Press Releases

WYOMING PBS DECLINES TO INVITE TAYLOR HAYNES TO GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE

[October 5, 2010] - Wyoming PBS has denied requests from supporters of gubernatorial write-in candidate Taylor Haynes to have Haynes included in the gubernatorial debate scheduled for October 25. Citing the station's 2006 policy governing debates, General Manager Ruby Calvert said participants must be "legally certified by the Wyoming Secretary of State to appear on the statewide ballot for the office."

Wyoming PBS is partnering with Wyoming Public Radio, The Casper Star Tribune, the Wyoming Business Report, and the Cowboy State Free Press to broadcast the debates in October.

Calvert said that while she appreciated the zeal of Haynes' supporters, "There has to be a standard, or pretty much anyone could declare themselves a write-in candidate and demand a seat at the debate. Our job at Wyoming PBS is to give the state's voters an in-depth, undiluted look at the viable candidates, and we regret that Mr. Haynes was unable to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot."

According to Wyoming PBS General Manager Calvert, the Wyoming PBS election policy adopted in 2006, states: 

"For purposes of political programming and election content to be produced by WPTV (Wyoming PBS), the only absolute requirement to include a candidate is that a candidate must be legally qualified and must be certified by the Wyoming Secretary of State to appear on the statewide ballot for the office. While WPTV (Wyoming PBS) recognizes that it has the latitude to exclude candidates based upon criteria that would demonstrate statewide campaign efforts, it shall be WPTV (Wyoming PBS) policy to include all qualified candidates who will appear on a statewide ballot."

Taylor Haynes announced his candidacy for the office of governor after the primary election, and filed his petition to be included on the general election ballot with the Wyoming Secretary of State's office on August 23, the last day for filing.

According to the Secretary of State's office, a write-in candidate seeking to be on the ballot must submit names and signatures of registered voters equal to two percent (2%) of the registered voters who voted in the last election for the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Wyoming.  Two percent of the voters in that race would have been 4,988 voters, and Taylor Haynes only submitted 4,270 names and signatures on his petition.

Calvert stated, "Taylor Haynes did not have enough signatures on his petition, was not qualified by the Secretary of State, and therefore will not appear on the ballot in the gubernatorial race.  For this reason, and this reason only, Taylor Haynes will not be invited to participate in the Wyoming PBS general election debates with other gubernatorial candidates."

Dr. JoAnne McFarland, President of Central Wyoming College, the licensee for Wyoming PBS, supported the station's election policy, and added, "It is important for the public to understand that when Wyoming PBS and the Board of Trustees for Central Wyoming College adopted this election policy, it was done to be fair to all qualified candidates.  To invite write-in candidates to debates would undermine our policy, and ultimately be unfair to qualified candidates who followed all the proper procedures to be on the ballot."

Sue Wallis, Executive Editor for Cowboy State Free Press stated that she and other election partners were shown the station policy before the debates were organized and all agreed with the policy. Wallis went on to say, "As a partner with Wyoming PBS in these election debates, we support the policy, and don't believe Taylor Haynes should be invited to debate."

On Monday, October 25, at 7 pm, the qualified candidates for Wyoming Governor are invited to debate.  Those candidates are:  Matt Mead, (R); Leslie Petersen, (D) and Mike Wheeler, (L).  Immediately following that debate, at 8 pm, will be an hour-long debate between the candidates for U. S. House of Representatives, incumbent Cynthia Lummis, (R); David Wendt (D), and John Love (L).

On Tuesday, October 26, at 7 pm, two candidates face off for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction:  Cindy Hill (R) and Mike Massie (D). Immediately following that debate will be a half-hour debate between candidates for the office of Secretary of State, Max Maxfield (R), Andrew Simons (D) and Candice DeLaat (L).

All debates will be open to the public at the Little Theater on the Central Wyoming College campus in Riverton. The audience must be seated by 6:45 p.m. No signs, buttons, campaign literature or paraphernalia will be allowed in the Little Theater.  The debates, "Decision 2010: Wyoming General Election Debates", will be broadcast live on Wyoming PBS, simulcast on Wyoming Public Radio and streamed live online.

Geoff O'Gara of Wyoming PBS, Bob Beck of Wyoming Public Radio, Chad Baldwin from the Casper Star Tribune, Dennis Curran from Wyoming Business Report and Bill McCarthy from Cowboy State Free Press will host and moderate the debates.

Questions for the candidates may be submitted for the moderator's consideration on the election coverage website. For more information on the debates, candidates, the live stream and to submit your questions, go to www.wyomingpbs.org/decision2010.

Wyoming PBS is a non-commercial, educational institution and cultural resource dedicated to enriching the lives of Wyoming people through telecommunications and other related services. Wyoming PBS can be found on various channels across Wyoming; for more information, check local listings, or go to www.wyomingpbs.org for a complete schedule of channel numbers.