Summary
Republican Sen. Mike Enzi’s retirement sets up a competitive GOP primary race to replace him, with all eyes on Rep. Liz Cheney as a potential candidate.
We rate the race for U.S. Senate in Wyoming as Solid Republican.
Politico 4/19/20
OnAir Post: Wyoming – US Senate 2020 Election
News
Wyoming’s energy- and tourism-heavy economy has been hit hard this year by low fuel prices, COVID-19 restrictions on travel and the overall economic depression.
Cynthia Lummis sees that as a signal to double down on the fossil fuel industry and make it easier for it to create jobs.
The former Republican congresswoman, on track to be the state’s next U.S. senator, wants to make sure President Trump can keep rolling back regulations and help the oil, natural gas and coal companies.
“Jobs within the energy sector are tremendously important to Wyoming, and by having a robust energy sector, we will continue to have good job opportunities and growth in that field. But when energy prices are threatened by government policies – which they are in Wyoming – it hurts jobs here,” Lummis told E&E News in an interview.
Merav Ben-David
Current Position: Scientist. Educator. Outdoorswoman.
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
I never imagined I’d be interested in politics. Most of my career has been devoted to research and training scientists and conservationists, and lending my voice to climate advocacy efforts in recent years. But we scientists, at our core, are problem solvers, and the problems Wyoming faces today call for a bold vision, one informed by facts, one with a long term view, and one that a scientist like me is uniquely poised to lead.
Climate change poses another, even bigger, threat to Wyoming: as the world transitions to alternative energy sources, people’s reliance on fossil fuels is rapidly waning, and with it, more than half of Wyoming’s economy. We must preempt that fate by making smart investments and diversifying our economy today.
For more information, see Merav Ben-David’s post.
Cynthia Lummis
Current Position: Cattle rancher and developer
Affiliation: Republican
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
Former Position(s): US Representative from 2009 – 2017
Cynthia Lummis served Wyoming as a principled and conservative Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years. She fought day in and day out to protect Wyoming’s interests – even when it meant bucking the moderate leadership of her own party.
However, she doesn’t believe in staying in office too long and after successfully working to reduce wasteful government spending on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, stop the government’s infringement on our civil liberties, protect the rights of the unborn and stand up for our Second Amendment, Cynthia returned to Wyoming.
For more information, see Cynthia Lummis’s post.
Issues
Governance
Merav Ben-David
N/A
Cynthia Lummis
Cutting government spending and reducing our national debt are among my top priorities in running for the U.S. Senate. Our staggering national debt has direct and severe consequences for our economy, household incomes and savings, policy decisions, national security and ultimately American exceptionalism. In reality, there is no political will to target specific programs for elimination. There are too many ‘sacred cows’ in every agency. As a result, shaving off a small portion from every agency and program is the only possible way to get people to coalesce and make meaningful gains in reducing spending and balancing the budget.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I stood up to moderate leadership of my own party to push back against overspending. In the U.S. Senate, I will continue to be a fierce budget hawk and work tirelessly to cut spending and reduce the national debt.
Civil Rights
Merav Ben-David
N/A
Cynthia Lummis
The liberties guaranteed to each and every one of us in the United States Constitution must be protected. In the U.S. House of Representatives, I was a staunch defender of the Constitution and proud to be a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. I garnered at A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and a 100% voting record with Right to Life.
In the race for U.S. Senate, I’m proud to be endorsed by many individuals and conservative organizations, including:
- National Rifle Association (NRA)
- Gun Owners of America
- Susan B. Anthony List (a pro-life advocacy organization)
- FreedomWorks for America
- Club for Growth
- Protect Freedom PAC
Protecting 2nd Amendment Rights
- Protect Wyoming citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights.
- Ensure federal lands remain open for recreational shooting.
Economy
Marev Ben-David
The greatest threat to Wyoming today is our state’s economy’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the extractive technology they require. As the world transitions to alternative energy sources at a rapid pace, Wyoming risks losing more than half of its revenue. Over the past year, as coal mines and oil wells have shut down, entire companies have gone out of business, and thousands of workers have been laid off.
