Drew Perkins Announces Re-election Bid for Senate District 29
Republican State Sen. Drew Perkins is seeking his party's nomination to run for re-election in Senate District 29, which encompasses west Casper and rural Natrona County west of Casper, he announced Monday.
"I'm running because I think I have unfinished business in Cheyenne, mostly to protect private property rights of Wyoming citizens but also to expand Wyoming's economy," he said.
Perkins, who has a law firm in Casper, is finishing his second four-year term in the Senate, having been elected in 2006. Before the Senate, he was a Natrona County Commissioner from 2003-2006.
Perkins, 58, serves on the Joint Appropriations Committee, and has served on the Judiciary, Revenue, and Agriculture and State Lands committees.
Legislative achievements include expanding the use of cost saving residential hospice care, modernizing Wyoming’s organ donor laws, revamping lien laws, wind energy regulations and initiatives to limit and reduce impaired driving.
While acknowledging the importance of reducing impaired driving, Perkins said laws should respect personal property rights, including the property of one's own body. "What you see is in the Legislature when you're down there is we have a tendency to clip off little bits of our individual liberties and our individual rights bill by bill."
For example, he said he successfully amended a drunk-driving bill to restrict law enforcement officials' ability to draw blood to determine blood alcohol content of suspects. "You still have to get a search warrant to take bodily fluids."
The candidate filing period is May deadline for filing for public office is May 15-30. Party primaries are held on Aug. 19. The general election is Nov. 4.