CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Even well-connected Democrats in Wyoming are having difficulty getting tickets for Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Obama will speak Thursday at Invesco Field at Mile High, which seats more than 75,000.
Each state has been allocated a limited number of tickets. More than half the tickets are going to Colorado residents. Wyoming, in comparison, has been allocated 50.
Wyoming residents still waiting for tickets recently included former Gov. Mike Sullivan.
“If I get a ticket I’ll probably go, but I haven’t been falling on my sword to try to get them,” Sullivan said. “I’m sure there are other people who would wish to go.”
Sullivan’s daughter, Michelle Sullivan, is Obama’s Wyoming campaign coordinator. She said Wyoming’s ticket allocation isn’t bad in the sense that Wyoming has just 18 convention delegates. She said some states with 300 delegates received only 100 tickets.
“They did their best, given their short time window, to figure out a way that was as evenhanded to everyone as they possibly could be, recognizing that they wanted to recognize Colorado and the people there hosting the convention,” Sullivan said.
The state Democratic Party, the office of Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal and others rumored to have tickets have received calls recently from people wanting to attend the speech.
Bill Luckett, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, said more than 100 people have called seeking tickets, including longtime party activists and officials.
“Unfortunately, the state closest to Denver is the state with the lowest number of registered Democrats and the lowest population, and they have to be fair to everybody,” Luckett said. “It’s just tough.”
