EDITORIAL: Candidates' transparency aids voters' decisions

Posted 7/20/10

With 28 days remaining until the Aug. 17 primary election, candidates will amplify campaign efforts in the coming weeks as voters make their final decisions.

The primary election promises to be telling in several races — four major …

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EDITORIAL: Candidates' transparency aids voters' decisions

Posted

With 28 days remaining until the Aug. 17 primary election, candidates will amplify campaign efforts in the coming weeks as voters make their final decisions.The primary election promises to be telling in several races — four major gubernatorial candidates are vying for the GOP nomination, and a dozen Republican hopefuls are competing for three available seats on the Park County Commission. In the local House District 25 legislative race, three Republicans are seeking the seat, but no Democrats filed.For certain races, it's quite likely that those who win in August will be our next elected officials.Given the importance of next month's primary election, voters must be ready to make informed decisions — and the more they know about each candidate, the better prepared they are. Transparency is key in the weeks ahead.It's encouraging to see some candidates take the lead.Last week, GOP candidate Rita Meyer disclosed her campaign finance figures, detailing the $306,525 she has raised in her quest for the governor's office.Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield, who is seeking re-election, has been posting a steady stream of finance reports since January, months ahead of the filing date.By Wyoming law, campaign finance reports must be filed by Aug. 10 — just a week ahead of the primary election. That doesn't allow a lot time for media to report extensively on campaign finances, nor does it give voters very much time to digest the details. It's also likely that by Aug. 10, many voters will have made up their minds.Money and politics make strange bedfellows, and you never know what a campaign finance report may reveal. Voters and media have a responsibility to get to know candidates, and they can follow money trails easier when candidates are transparent and forthcoming.As Meyer said in a release last week, “… Wyoming voters have the right to know who they are electing. Transparency is about being accountable to the citizens of Wyoming.”Meyer's and Maxfield's voluntary, early release of financial reports is commendable — and we challenge other candidates to follow suit.

With 28 days remaining until the Aug. 17 primary election, candidates will amplify campaign efforts in the coming weeks as voters make their final decisions.

The primary election promises to be telling in several races — four major gubernatorial candidates are vying for the GOP nomination, and a dozen Republican hopefuls are competing for three available seats on the Park County Commission. In the local House District 25 legislative race, three Republicans are seeking the seat, but no Democrats filed.

For certain races, it's quite likely that those who win in August will be our next elected officials.

Given the importance of next month's primary election, voters must be ready to make informed decisions — and the more they know about each candidate, the better prepared they are. Transparency is key in the weeks ahead.

It's encouraging to see some candidates take the lead.

Last week, GOP candidate Rita Meyer disclosed her campaign finance figures, detailing the $306,525 she has raised in her quest for the governor's office.

Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield, who is seeking re-election, has been posting a steady stream of finance reports since January, months ahead of the filing date.

By Wyoming law, campaign finance reports must be filed by Aug. 10 — just a week ahead of the primary election.

That doesn't allow a lot time for media to report extensively on campaign finances, nor does it give voters very much time to digest the details. It's also likely that by Aug. 10, many voters will have made up their minds.

Money and politics make strange bedfellows, and you never know what a campaign finance report may reveal.

Voters and media have a responsibility to get to know candidates, and they can follow money trails easier when candidates are transparent and forthcoming.

As Meyer said in a release last week, “… Wyoming voters have the right to know who they are electing.

Transparency is about being accountable to the citizens of Wyoming.”

Meyer's and Maxfield's voluntary, early release of financial reports is commendable — and we challenge other candidates to follow suit.

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