Fun at the Book Lovers Bash
We attended the Book Lovers Bash last night! The food was excellent, the gift baskets auctioned off were superb, and the people that attended were wonderful and interesting. What a great Cheyenne event. Oh, and Beckett was our “runner” for the Dessert Dash, and he scored this lovely carrot cake for our table!
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neil Gear were the guest speakers. The talked about their concerns with efforts to ban books. You really would think we would be beyond book banning in this age!
High Plains Arboretum
The High Plains Arboretum is just north of the Rolling Hills Area where I have been door-knocking the last several days. It is a beautiful hidden gem that has so much potential to be one of the really cool things about Senate District 5! I went there today to restore my inner peace and enjoy the beauty of Wyoming!
Door Knocking SD 5 is a Long Road
I took this picture while knocking on doors in Rolling Hills this evening. There is a lot of space between houses in much of Senate District 5, but I want to make sure everyone gets a chance to talk to me. If I haven’t made it to your door yet, give me a call at (307) 228-4542!
Notes From the Trail
I have learned a lot while knocking on doors in Senate District 5! I grew up driving International Harvester Model M, Model H, and Cub tractors, but I had never heard of a C until a gentleman on Happy Jack Road showed me one a few nights ago.
Another gentleman talked to me about his backyard wind generator. It was spinning like crazy yesterday, making lots of kilowatt-hours. He said it has been running continuously for 14 years! I would say it paid for itself many times over!
But mostly, I have learned that there is a really good person behind almost every door. These folks want the best for Wyoming and they are tired of the extremism and incivility of our current legislature. I promise I will do better! I will be kind, but I will be relentless about improving the lives of every hard working Wyoming person!
Trust Women!
It's Ted Hanlon for Senate District 5. Every woman has the absolute right to make decisions about her own body and her own life. The government has no business interfering. If you really want to save lives, work with me to guarantee that every woman in Wyoming gets prenatal and postnatal care. Work with me to guarantee that no woman in Wyoming lives in poverty. These actions will save many, many innocent lives because they are acts of compassion, not domination.
Wyoming’s Energy Future (Part 6)
Energy storage can be a big part of Wyoming’s future.
The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow, but Wyoming has many possible sites for projects like Montana’s Gordon Butte Pumped Hydropower Project. Water is pumped to the upper reservoir when wind and solar power is in excess and let down through turbine generators to the lower reservoir when power is needed.
Many projects like this will be needed to stabilize the green energy grid. If we build them right here, they will provide thousands of good-paying Wyoming jobs.
Speaking Out Against Book Bans
I spoke out against book bans at the Laramie County School District 1 Board meeting on July 18th. This is what I told them:
I am Ted Hanlon. I have been supported by Laramie County School District 1 educators and staff since I started at Arp Elementary in 1964. My children were educated by another generation of excellent professionals in this district. So, it is time I supported them.
I am sure the folks that are asking you to ban books are attentive parents. They wouldn’t be here otherwise. They will watch what their children read and ensure that they are not exposed to any “nefarious plots.” Therefore, the book ban is not about their children, it is about their desire to take freedoms from other people’s children. That is just not the Wyoming way. We value personal freedom above all else in Wyoming. We live and let live. It isn’t right, anywhere in this country, to decide what other people are allowed to think, but it is especially despicable here. I urge you to let the educators put every book in the curriculum and the library that they find appropriate and let every parent have the freedom to decide what their children read. The book banners use the word “liberty”, so I will leave you with a line from The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Wyoming Energy Future (Part 4)
The time for residential solar in Wyoming is now! When I was selling solar systems 20 years ago, we kept saying, “If the price of solar panels would just fall below $3.00/watt, we could justify these installations on an economic basis.” Now, the price of all other forms of energy is going up dramatically, but you can go online and buy a 100-watt panel for $89. That is only 89 cents a watt! We need to protect Wyoming’s net metering law that allows you to sell power back to the utility. Residential solar installations are good for homeowners. They make the grid more resilient, and Wyoming jobs are created. Please help me protect and strengthen the net metering law.
Wyoming Energy Future (Part 3)
The Sweetwater Solar Project, just outside of Green River, is the first utility scale solar project in Wyoming. The project generates enough electricity to power 12,000 homes, returns $500,000 in tax revenue to the county yearly, and provides 9 permanent jobs.
Wyoming Energy Future (Part 2)
. If you have lived in Wyoming very long, you know that we have tremendous wind power resources. Developing a tenth of our wind power potential would result in the export of 7 times more electricity than we export now and provide tens of thousands of new jobs. Did you know that wind turbine technician is the second fastest growing job in the United States?
