Wyoming Vote Tracker

Hey, how about this? A campaign post that doesn’t talk about the Presidential campaigns. All three of our represented seats in D.C. are up for election come next year.

• The passing of former senior Senator Craig Thomas opened a seat sought for by 31 candidates in a process that took less than three weeks. That process ended with the appointment of surgeon and now-former state Senator from Casper John Barrasso. To fill the remainder of the term started in January of this year by Sen. Thomas, Sen. Barrasso will have to survive the August Republican primary and the General election in November.
• Sen. Mike Enzi was easily re-elected back in 2002 and if he desires to continue on, he’ll be campaigning for our votes.
• Rep. Barbara Cubin was narrowly re-elected in 2006. Ironically, a Cody-based, Republican, anti-Cubin group couldn’t sway Park County into the small group of counties that supported Gary Trauner.

So, now to the issues at hand. We’ll start with our junior Senator. He has raised $650K:

Barrasso raised more than twice what Thomas raised during the same quarter of the year in 2005, a year before he was easily re-elected.

Because of the special election, Wyoming’s political season will be busy next year, with all three members of the state’s congressional delegation running for election or re-election. That also means the three members will be competing for money.

Barrasso doesn’t have any announced opponents yet. The Democrats’ best hope would be Freudenthal, but his spokeswoman said he doesn’t have any current plans to run.

“Gov. Freudenthal was elected to a four-year term and will continue to focus on his role as governor of Wyoming,” said Cara Eastwood.

I don’t know; I’m still leery on the Gov’s philosophical position of not seeking to compete with Sen. Barrasso come November. At any rate, it is good to see that Sen. Barrasso is not waisting any time at getting money in the bank for what some have speculated will be a busy primary for him. Busy as in “Remember the 30 others…” I know people in Wyoming go crazy on “open seats,” but I sure hope the ballot for the seat now held by Sen. Barrasso doesn’t get that full. Also interesting is a website that encouraged the appointment of Dr. Barrasso to the Senate.

At this point in time, not much is being talked about on the potential of an Enzi campaign for term number three or any competition thereof.

Seven-term Rep. Cubin remains a hot-button issue. Speculation abounds as to whether she will seek another term or not. This session, family emergencies (mainly her husband, but also the passing of her brother, and her own broken foot while her husband was hospitalized) have caused her to miss 45% of congressional votes.

The criticism is not new. Her husband’s illness has managed to increase the voice of the critics. She has a great record when she votes. And even while she may not be able to vote in the House, she still remains vocal about issues important to Wyoming. At this point, plans are that Rep. Cubin will seek another term.

Two Republicans have announced that they will be challenging her in August, Kenn Gilchrist as an independent (so he’s not really challenging her in the primary) and Swede Nelson, and a third (?) has floated the idea:

Colin Simpson - Congresspedia
Colin Simpson is a Democratic candidate for the at-large Congressional … Simpson will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress. …
www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Colin_Simpson - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

In all seriousness, I have no idea who did that, but it is funny. However, here’s the article that stirred controversy and that I really wanted to point out. For even more speculation, perhaps a contender from the Aug. 2006 primary will sign up again. And for speculation on the left (where I was really getting to this whole time), guess who else still has a campaign site and now is planing a BIG announcement?

Technorati Tags: Sen. John Barrasso, Gov. Dave Freudenthal, Sen. Mike Enzi, Rep. Barbara Cubin, Gary Trauner, Kenn Gilchrist, Bill Winney, Swede Nelson, Rep. Colin Simpson, election 2008

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