Wyoming’s at-large U.S. House candidate Steve Friess held a meet and greet in Gillette on Monday afternoon as part of his “Freedom Tour.” The event was held in Dalbey Memorial Park and included free ice cream as well as a raffle giveaway for Sporting Goods.
Priorities and Values
Friess says he’s running for office because he believes Wyoming needs new leadership. He describes himself as a political outsider focused on supporting the state’s energy industry, cutting government regulations, and promoting conservative values. Friess often calls himself a “happy warrior,” saying he follows former President Ronald Reagan’s example.
“I think you can win more arguments with a smile than you can with a sneer or a shout,” he said. Energy is one of the biggest parts of Friess’s campaign. “Oil and gas, coal and nuclear, I think, are all key parts of a pro-American, pro-energy dominance picture for the country,” Friess said, “and Wyoming has a big role to play in that.”
Policy Proposals
One of his proposals is for longer coal lease terms to give companies more certainty when planning for the future. Friess said protections under the Endangered Species Act, including those involving sage grouse, have gone too far and are hurting Wyoming industries. Friess said he has worked behind the scenes on conservative policy. He said he led a volunteer project that drafted executive orders for the Trump administration and believes that effort helped eliminate seven regulations for every new one that was added.
Election security is another issue he has focused on. Friess said he supported True the Vote, mentioning Dinesh D’Souza’s film “2000 Mules.” He also said he supports the Save America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and a photo ID to vote. “It’s shocking to me that there are people that with a straight face can say we shouldn’t have voter ID,” Friess said. “We need to know that the people choosing the future of this country by electing their representatives are citizens of this country.”
Social Issues and Immigration
Friess said he is pro-life and has promised never to support a tax increase. “They have enough money. They need to stop spending so much,” he said. He also said he believes the Second Amendment exists to protect people from government tyranny, not just for hunting or self-defense. “The founders put the Second Amendment in there … so that we would never be under the threat of tyranny from a government,” he said. On immigration, Friess criticized the Biden administration’s border policies, saying he believes the administration “intentionally flooded the country” and called it “an intentional strategy.”
Friess stopped in Casper for his Freedom Tour on Tuesday at David Street Station. He will be in Douglas today at noon at the Douglas Railroad Museum, 121 Brownfield Road.
Original reporting: Oil City News (Casper WY) — read the source article.
