Sam Mead, a fifth-generation rancher from Wyoming, is running for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. Senate. Mead, who has served as the mayor of the town of Kirby, is challenging establishment GOP politician Harriet Hageman in the Republican primary.
Background and Motivation
Mead’s family has a long history of public service in Wyoming. His great-grandfather, Cliff Hansen, served as the state’s governor in the 1960s and later as a U.S. senator. Mead’s uncle, Matt Mead, was the state’s governor from 2011 to 2019. Despite this legacy, Mead says there was no family expectation for him to run for office. Instead, he feels a sense of duty to the state and its people.
Mead believes that the state’s representatives in Washington, D.C. have not been listening to their constituents and have not been taking responsibility for their actions. He thinks that the state needs someone who will stand up and work to find solutions that serve the rural state’s residents.
Policy Positions
Mead has expressed his views on several policy issues. He believes that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was well-intentioned but is not the right fit for Wyoming. He thinks that the state needs a more flexible approach to the health care industry, including insurance companies and professional EMT responses.
On immigration, Mead believes that the U.S. needs a way to vet people coming into the country. However, he thinks that the money currently being spent on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and enforcement could be better spent on immigration lawyers and judges at the border. This, he believes, would help to process cases more quickly and disincentivize people from arriving illegally.
Mead has also questioned the U.S. involvement in the conflict in Iran, citing concerns about the cost of fertilizer and its impact on the state’s agriculture industry. He believes that the federal government’s role is to set a baseline for state performance, including environmental regulations and labor laws, to prevent states from racing to the bottom.
At the end of the day, Mead says he wants to solve problems and take care of people in the state. He is uninterested in towing any sort of political line if it means that it’s not going to benefit the people of Wyoming.
Original reporting: Buckrail (Jackson WY) — read the source article.
