Wyoming GOP Caucus
January 5, 2008
ConservaBlogs.com LIVE BLOGS the Wyoming GOP Caucuses. Included is a constantly (as much as possible) updated list of the latest news and current caucus standings.
We’re updating the standings as they trickle in. Refresh the page for updates.
RESULTS ARE IN
MITT ROMNEY WINS WYOMING GOP PRIMARY
Read more about the AP announcement here.
UPDATE: SEE LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR WYOMING CAUCUS UPDATES
Fresh off of disappointing finishes in Iowa, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson are hoping to rebound on Saturday when Wyoming Republicans gather in county conventions across the state to choose delegates to attend the national convention in September.
Both candidates shelled out $10,000 each for a precious list of party members who are eligible to participate in the 23 county conventions and it would appear from press reports that they have been the most active in contacting potential delegates.
Convention attendees are mainly precinct committee members but about a quarter of the total were chosen at precinct caucuses last month. The contest to be a delegate to the Minneapolis-St. Paul convention is wide open. A potential delegate can either have a friend nominate them or they can nominate themselves at which point, they get a chance to get up and make a statement in favor of their candidacy. It is expected that the delegate candidates will announce their presidential preference in order to draw as much support as possible. Questions can be directed at the candidates after which voting will commence. The vote will continue until one delegate receives 50% + 1 of the convention.
It sounds simple and it is. The problem is that no one is paying any attention.
I recently read somewhere that Ron Paul was running ads in the state, considered one of the cheapest places to do so, but Mike Huckabee and John McCain seem to be non-existent candidates from what I’ve been able to find. Which, by the way, is very little.
I was able to find a couple bits of information that reinforced the fact that the state is wide open for the taking and no one has been declared a clear favorite of the good folks in Wyoming.
Whether anyone has an advantage is unknown. There has been no public polling, and those familiar with the results of the Republican precinct caucuses held last month said no clear candidate emerged when delegates to the county conventions were selected.
Here is how it will all unfold.
Here’s some more on what to expect at tomorrow’s Wyoming Republican presidential caucus.
At 9 a.m. local time, Wyoming Republicans will go to 23 county seats for their caucuses. At eleven of those locations, they will be picking one convention delegate; at eleven of those locations, they will be picking alternates, and at one they will be picking one of both.
Laramie County, where the county seat is Cheyenne, will be casting for both and was awarded this bonus because their county cast the most votes for Barbara Cubin in the last Congressional election. Candidates that are picking a delegate this cycle will be picking an alternate next cycle, and vice versa.
“The way it will work is that the county chair will ask any registered Republican to write their name on a blackboard, and next to that which candidate they would support,” says Tom Sansonetti, the 2008 Republican County Convention Coordinator. “There may be multiple potential delegates for each candidate, or just one, or none. Then they address the delegates and say why they support the candidate they support. And then they vote, and keep voting until someone gets 50 percent plus one.” They knock off the potential delegate who came in last each time.
You won’t be able to find much information about the Wyoming Caucus in the blogosphere, because very few blogs exist within the state. But fortunately, we here at Conservablogs have our very own political blogger from Wyoming.
Keep an eye on Wyoming Votes for updates. We’ll also update this post as Scott adds more information.
BIG UPDATE: Live blogging the Wyoming GOP Caucus
Update: I almost forgot about Sunflower Desert!
[...] morning I woke up and started searching for information about the Wyoming GOP Caucus. I started with regular search, but the results were old, outdated, and some what irrelevant. [...]
[...] The only really fresh and detailed coverage of the Wyoming GOP Caucus can be found at Conservablogs. [...]
[...] Watch the LIVE WYOMING GOP CAUCUS UPDATE HERE [...]
Looks like the Mormon area of Wyoming is going Romney. And the rest are toss ups between Fred and Duncan. And McCain has gained one spot. I didn’t realize that there was that many Mormons in Wyoming.
stix1972’s last blog post..Wyoming Primary
Brutally slow. Its now been 2 1/2 hours since the last update for the states GOP. No wonder nobody pays attention to Wyoming.
John, I couldn’t agree more. The state media and the GOP website are running at snails pace on this whole thing.
How hard would it be for the state GOP to have a blogger there blogging all of this live?
Eric -
What?? Have a blogger live blogging a Caucus?? What silly world do you live in? Everyone knows no one reads blogs or pays attention to what they say!