Luckily, there is a solution. We need to expand our economy, and we need to do it in three stages: Rescue, Re-imagine, Rebuild.
The national unemployment rate jumped to 14.7% in the last 3 months, leaving more than 30 million Americans jobless. Many states, including Wyoming, are running out of unemployment funds. Wyoming is projected to lose more than 25,000 jobs (12 percent of the private-sector workforce) by this summer, mostly in the fossil fuel and hospitality sectors. In the short term, Congress’s Paycheck Guarantee Act may provide relief, but long-term we need to think bigger. It is time to implement the Federal Job Guarantee program FDR first proposed more than 70 years ago. It was intended to use federal funds to support state-based job creation while guaranteeing employment with a livable wage. Adaptation of this initiative to our times will help job creation and retraining programs in Wyoming. Oil-field workers who lost their jobs when the number of oil rigs dropped from 32 to 4 in the past year can be re-hired to install solar panels at hydro-electric dams, plug up abandoned wells, or build wind farms and electric micro-grids. Coal miners can join the proposed Rare Earths and Thorium mines in Bear Lodge Mountain, or help WYDOT repave our roads and improve them with wildlife overpasses. Such efforts will bring together laborers, planners, engineers, heavy equipment operators, wildlife biologists and more.
The short- and long-term options are vast and should be promoted and supported through federal, state and private-sector partnerships.
As your senator, I will propose and support legislation that will guarantee jobs, livable wages, and new opportunities for Wyoming workers.
Rescue: In the immediate term, we need to provide Wyoming residents and businesses with income and loans so that hard working Wyomingites can feed their families and keep their homes. The 2020 CARES Act, with its more than $2.7 trillion in stimulus funds, is an important initial stopgap measure, but it’s not enough. Indeed, the US Congress is considering proposals that would provide each American supplemental income, freeze rent, mortgage and loan payments, and help small businesses during the COVID19 crisis. This would allow us to catch our breath and prepare our state and the nation for the next step: reimagining our future.
Reimagine: Wyoming has so much more to offer than coal, oil and gas; if we stopped viewing ourselves solely as an energy producing state and think more broadly, we can be attractive to a variety of thriving industries that would bring high paying, secure jobs. Think, for example, of the new technologies developed to curb the rise in greenhouse gasses and the innovations they have spurred; innovations that rely on a smart and skilled workforce like we have here in Wyoming. Just consider all the components required to build and operate electric trucks and hydrogen-cell vehicles, or the expertise that will be needed to maintain caravans of self-driving trucks on our highways. Advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, material science, and integrative planning, together with serious progress redesigning semi-nuclear reactors and methods to combine solar and hydroelectric power generation, can fuel the future of Wyoming.
Rebuild: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said “There are many ways of going forward but only one way of standing still.” In the wake of the Great Depression, FDR’s New Deal put millions of Americans to work creating the country’s infrastructure, building bridges, roads, railroads, hydro-electric dams, electric grids, schools and hospitals. The investment it required ($6 billion, or 10 percent of the GPD at the time) repaid itself many times over, both economically and by making the United States a global superpower for decades. The success of the New Deal illustrated that when we have a coordinated and actionable federal plan – and the political will to implement it – our country can emerge from a crisis stronger than it was before. Imagine what a smart federal plan, combined with the technological strides of the past century, can help us do in the upcoming decade.
Diversifying our economy and our workforce while “keeping Wyoming Wyoming” will require a holistic vision and careful planning. Some ideas for rebuilding the state’s economy are clearly delineated in ENDOW (Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming), a 2016 initiative created by former Governor Matt Mead. Others will need to be added. Broadly, we need to address:
See post for more info.
Cynthia Lummis
In the wake of COVID-19, it is more important than ever that we enact President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. While our economy has been rattled by the pandemic, I believe the ‘Great American Comeback’ is just around the corner. To accomplish this, we must:
- Responsibly re-open our economy;
- Bring manufacturing and production of critical goods and services back to the United States from China, including critical medical supplies and rare earth minerals;
- Reduce overly burdensome regulations on business;
- And continue pro-growth tax policies that enable the private sector, and the jobs and revenues they provide, to thrive.
