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Cohee, Scott retain seats in Legislature

Hannah Chapman, 18, approaches the voting booth at Dean Morgan Junior High School on Tuesday afternoon during the primary election. Chapman voted for the first time on Tuesday. Photo by Kerry Huller, Star-Tribune.

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With all precincts reporting, incumbents Roy Cohee and Charles Scott appear to be the Republican winners in Tuesday's primary election for House District 35 and Senate District 30, respectively.

County officials expect to finalize the results and announce write-in candidates on Friday.

Cohee, 58, received almost 70 percent of the votes, compared to challenger Beth Nachbar's 30 percent. Cohee is the owner of C & Y Trucking in Casper.

This will be Cohee's 11th year serving in the Wyoming House, where he is currently Speaker of the House.

House District 35 generally includes east and southeast areas of Casper, and parts of Evansville.

"It feels really good," Cohee said. "It's my sixth term. I've been there for 10 years. Some might see that as sufficient."

Cohee said he realized not many legislators decide to run for additional terms after serving as Speaker of the House. He's spent two years encouraging his colleagues to continue their service in the Legislature, as a way to improve institutional knowledge.

The decision to run this year was an effort to make good on his own advice, Cohee said.

In his coming term, Cohee said he intends to continue making sure Wyoming's "unprecedented wealth" from natural gas and minerals is well managed.

Cohee also said he had a great appreciation for everyone who came out to vote in Tuesday's primary, noting a low voter turnout.

"Thank you very much to not only those who chose to vote for, but to those who just voted in general," he said.

Senate District 30

Scott, 64, will continue his tenure as Wyoming longest running legislator after winning nearly 61 percent of Tuesday's votes.

Challenger Tom Walters, 32, collected 39 percent of votes in his second try at ousting Scott from the Legislature. Scott was first elected to the Legislature in 1978.

Senate District 30 encompasses most of Natrona County north, west and south of Casper

Scott grew up in Natrona County and now owns a ranch outside of Casper. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in government and a master's of business administration from Harvard.

"Well, you know, I'm pleased naturally," Scott said. "I'm pleased that the people seem to be happy with the way I'm representing them."

Scott said he suspected Walters put in a lot of money and time into his campaign, though he hadn't seen any official reports.

"Tom ran a very vigorous campaign," he said. "If the people had been unhappy with me, I would have been in trouble."

Scott said he plans to continue working through health care issues and on his proposal to cut property taxes during the coming term. He'd also like to add more money to the Hathaway Scholarship Program, if the state has a large enough budget surplus.

"Those will probably be the three primary things I'm working on," Scott said. "I just want to thank all the people who voted for me and encouraged me."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com.


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Nell Pederson wrote on Aug 20, 2008 6:39 PM:

" Congratulations! to Senator Scott, keep up the good work for Wyoming, "

bunny wrote on Aug 21, 2008 8:52 PM:

" unfortunately, I won't be voting FOR Mr. Scott's opponent, I'll be voting AGAINST Mr. Scott....for being head of the labor/health, he sure doesn't make very smart decisions based on what his constituents want (more personal based). I hope he gets unseated. "

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