WHEATLAND – Filling over 200 seats at the Wheatland High School auditorium, a candidate forum hosted by Platte County Republican Party was well-attended. Candidates in the races for Wyoming Senate District 6, Wyoming House District 4, and Platte County Commissioners were in attendance.
The forum gave candidates 90 seconds to answer questions from the Republican party about current issues under debate in the state, including election integrity, gun free zones, the governor’s carbon dioxide sequestration and carbon capture goals, the Dobbs Decision which turned the abortion issue over to the states to decide, tax reform, the role of government, visions for the future, if academic and workplace advancement should be based on merit or Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), food freedom laws, whether education funds should follow the student or stay completely in public schools, and – as all candidates are from the Republican Party – which tenant of the Wyoming Republican Party platform the candidates held as the most important.
After the question-and-answer portion of the event, guests were given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with candidates in the school’s lobby in an informal setting.
“I think it was informative, a lot of good statements were made by every candidate,” Troy Wellmaker said. “I don’t agree with all of them but I think the people who vote should attend these things so they can make an educated decision when they vote.”

Tatiana Torriani and Tanja Van Belle agreed, “It’s a clever idea and was interesting. There were a lot of baseline ideas, but we had the opportunity to see where [the candidates] differed and see where their answers aligned a little more toward our own.”
“It was informative. I’m glad it could be put on. It’s good to hear the house and commissioners too,” Torriani added.
Wayne Long was a little more dubious, but nonetheless appreciative of the opportunity for people to meet candidates in the race. “I’ve seen very reserved accounts from a couple candidates [tonight] who know what they want to say but are not able to say it because of the atmosphere. I think they’d like one-on-one rather than the forum so they can say what they really want to say.”
“I did see there was possible frustration from one party or another that controlled what was said,” Long continued. “Some comments were genuine, but they held back what they really should be saying because people influencing them on the back side…though I’ve seen a lot of good things tonight. Individually, I believe some candidates were well prepared but not enough questions were asked of the candidates [of issues] exclusive to Platte County.”
“(By the way,) I don’t think we have a problem paying our property taxes, we just want local control on how it is [distributed,]” he added.
The forum was videotaped, and anyone wanting to hear the candidates’ opinions and goals for themselves can go to the YouTube page for Platte County GOP, then click on the Platte County Candidate Forum.