By JEREMY PELZER - Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Sunday, August 8, 2010 12:45 am
Senate District 9
Represents southern Albany County and much of the city of Laramie
Jodi Guerin
Party: Democratic
Age: 42
Home: Laramie
Occupation: Owner, Coal Creek Coffee Company; business consultant
Education: Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wyoming
Family: Married; 2 sons
Political experience: Mayor of Laramie, 2005-06 and 2009-present; Laramie City Council member 2003-present
Chris Rothfuss
Party: Democratic
Age: 37
Home: Laramie
Occupation: University of Wyoming international studies instructor; chemical engineer
Education: Bachelor’s degree in international studies and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wyoming; Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Washington
Family: Married; 2 sons
Political experience: 2008 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee
CHEYENNE—In a year when Wyoming Democrats have struggled to find candidates – from governor on down – two A-list names are squaring off in the Senate District 9 Democratic primary.
Laramie Mayor Jodi Guerin and 2008 U.S. Senate nominee Chris Rothfuss are both aiming to succeed state Sen. Mike Massie, D-Laramie, who’s leaving the Senate after 12 years in office to run for state superintendent of public instruction.
There’s no Republican in the race, so barring a last-minute entry by a Libertarian or independent candidate, the winner of the Aug. 17 Democratic primary will take his or her seat in the Senate chambers next January.
Both candidates are fairly well-known from prior political campaigns – the trick for each of them now is to show voters what issues and priorities lie behind their name.
Guerin, a coffee shop owner and business consultant, is running on her political experience.
As mayor, she said, she’s worked with legislators around the state on a number of issues affecting Laramie. And for a Democratic senator in a body that’s more than three-fourths Republican, such connections are important, she said.
“You won’t get very much done unless you already have relationships and know how to work with the people that you’re going to engage,” she said. “Otherwise you spend an awful lot of time proving yourself, because they have to get to know you and build a relationship with you.”
But if elected, Guerin said she wouldn’t just act on her own.
“I feel more like a spokesperson for the community,” she said. “The role I’ve taken has been not so much one where I’ve got all the answers and I can just leap without assistance.”
Two issues Guerin said she’d focus on as a senator are health care and jobs.
It’s difficult to ensure Wyoming residents have access to quality, affordable health care, Guerin said, because the problems vary so much by region. While many urban residents struggle to be able to afford a doctor’s visit, she said, many rural families often have trouble finding a nearby doctor at all.
Guerin said she wants to look into creating a series of health care pilot programs to test out potential solutions to accessibility and affordability.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to come up with a one-size-fits-all kind of solution,” she said. “I think we’re going to have to have multiple things around the state.”
Guerin also said she’d be a supporter of economic incentive and development programs, most notably the Wyoming Business Council, to help out small businesses and improve the state economy.
Guerin said she’d like to look around to see what local business groups are doing around the state to help local companies, even if their plans don’t yield immediate economic – and therefore, political – dividends.
“A lot of times politicians lose their will because they’re afraid that someone will criticize them for spending money on things that don’t get an immediate return,” she said. “Sometimes economic development isn’t going to give you an immediate return.”
Rothfuss, meanwhile, said his background as a chemical engineer makes him “well-suited” to address the state’s energy issues in the Legislature.
As a senator, Rothfuss said he’d push for a more efficient, less bureaucratic energy regulation system that encourages development but minimizes environmental hazards.
For example, he urged more state tests and oversight when energy companies engage in hydraulic fracturing – or “fracking,” in which fluid in injected into underground rock formations to release oil and gas. Some residents who live near fracking projects claim the procedure contaminates their water.
Rothfuss said while he doesn’t want to stop fracking, the state should conduct tests on local groundwater before and after a fracking project starts. He also said unless companies disclose what’s in the fracking fluid they use – a major source of contention – they shouldn’t be allowed to use it in Wyoming.
“If it’s a choice between a minor gain in their performance for the fracking and risking the health of the individuals in that area due to aquifer contamination, then I think we need to be erring on the side of health,” he said.
Rothfuss also said he wants to look at making health care more affordable in Wyoming. While the recently passed federal health care reform law does “a nice job of expanding coverage,” Rothfuss said, it does “a poor job of decreasing costs.”
One thing the Wyoming Legislature could do to bring costs down, he said, is to require that when health care and insurance providers meet to determine prices, a patients’ representative attend that process as well.
“I think we need to sort of get the patient back involved in that process and look for ways to stop the straightforward collusion and make it so the individuals, the people, have a say in these prices when they’re set,” Rothfuss said. “I think that’s a nice start.”
While the Senate District 9 race has drawn attention locally, the contest hasn’t been that contentious, the candidates said.
“Chris and I spoke at the beginning of the campaign and both made a pledge that we intended to run a good, clean campaign on issues and what we could bring to the table,” Guerin said. “And I think we’ve done that.”
Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at (307) 632-1244 or jeremy.pelzer@trib.com. Read more about Wyoming politics and government at http://tribtown.trib.com/wypolitics