Building Wyoming’s Outdoor Economy
- Build back Wyoming’s outdoor economy by keeping national parks and forests open, ensuring people are free and safe to travel, and getting businesses the help they need to make it through these tough times.
- Grow existing outdoor businesses and attract new ones, including outdoor equipment manufacturers.
Education
Merav Ben-David
Article 7 (1) of the Wyoming constitution states that “The legislature shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction, embracing free elementary schools of every needed kind and grade, a university with such technical and professional departments as the public good may require.” Indeed, Wyoming has many excellent schools that have been nationally recognized. Continued support for Wyoming education should remain a priority, and recommendations by independent review panels to keep schools properly funded should be adopted by our legislature.
Wyoming’s dedication to education is reflected in the state’s community colleges and the University of Wyoming. Their relatively low tuition, combined with Governor Dave Freudenthal’s Hathaway Scholarship, enable the majority of Wyomingites to obtain a high-quality education without accruing crippling debt. In this, Wyoming should be seen as an example to the rest of the country: a state in which education is viewed as a worthwhile investment and where funding for scientific and other disciplines is a priority.
As your senator, I will support laws that reduce student loan burdens and bolster our higher education system, so as to deliver top-notch instruction in the sciences and the arts and to fuel scientific discovery.
Cynthia Lummis
N/A
Environment
Merav Ben-David
I am a wildlife ecologist who has studied the various effects of invasive species, logging, pollution, and climate change on animals from polar bears and mountain lions to river otters and chipmunks for over 30 years, and I have seen the effects of climate change with my own eyes. While studying pumas in California in the early 2000s, my colleagues and I detected a clear increase in greenhouse gases in those cats’ bones that were collected over a 150 year period. As the chief scientist on a US Coast Guard Icebreaker expedition in 2009, I witnessed vast stretches of the Arctic Ocean completely ice-free at a time of year it should have been frozen over. When I returned to Wyoming, our pine forests had been devastated by an unprecedented bark beetle outbreak.
My observations and data added to a vast body of existing research pointing to humans’ role in increasing greenhouse gases.
Interestingly, our collective efforts to stay at home during COVID19 only managed to reduce carbon emissions by a fraction. It is clear that as long as we continue releasing greenhouse gasses on an industrial scale, we will not be able to address this crisis. Solving it will require national programs and global coordination.
But regardless of opinions about the reality and urgency of climate change, the rest of the world’s transition to clean energy will leave Wyoming behind if we don’t act now. Countries from Peru to Tunisia and Scotland to South Africa are adopting new energy sources at an accelerating rate. Scotland, for example, is expected to reach 100 percent renewable electricity this year. And Sweden accomplished the same two years ahead of schedule.
The past few months have shown us how vulnerable Wyoming’s economy is to crashes in demand for fossil fuels. That is why I am committed to using my science background and knowledge to work with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to enhance renewable energy policy and boost our economy in ways that will secure the future of Wyoming, our nation and the globe. I will endorse legislation that will mitigate the rise in greenhouse gases like a “carbon fee and dividend”, and participate in crafting new ones that ensure we address the effects of climate change.
Forty-eight percent of Wyoming’s land (about 30 million acres) is managed by federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. An additional 4.2 million acres are state owned. Wyoming public lands are a significant source of income for the state: the tourism and recreation industry is our second largest source of revenue. In many cases, however, mineral leasing and other developments by private entities limit public access to these lands. The current administration is expediting the auction of public land leases to fossil fuel conglomerates, all the while limiting the opportunity for public input.
A coalition of 78 businesses, 41 non-profit organizations, and over two thousand Wyomingites signed the petition to keep public lands in public hands. Many more participate in our yearly gatherings to celebrate Wyoming Public Lands Day (which was declared a state holiday in 2019).
As your senator, I will work to protect our public lands from being sold and keep them in public hands. I will fight to protect public lands and ensure they provide Wyomingites with clean air and water, access to recreation, hunting and fishing, grazing, and other non-disruptive uses. I will demand that public lands be kept in public hands and managed based on best practices as established by scientific research and by engaging all stakeholders.
