House District 23

Two Democrats seek House District 23 seat

Ryan Sedgeley or Liz Storer will face GOP’s Paul Vogelheim in general election.

By Sophia Boyd-Fliegel

Come Aug. 16 voters will decide which one of two Democratic candidates for House District 23 will face Republican Paul Vogelheim in the general election.

Madison Junction-based Ryan Sedgeley and Jackson resident Liz Storer both said they’d prioritize raising “diverse” and “progressive” taxes outside the oil and gas industries and expanding Medicaid.

“We want to look at who is paying these taxes,” Storer said. “How can we make it equitable?”

Sedgeley agreed, saying he was “pretty open” to progressive taxation that “doesn’t hurt poor people,” like a tax on vacation rentals and “second plus” homes.

The two candidates fielded a range of questions from local media during an online candidate forum organized by the League of Women Voters, Teton County Library, KHOL 89.1, Buckrail and the News&Guide. Find YouTube links to watch the full forum at TCLib. org/candidates.

Ryan Sedgeley

If Ryan Sedgeley or any of his neighbors want to renew a driver’s license, they must travel eight hours round trip in the middle of the work week to the nearest Wyoming Department of Transportation office.

In winter it’s an hour of snowmobiling just to get from his house to his car. But the 37-year-old Democrat doesn’t think being from Madison Junction, a minuscule community in Yellowstone National Park of about six winter residents, is a hindrance to his election campaign.

He lives in the northernmost part of the district currently held by Rep. Andy Schwartz, who announced in April he would not run again. Sedgeley’s wife, Nicole, works for the National Park Service.

It’s time for rural, liberal representation in Cheyenne, Sedgeley said. A large part of his platform is the need for a voice for remote communities in Teton County, advocating for government services like WYDOT to become more mobile.

Sedgeley also aims to capture the vote of the denser parts of the roughly 23,000-person county with his unwaveringly progressive agenda.

His top priorities include combating climate change, expanding Medicaid, protecting women’s access to abortion, creating universal free preschool, legalizing marijuana, ending the death penalty and supporting Native American sovereignty and LGBTQ rights.

Sedgeley said he’d support legislation to help Wyomingites, especially the elderly, stay in their homes by creating down payment and mortgage subsidies for working people, a real estate transfer tax and a tax on second homes and vacation rentals.

The first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree, Sedgeley also earned a dual law degree and a master’s in environmental and natural resources from the University of Wyoming last year.

Before law school led him to fundraise for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Sedgeley worked as a car mechanic, a nuclear power plant valve mechanic and an interpretive ranger in Yellowstone.

His working-class background means being a progressive isn’t just an “intellectual activity,” he said.

“I’ve turned the wrenches,” he said. “I know what it’s like to be a laborer and to be scraping by.”

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Storer

Elizabeth “Liz” Storer first set foot in the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne in 1994 as a member of the board of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

She lobbied for wildlife conservation and water quality, in part opposing a dam being proposed west of Saratoga, where she’d spent summers growing up and where she was living at the time.

“I was brand new to the legislative process,” Storer recalled, “but I learned quickly that I could build good relationships with both Republicans and Democrats to accomplish our shared goals. I think that’s still possible even in today’s political atmosphere.”

Seeing the impact of policy and the lack of both Democrats and women on the House floor inspired Storer to run for House District 8 two years later, a race she lost by 147 votes to Republican Larry Meuli.

Twenty-six years later Storer, 64, said she sees the same lack of diversity, especially for Teton County, where all current state representatives and senators are men.

“If we had more women in office we would have a better dialogue about issues especially for young families,” Storer said, “whether it’s health care or early childhood education.”

Storer supports state-funded preschool for ages 6 and younger. It’s critical for kids, she said, and has been proved to save the state money down the road.

Those values of conservation and early childhood education are central to her work managing about $100 million as the CEO and director of the George B. Storer Foundation, started 66 years ago by her grandfather, a television and media pioneer for whom the organization is named.

“I’ve learned a lot about how to invest for the long term because the foundation is in perpetuity, as is the state of Wyoming,” Storer said. “At the end of the day, that’s what conservation is about.”

Storer, an angler and conservationist, worked for The Nature Conservancy before the Wyoming Outdoor Council and was involved in bipartisan statewide task forces concerning livestock range under Gov. Mike Sullivan, a Democrat, and state trust lands management under Gov. Jim Geringer, a Republican.

Storer is running on strengthening the education system, increasing access to quality health care, expanding broadband access and affordable housing. Connecting those issues, Storer said, is state-level tax policy.

Democratic Primary on August 16th

“I’ve professionally and personally known Brian for 28 years. His life experiences and his experiences as Deputy County Attorney will serve him well as the

Teton County Clerk of the District Court.”

-Hon. Nancy J. Guthrie, Ret. District Judge, 9th Judicial District

BRIAN E. HULTMAN

Clerk of the District Court

• Former President of the

Wyoming State Bar • Deputy Teton County Prosecuting Attorney for 25 years • 2019 Wyoming State Bar President’s Award • 2011 Wyoming State Bar Community Service Award

ReElect MEL

FOR

VOTE FOR EXPERIENCE. VOTE FOR COMMITMENT. VOTE FOR TRANSPARENCY.

Early voting is open now at the absentee polling site or vote on August 16th for the Wyoming Primaries.

As Assessor, I am committed to the people of Teton County. I will stay informed and active in all property tax related issues both locally and at the state level. I will continue to work with my collegues across the state and with legislators when property tax reform bills are introduced, and I will advocate for change.