Milczewski also pointed to Simpson's work as Speaker of the House during the past two years to produce a balanced state budget. Mead said Friday that he was "disappointed" by Micheli's claim to be the only gubernatorial candidate with true business experience. "My wife and I are running a business, and Ron knows this," he said. "I'm a rancher, and Ron knows that ranching -- or he should know (that) ranching is real business experience." Mead also took issue with being called a trial lawyer, saying he hasn't practiced law since stepping down as U.S. attorney in 2007. Wednesday July 21, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 5:12PM EST on July 21, 2010
Andrew Simons doesn't just have to plan a campaign for secretary of state -- now he has to plan a wedding as well. The 25-year-old Democrat, a student at Laramie County Community College, popped the question to his longtime girlfriend, Meg Lanker, last weekend in Buffalo during a wedding reception for Lanker's younger brother. Lanker, a 26-year-old University of Wyoming student, hit the news earlier this year for her efforts to bring 1960s radical Bill Ayers to UW's campus to deliver a lecture on education theory. The two met while working on Gary Trauner's congressional campaign in 2008. They're looking at holding the wedding in Las Vegas sometime next summer. The groom-to-be said Wednesday he felt "pretty good." "I think that pretty much sums it up right there," he said. After Simons and Lanker announced their engagement on Facebook yesterday, they've received congratulations from multiple statewide candidates from both major parties, he said. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this blog post misstated Simons' age. He turned 25 on July 2.
Tuesday July 20, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 7:43PM EST on July 20, 2010
UPDATED 6:12 P.M. JULY 20, 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Micheli will start airing television and radio ads statewide starting Wednesday, his campaign announced Tuesday. Micheli is the third candidate in the Republican primary to purchase TV and radio ads, after Matt Mead and Rita Meyer. Colin Simpson will began airing TV and radio ads starting next week, according to his campaign. The 30-second TV ad, which will air on both broadcast and cable stations, touts Micheli, a Fort Bridger rancher, as “the only candidate for governor with true business experience.” "High taxes cost jobs, and families don’t get to run deficits, so I’ll fight for low taxes and for zero-based budgeting in Wyoming," Micheli says in the ad. "You’re working harder, and your belt’s tightened, so government needs to do the same."
Monday July 19, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 6:50PM EST on July 19, 2010
No state disliked the job President Obama is doing during the first half of 2010 more than Wyoming, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday. The survey shows Obama with a 29-percent approval rating in the Cowboy State from January through June. That's the lowest approval rating found by the poll of any state in the nation. Sixty-five percent of Wyomingites polled disapproved of Obama's job performance -- also tops in the nation. That's a major drop from the first six months of 2009, when Obama had a 41.6 percent approval rating in Wyoming (though that was still the lowest of any state in the country). That was before issues such as federal health care reform came to the fore. Obama polled the best in Washington, D.C. and Hawaii, with approval ratings of 85 percent and 68 percent, respectively, in the first half of 2010. During that time period, he had a 49-percent job approval rating nationwide -- down 8 percent from the first 6 months of 2009. The poll was conducted among 232 adult Wyoming residents and 90,931 adult Americans nationwide. Saturday July 17, 2010
Posted by: Jeremy at 11:49AM EST on July 17, 2010
Republican gubernatorial candidate Colin Simpson's views on promoting tourism and dealing with wolves inadvertently got some free publicity this week -- in Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, statements from Simpson's website were accidentally posted on the site of Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson.
The error was made by an employee of Harris Media, a New York City-based company that maintains both Johnson's and Simpson's campaign websites, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The Johnson campaign spotted the error within minutes and quickly had it corrected.
"We're seriously considering whether we want to continue using their services," a Johnson campaign spokeswoman said of Harris Media, according to the newspaper.
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