Wyoming Energy Future (Part 1)
To create the jobs Wyoming needs in the next 20 years, we must look for energy and energy jobs in unexpected places. We know that wind and solar power will be a big part of our energy and jobs portfolio going forward, but the creative people of Wyoming are part of that too. This little Stirling Engine uses the waste heat from the coffee to create work. It’s one small example of “outside-the-box” thinking that will make Wyoming the world leader in green energy. Please donate today to help me unlock the power of Wyoming people!
Endorsed by the WEA
I was endorsed by the Wyoming Education Association! I am grateful for their support. For Wyoming to thrive, we must have one of the very best public education systems in the country—in every town, big and small, in the state. I will work relentlessly to ensure that our educators have the resources and support they need to be successful. Wyoming’s pay and benefits should encourage the very best people to begin their careers in Wyoming and stay in teaching for a lifetime.
Family at Friday on the Plaza
My whole family gathered in Cheyenne this week and they represented me at Friday on the Plaza. I am running for Senate District 5 because, would love it if they could all stay here and didn’t have to move far away for good job opportunities.
Reproductive Rally June 30th
My team and I showed up for the Reproductive Rally at the Wyoming State Capital! As I said last night, this is a moment to be crystal clear: First, women have an absolute right to make decisions about their own bodies, their own health, their own futures, and their own careers. Second, anyone has the right to choose where they are on the gender spectrum and to take the medical steps necessary to achieve their goals. Third, love is love. Everyone has the right to marry anyone they want. The government should have no role in the decision!
The End of Roe vs. Wade
We had a great Pizza and Trivia event at Godfather’s Pizza last night. It was wonderful to be with good friends having a good time. It was the first time I had a chance to speak since the Supreme Court decision changed the landscape in which we all live. It is important to know where every candidate stands on this issue. What I believe is what I said last night. It is below:
I was going to begin this evening with an economic discussion, but the Supreme Court made a decision last week. I would say that decision changed everything, but shortly after the decision, Justice Thomas spouted off about what he wants to do next. That truly will change everything.
I have a partner, daughters, daughters—in-law, and granddaughters that I worry about. I have wonderful woman friends that I worry about. I have precious family and precious friends that are part of the LGBTQ community and I worry about them.
When they write on my tombstone, I don’t really care if it says, “Ted was a good politician.” But I do want it to say that Ted was a good partner, a good father, a good brother, and a good friend. So, I want to make myself crystal clear: A woman has an absolute right to make decisions about her own body, her own life, and her own career. I never thought I would have to say this, but she has the absolute right to access birth control. Her body—her choice. Every person has the right to determine where they are on the gender spectrum and take the medical steps necessary to achieve their goal.
Love is love. Anyone who chooses to marry should be able to. The state should have nothing to say about it.
When I was preparing to say this, I first thought of it as a message, but it isn’t, really. It is just my position. I will be standing with many of my friends and family at the capitol on Thursday night, but that isn’t a message either—it is important, but it is a protest, not a message.
The message is the one that all of you can send. If you support me and fight for me and I am elected (from Wyoming!), that is an earth-shaking message that all of those in power will hear. Yes, we need volunteers, and we need donations. Every candidate needs the time and treasure of his supporters to win. But we need lots of little things, as well. If you haven’t followed our Facebook page, please do. If you feel like writing a letter to the editor supporting me, please do. With all of your support, I feel like I can’t lose.
Fridays at the Depot
The summer Friday night concert series at the depot is one of the coolest advantages of Cheyenne. Freddie and I were there Friday night to see old friends, meet new friends, listen to good music and enjoy Cheyenne in the summer—truly one of the best places in the world to be in the summer!
Signs of Friendship
A supporter sent me an email to ask for signs. It is nice to hear from people who want to support you. I got their address and set out to deliver the sign. I was on the street, squinting at house numbers, trying to find the right house.
Then, I spotted a house that already had two signs. One said, “Hate Has No Home Here.” The other said, “There Comes a Time When Silence is Betrayal. Black Lives Matter.”
I thought to myself, “Those are the folks who wanted my sign!” Sure enough, it was the right house number. It is very uplifting to know that these are the folks that want to support me!
Community
I talk a lot about how great my team is and they are the best. Everyone of them is a professional at what they do. They also have kind hearts and a community spirit. I took this picture yesterday, while they were cleaning the greenway at Allison Draw. This is not the whole team! They all move pretty fast, so I couldn’t catch them all at once!
Signs of Change!
Some people say signs don’t vote. I hope that is not the case, because I have some very nice looking signs going up in some very good locations! I think that one of the most important goals for my signs is name recognition, and these signs will certainly help with that. Please tell me what you think, after a few weeks!