GOSHEN COUNTY – Torrington resident Marci Shaver said she felt compelled to run as democratic candidate for Senate District 3 to “give the people a choice.”
Shaver said she was motivated by a recent Telegram article regarding proposed transgender policies at Eastern Wyoming College, and the failure of said policies to pass third reading.
“(Our House District 5) representative showed up – a woman who swore to uphold the Constitution, which is all about the equality of our citizens … and battled to deprive people of their rights,” Shaver said. Around 120 individuals attended the public hearing to express opposition to the policies in May. “That was the decider to me.”
Shaver was born and raised in Wyoming, living in multiple locations around the state due to her father’s occupation as a heavy equipment operator.
After her father’s death, Shaver’s mother moved the family to Sheridan, where Shaver met and married her husband, Pleaman. Pleaman joined the Navy, and the pair called many places home during his military career, including the west coast, east coast, Germany and Hawaii.
“We spent 10 years in Hawaii … and then we moved to Virginia where he finished out his federal career,” Shaver said. “He decided it was too hot and humid and he couldn’t stand another summer (there), so we did some research and decided Torrington met our needs. We really fell in love with the community – people here are just fabulous.”
Shaver said she believes her world travel has provided her with a unique outlook.
“Living all over the United States, each area has its own culture,” she said. “Our nation is so wonderfully diverse, it gives us an energy that I didn’t see in Germany, that, at the time, was very lacking in diversity … we traveled all over Europe, (and I) actually got a picture of how we fit into the world picture. I think we were in Hawaii, and the realization (hit me) that what happens halfway around the world impacts local lives and vice versa. The decisions the Wyoming legislature makes for our community and for our state can have far-ranging impacts around the world. We’re all connected, we’re one race, we’re humans – it gave me that broader (perspective) to travel the world like we did.”
Shaver said she feels passionately about several issues, including equality, education funding, climate change, and access to public lands.
“We need people willing to battle for the rights of everybody in this state regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation – we’re all citizens here,” she said. “What the Constitution has to say about education is that we fund it, whatever it takes … I grew up in Wyoming, where education was a priority … I see the legislature just eating away at our schools and expecting teachers to do more and more with less and less, and the kids are the ones that lose out. (The kids) face a much more complex world than my generation or my mom’s. We have to make sure they know how to code or have the technological information to move into the 21st century.
“We also need to understand the impacts global climate change will have on Wyoming – probably devastating,” she continued, adding she also believes it’s important to keep access to public lands open. “There is a press to block that access, which impacts hunters and fishermen and hikers.”
As an 11-year breast cancer survivor and former successful small business owner, Shaver is no stranger to overcoming adversity. She said she recognizes the potential challenges ahead on the campaign trail.
“Being out in front is risky. The first thing I have to do is put together a team. The (Goshen County) Democratic Convention was last weekend – we got candidates in almost every race. It had lots of good training,” she said. Shaver also planned on attending campaign finance training with the Secretary of State last week.
“I need to … find volunteers, and (get a) logo,” Shaver said. “And signs – signs that’ll stand up against the Wyoming wind.”
