2024 Teton County GOP Party Platform

WE believe there are Timeless Truths that will always inform and direct our party and our country regardless of current events and circumstances, changing strategies, goals, and leadership. These Truths, put into action, maintain, protect, and defend our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

  1. All individuals are endowed by their Creator with the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The primary purpose of government is to secure these rights for all, regardless of the circumstances in which such individuals may find themselves.

  2. Every citizen, public and private, is equally protected by, and subject to, the law.

  3. Individuals must always be allowed to defend the lives, liberty and property of themselves and their family if threatened unlawfully. The right to bear arms as individuals, as upheld by the US Supreme Court, in the 2nd Amendment shall be defended.

  4. The right of an individual to keep and enjoy his own property is foundational. Every individual has the right to develop his own potential, to use and enjoy his own property, tangible or intellectual, and pursue his own interests, free from the restrictions of arbitrary or unconstitutional force. Individuals are always presumed to be the best stewards of their property.

  5. The freedom to practice one’s faith is a fundamental right under our Constitution. The separation of church and state describes the prohibition of an official, state sanctioned church, not the expulsion of religion from public life. We must keep in mind the Judeo-Christian principles of the Founding Fathers when they wrote it; the practice of faith under this tradition encourages good moral behavior and the development of character that helps secure the other fundamental bases of our national citizenship.

  6. The family is the best institution to provide children with the training to develop their potential and prepare them to participate in our government which is of, by, and for the People.

  7. Liberty is indivisible from economic freedom. The market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the economic system best compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government. Government’s undue interference in the market, the fiscal irresponsibility of government, or the favoring of one economic actor over another always results in economic inequity. There exists no fundamental right to the fruits of another person’s labor.

  8. The citizens of the United States are the ultimate authority. Governments possess powers derived only from the consent of the governed, within the bounds of the original intent of the Constitution.

  9. Our constitutional representative republic remains the best political system, derived from history and knowledge of human nature, to prohibit tyranny, assure equality, and protect our individual rights.

  10. The Constitution of the United States enables us to form a more perfect union of sovereign states and should be strictly interpreted according to the wisdom of the founder’s original intent. It is not a living document that can be expanded by the Judiciary. It may only be altered by the formal processes of correction provided within it.

  11. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Powers not enumerated in it are reserved to the States and the People. The most effective, responsible, and responsive government is government that is closest to the People. Government that governs least, governs best. We recognize and support the 10th Amendment that ensures State’s sovereignty.

  12. The United States has a responsibility to set an example by treating other countries with respect and justice. Above all, the United States must maintain its national sovereignty free from foreign influence that would infringe on the rights of the American People guaranteed by the Constitution. Relationships with international entities and our general foreign policy must serve the just interests of the United States.

  13. The United States has a responsibility to adequately support the military and to provide appropriate services to US military veterans.

 Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles and views, we invite the cooperation of all citizens who substantially agree with us, however differing on other questions, to offer their affirmation and support.