With the election fast approaching, candidates around the area are doing anything and everything to set themselves apart from their opponents. Charles Pelkey, The Democratic candidate for House District 45 is no different.
Pelkey is currently attempting to emphasize his experience.
Pelkey, a seasoned journalist himself, has been practicing law in Laramie since 2010. Now a founding partner at Neubauer, Pelkey and Goldfinger, LLP, Pelkey has taken to the pavement to gain the vote of HD-45 residents on Election Day.
Pelkey’s overall goal is to ensure health insurance for Wyomingites.
“If I were to accomplish one thing here,” said Pelkey. “It would be to make sure there are as many Wyoming families insured as possible.”
Medicaid expansion in Wyoming is not only a point on the political agenda, but a personal matter to Pelkey. In 2011, Pelkey was diagnosed with breast cancer, he found himself where many Americans have found themselves in this economy, at risk of losing health insurance.
Since beating his cancer and announcing his candidacy for HD-45, he has made it his personal mission to ensure that Wyoming families are not given the short end of the stick when it comes to healthcare.
Health insurance is not the only issue that Pelkey wants to take on with his campaign.
According to his website, PelkyForHouse.com, his political platform is built on education reform, diversifying Wyoming’s economy, increasing minimum wage as well as closing the wage gap, giving women the right to choose, marriage equality and decriminalization of marijuana.
Pelkey considers himself on the very liberal side of the political spectrum when it comes to many social issues, something his opposition C.J. Young has highlighted as a point of diversity between the candidates.
“Nobody likes abortion,” said Pelkey. “Nobody wants to make that choice, but whose choice should it be? Should it be C.J. Young’s and the Wyoming legislature? Or should it be the woman who is actually directly affected? C.J. and I will differ on that because I think the woman who is affected by that should have the right to make that choice.”
Abortion is only one of the many issues that Pelkey takes a controversial stance on as a liberal in the very conservative state of Wyoming. Pelkey wants Wyoming to be as the state’s nickname claims to be – equal. If elected, Pelkey said that he would strive to make Wyomingites equal in wages, regardless of gender, and equal in the opportunity to marry whomever they chose.
As a marijuana advocate, decriminalization of the substance is an issue that Pelkey is passionate about. Pelkey would like to work on developments of decriminalization in Wyoming in the very near future.
“We’ve got to really look and see if the law itself is doing more damage, than what they’re trying to protect us against. I’d like to work with Republicans on coming up with a solution that doesn’t ruin people’s lives for making a choice,” said Pelkey
Pelkey also said that many of our young people are being hit with hard convictions that are not fitting for the crime. Students are losing scholarships, getting kicked out of school and earning arrest sheets for something that is legal only one hour away.
As far as UW is concerned, Pelkey would like to address the pillars of the university, faculty and staff. He said that the push for funding salaries has not been aggressive enough and that UW’s intellectual resources should be valued just as much, if not more, than physical resources. It is also an important subject on his agenda to keep tuition low, and education affordable.
“Under ideal conditions it would be really nice to see someone graduate with a four year degree and not have a dollar in student debt. You can do that in Wyoming, and I want to make sure that continues,” Pelkey said.