See post for more info.
Cynthia Lummis
- Maintain and improve public access to public lands for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, biking, ATVing and water sports.
- Sell or trade isolated federal inholdings surrounded by private land to acquire key proprieties for expanding access to large blocks of public land.
Put Wyoming in Charge of Wyoming’s Wildlife
- Defend the state’s management of wolves and work to permanently delist the fully recovered grizzly bear from the Endangered Species Act.
- Ensure management and culling efforts of Wyoming game animals on federal parks, refuges and monuments is conducted by Wyoming sportsmen and women.
Improving Fish and Wildlife Habitat
- Improve the productivity of Wyoming’s habitats and rangeland by establishing Wyoming universities, colleges and businesses as national leaders in developing solutions for managing cheatgrass and other invasive weed species.
- Make overpasses, underpasses and wildlife friendly fences a part of federal infrastructure bill to provide safe passage for wildlife and motorists.
- Support the proactive management of federal forests to enhance wildlife habitat, rangelands, Wyoming’s timber industry, and reduce fire danger.
- Protect Wyoming waters from aquatic invasive species (AIS) by encouraging continued monitoring and rapid response plans
Health Care
Merav Ben-David
In the 20 years I have lived in Wyoming, I have had at least six different general physicians. They were all excellent, but none of them stayed here very long, in large part because their spouses could not find jobs. Although Laramie is a University town of over 30,000 people, many Laramigos have to go to Cheyenne or even Ft. Collins, CO to receive specialized treatment. Rural Wyomingites have even less access to healthcare. If we want to retain our young people and attract new folks who are searching for a high quality of life, we must design a first-rate, accessible healthcare system, one that includes mobile services to reach our far-flung ranchers. To get there, Wyoming should join the rest of the country in expanding Medicaid. In 2019, nearly 54,000 Wyomingites were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children Health Insurance Program – a far cry from the 73,000 who would have been eligible under a Medicaid expansion. While some were able to get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, at least 6,000 Wyomingites were left without access to any health insurance. This number has likely risen due to the recent layoffs throughout the state.
Leaving people uninsured during the COVID19 pandemic, in which complications have left people with lasting heart and kidney damage, is unconscionable. Further, by refusing to expand Medicaid, Wyoming is expected to lose $1.3 billion over the next decade. This is money that can cover uncompensated medical costs for the state, and support our rural hospitals during this crisis. Previous attempts to pass the bill have failed because the state legislature was unwilling to provide the required state matching funds (10 percent of the total), against the will of a majority of Wyomingites.
The recent COVID19 pandemic and the resulting job losses have shown that linking healthcare insurance to a job is a bad idea. The United States must adopt Universal Healthcare: a system that ensures a basic level of care for all people, where health insurance is independent of employment.
As your senator, I will argue forcefully for Universal Health Care, and ensure that any health care plan will address Wyoming’s specific needs.
Cynthia Lummis
The high cost of health insurance continues to be a major concern of Wyoming citizens, and a significant challenge for small businesses. I support a number of measures that will help drive down costs while improving access to quality care and services. This includes:
- Expanding opportunities for cross-state pooling for small businesses, associations and their employees, members and families;
- Improving transparency in healthcare and prescription drug pricing;
- Repealing and replacing Obamacare;
- Fostering innovation and advancements in telehealth
Infrastructure
Merav Ben-David
N/A
Cynthia Lummis
Be it coal, oil, natural gas, uranium or renewables, Wyoming has it all. We are the energy state and during my eight years serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, I was proud to be a dedicated champion of Wyoming’s mineral and energy resources. Should I be elected to the U.S. Senate, among my top priorities are:
- Implementing recommendations of the President’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group and Senator John Barrasso’s American Nuclear Infrastructure Act to revitalize domestic uranium mining;
- Advancing the research and promotion of carbon capture technologies and coal-derived carbon products;
- Enabling the export of Powder River Basin coal through western ports;
- And ensuring fair, transparent and timely permitting processes within a regulatory framework that is responsive to industry.
