New Year Message 2021
Another election is behind us and fortunately the majority of the voting public rejected the prospect of another four years of a Trump administration. However, such was not the case in Wyoming where 70% of the vote went to the President, the largest margin in the United States. Further, the Wyoming Legislature lost more moderate Republican voices and some of the very few Democrat voices left in the State House, continuing a decade long trend. Locally, we were sadly unsuccessful in recruiting anyone to run for any of our local partisan races, leaving all Republicans to run unopposed, and many of our precinct women/men positions unfilled. On a positive note, a Democrat Dana Wyatt, won a School Board seat (a non-partisan seat) in District 2. Hats off to our Vice-Chair Danielle Arnoux for running for the School Board and coming very close to winning her first campaign!
Where does this leave us? With a lot of hard work to do. The bedrock of any County Democratic Party are the elected officers and the precinct committeewomen/men who comprise the County Central Committee. New officers will be elected this coming March, including; Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, State Committeewoman and State Committeeman. We presently are in need of a Secretary. In March we will need a new Chair (I will not run again but will continue as precinct committeeman) and possibly other officers if the incumbents do not seek reelection. As of this writing, out of 29 precincts we have 11 that have no precinct committeewoman or man and 11 that have just one. Lest we become one of the few “dark counties” in the State with no functioning Central Committee, we need a concerted effort to recruit and fill all of these positions.
Having been your Chair for most of the past decade, I take responsibility for our current circumstance. During my tenure, we did have some high points. In 2016 for example, we had solid candidates running for all of our local State House seats and had at least half of our precinct positions filled. But as it stands currently, we have many vacancies for precinct committeewomen/men and for one of our officers (Secretary). We also presently have no candidates preparing for partisan contests in the 2022 election cycle that we know of.
It’s tough being a Democrat in Wyoming. However, there is a kindred spirit among those who are and one of the rewards of Party engagement is getting to know those fellow Democrats and the realization that you are not alone. Please volunteer for one of these positions or say “yes” if you are recruited. It takes courage to step up but the rewards are many and our Democracy is stronger as a result.
Democratically yours,
Chair, Sheridan County Democrats