What we need is a good old fashioned reporter there who can write stories and fabricate sources for quotes and then submit it under a compromised byline with doctored Reuters photos of Ron Paul violating the 100 ft. buffer imposed on candidates approach to a polling place.
Perhaps we could get a few illegal cell phone recordings from Democratic operatives to play and from which we could excerpt, out of context, the most damaging lines. Ahhh, one can almost smell the atmosphere of the smoke filled back rooms where office holders are selected rather than elected!
Now THAT is REAL reporting. For heaven’s sake, get with the times, man …
Silly bloggers … reporting is for journalists …
Blue
[...] mentioned in our previous Wyoming GOP Caucus post, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney badly needed a win. Granted, Wyoming would be a relatively [...]
You’re right… what WAS I thinking???
First of all, and I’m not sure how many times the state of Wyoming has to tell the mainstream media and the bloggers: Wyoming has already had our caucuses - precinct caucuses at the local level in December. That is not where we choose our delegates for the national convention. Rather, today we are having our county conventions, where we are choosing the delegates to the national convention and therefore our choice for the presidential nominee. There is a difference here between caucuses and conventions.
Secondly, Wyoming’s citizens do not control how quickly the MSM publishes the results of our conventions. I think it is quite rude of Eric and John to say that Wyoming is worth ignoring because of this. We’ve done our best to play a bigger role in the national scene by moving up our convention dates. So, knock off the WY bashing, okay?
I’m currently at the Fremont County Convention and yeah, it is probably a lot slower that it needs to be, but that’s that. People in Wyoming like to think through their decisions and they like to make sure that the process is run as fairly as possible according to the rules.
For what it’s worth, it looks like Romney is going to take Fremont County, but nothing is guaranteed yet. The Ron Paulites were planning some sort of anarchical takeover earlier this morning, but I think the slowness of the process scared them away.
So it is good for something!
Love always,
Tieki Rae and Tammi
tieki rae’s last blog post..RED ALERT: Women-Hating, Homoerotic/Homophobic, Dangerous Christians!
I give up. From now on I won’t even try to cover Wyoming Caucuses.
Sheesh!
Oh… and by the way Tieki, I’m actually one of the few bloggers who did not ignore Wyoming. Instead, I spent most of my Saturday (day off, by the way) trying to provide results and keep searchers informed. Not quite sure where you got that “ignore” part from.
Just sayin’
**Perks up**
Early morning anarchical takeovers?!? I’m SO there …
Hrmmm … but can I get to Wyoming in time is now the question …
Probably not … back to sleep mode but remember - I AM out there listening …
Blue
Eric,
To be honest, it’s been a long day. Also, it is really frustrating that Wyoming has tried pretty hard to put itself in the national scene only to be ignored by the mainstream media and, for the most part, barely mentioned in the blogosphere. I do appreciate the effort you made. Either way, it is really sad to me that no one can even get it straight exactly what went on in WY today (conventions NOT caucuses). I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway since it’s over.
Now I need to move on to smoothing things over on that other thread I ranted on!
tieki rae’s last blog post..RED ALERT: Women-Hating, Homoerotic/Homophobic, Dangerous Christians!
Hi Eric,
Remember, we’re a convention state, not a caucus.
We are home and it was a loooooong day. We do appreciate the time you put into covering Wyoming. However, I would have loved to switch places with you and have done the blogging and sent you to that silly convention for 12 hours. 
Fun stuff! All for a Romney win. 
I am relieved that Ron Paul was defeated. It’s because of those moonbats that our convention took so long.
Tammi’s last blog post..Wyoming County Conventions to take place Saturday!
I realize convention is the proper word, but we’re still getting searches for caucus, so I think I’ll leave that for a bit.
Can I just add that convention is the proper word as an edit to the current posts?
I guess I’ll let it slide this time.
tieki rae’s last blog post..RED ALERT: Women-Hating, Homoerotic/Homophobic, Dangerous Christians!
[...] HT: Conservablogs for the plug [...]
Thanks for the plug (even if you were like everyone else and mistook our convention for a caucus)! Would have live blogged, but I don’t have a laptop, and even then, I had to leave early due to work.
Scott’s last blog post..WYGOP Convenes; Romney Wins Cowboy State
Lol Eric! If the local state MSM cannot even get it right, how can we expect you to?
CONVENTIONS people!
Tammi’s last blog post..Wyoming County Conventions to take place Saturday!
[...] but oh well! Michelle has been blogging on the Wyoming GOP County Conventions, along with Eric at [...]