As a lifelong rancher, I understand firsthand the impact volatility in our markets is having on Wyoming producers. COVID-19 has exposed the soft underbelly in our supply chain and we must take immediate steps to protect both producers and consumers. First, we have to make it so state-inspected plants can put meat in interstate commerce. Right now, meat must be processed at a USDA inspected plant in order to be able to sell across state lines. This is a ridiculous rule when state-inspected plants can do this safely and efficiently. Gigantic packers that have a concentration within the industry prevented us all from marketing our livestock when COVID-19 hit. As a result, we have a tremendous backlog of livestock on the hoof that we cannot get processed.
Another thing the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted is the importance of knowing where our food comes from. I’ve long supported Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and believe it is appropriate for all food. To help Wyoming producers thrive, we must also address aging rural infrastructure, which includes the expansion of broadband, and expand export opportunities around the globe.
Safety
Merav Ben-David
While the majority of suicides in Wyoming are caused by economic anxiety, the most common method used is firearms (64 percent). On two separate occasions when I helped friends who had suicidal thoughts, my first action was to help them secure their guns. There are some cases, however, where people may not recognize that they need help to prevent them from hurting themselves and others.
I’m a hunter and own two rifles and a shotgun, which I intend to keep. I have also used guns for bear safety in many of my research projects and was trained to shoot semi-automatic and automatic rifles during my military service; I know the level of training required to safely operate these weapons and am personally familiar with their devastating capacity to kill.
Our laws should support responsible gun ownership to reduce incidents of suicide and mass shootings. We require people to learn to safely handle guns as part of our hunter training programs; there is no reason we can’t do the same for gun ownership more generally.
As your senator, I will support research into the causes of gun violence in the US and participate in crafting legislation that will promote responsible gun ownership.
Cynthia Lummis
N/A
Veterans
Merav Ben-David
There are over 6,000 active duty and reserve military personnel in Wyoming, mostly serving in the Air Force and the National Guard. Together with the nearly 50,000 veterans, they constitute about 10 percent of Wyoming’s population. Many of them have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and returned home with lasting health problems. Quite a few of my students at the University of Wyoming were veterans, many of whom told me of their struggles with physical and emotional disabilities and of their deep frustration trying to navigate the bureaucracy of Veteran Affairs.
As someone who has lived through several wars and served in one, I understand the cost of war. Far beyond the price of tanks and bombs and the obvious devastating loss of lives, the injuries, grief, and economic hardships of the families of our men and women in uniform are not always entered into the equation when we send our troops to war. Indeed, many veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and face a higher likelihood of suicide. As lawmakers, we should consider the true cost of war before deciding to launch any hostile operations. And whenever possible, diplomacy should take precedence to war.
As your senator, I will work to curb the excessive spending on the military industrial complex, to end our protracted wars while maintaining our strategic alliances, and to bring our troops home. In addition, I will work to improve benefits for veterans and their families.
Cynthia Lummis
N/A
Foreign Policy
Merav Ben-David
We must take foreign policy seriously, even in normal times. And these are hardly normal times. We are faced with a global pandemic and economic recession, a climate that’s changing faster than anyone predicted, ongoing foreign attempts to interfere in our elections, Russian bounties on American soldiers, and the erosion of democratic norms nearly everywhere we look.
The climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic demonstrate the importance of international collaboration. But while China is doubling its spending on international diplomacy, the US is missing in action, and critical ambassadorships remain vacant. Retreating from the global stage has real-world consequences for Americans: not only is it hard for us to do business with other countries when no one trusts us, it literally costs American lives.
We must restore our moral leadership and recommit to our allies around the world. We can’t lead the free world if we abandon it.
As your Senator, I will build consensus around a diplomacy first approach, support the peaceful promotion of democracy around the world, work to re-engage with the allies we’ve abandoned, push the U.S. to rejoin international efforts such as the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, and take the real cost of war into consideration before voting to authorize any use of military force.
Cynthia Lummis
N/A
