The national Democratic triumphalism with presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden appears to be rubbing off locally, a state senate candidate said Saturday.

"Casper seems to be turning to the Democrats this year," Erich Frankland told those gathered at the monthly Democratic Womens' Forum at the Casper Petroleum Club.

Frankland, who hopes to unseat Republican Sen. Kit Jennings in Senate District 28, said the record number of Democrats attending the party's caucuses in March gave him encouragement for the Nov. 4 general election.

He and other Democrats running for the Legislature, Casper City Council, and the Natrona County Commission preached to the choir about their views on health care, development, property taxes, transportation, education, and the economy.

Most of them offered their reasons for running, including dissatisfaction with incumbents, the need for new and creative thinking, turning their complaining into action, and traffic.

"I was p - - - - off at the signal lights in Casper," said Mike Gilmore, running for House District 59. His wife, Mary, represented the district for six years and is retiring.

Gilmore, who is retired from the Wyoming Department of Transportation, once asked some Casper officials why the traffic lights were out of synchronization.

The officials responded that it was for "traffic calming," but to Gilmore it seemed like a prescription for road rage.

Gilmore agreed with his fellow candidates that the state's primary issue is health care.

Democrats in the Legislature voted for a $300,000 study of health care, but Republicans voted against it saying they didn't want Wyoming to have a health care system like Canada's, he said.

Frankland, a Casper College political science instructor, wants to see a more pro-active Legislature to handle the changes in Wyoming, such as getting a formal inventory of the public lands in the state.

"It seems like we're always waiting for the next bus," he said.

Political newcomer Dr. Bert Toews, an addiction medicine specialist, said he's running because he's turning his strong opinions into action and wants to apply his medical background to help solving health care problems in the state.

"I find insurance companies have us, instead of us having insurance," he said.

Incumbent Rep. Mary Hales, who was appointed by the Natrona County Commission last year, is running unopposed in House District 36, and echoed the concerns about health care.

Hales would like to see a statewide expansion of a pilot program in Carbon County to increase health care services in rural areas by coordinating EMS services, recruitment and retention of health care professionals, and 24-hour health services.

Jane Ifland, who is running for the seat held by Republican Rep. Tom Lockhart in House District 57, said she wants to apply her business and community service experience to inject creative leadership into the legislative process to help solve health care and gender wage gap issues.

"I assemble facts, look at them in a different way, and come up with a different solution," Ifland said.

Natrona County Commission candidate Worth Christie said he probably has more business experience than anyone else on the commission, which would help in decisions about the proposed juvenile detention center and the library.

Christie is seeing indicators that the county's economy may be slowing down and the recent global economic crisis could affect energy commodity prices, he said.

Commission candidate Ray Pacheco, a teacher and member of the Natrona County Prevention Coalition, said he may be one of the youngest candidates seeking office, and he'll continue working after the election to communicate with the citizens.

He'd like to start a blog on the county's Web site to encourage communication, he said.

Ward I Casper City Council candidate Kimberly Holloway joked about her motherhood status, saying prospective voters have told her she reminds them of Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Council seats are nonpartisan, she said.

Holloway's door-to-door experience is teaching her that people don't know who their council members are, she said. "People are disconnected from the system," she said.

Ward III council candidate Peggy Phillips said she favors a new public library, but doesn't know what will happen if the proposed six-cent sales tax proposal isn't passed by the voters.

Phillips favors a civic auditorium, but wondered whether the city or the auditorium's supporters will be the ultimate owners.

She and Holloway also expressed frustration over the recent decision by the council to table a proposed change to a noise ordinance to deal with loud motorcycles.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.