Meet Your Candidates: Secretary of State

CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - We reached out via email and phone to all candidates filing for the Secretary of State race in Wyoming. Below are the candidates running who responded to our request. The information below is written by the candidates and unedited by Wyoming News Now.

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY CANDIDATES

NAME: MARK ARMSTRONG

AGE: 65

OCCUPATION: Petroleum Engineer / Geologist / Geotechnical Engineer

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Current State Committeeman for Albany County who is working hard to make sure people have good choices in representation for Albany County. Former City Councilman where I held government workers accountable and advocated for projects that did not meet current zoning requirements responsible.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN WYOMING? Born in Laramie Wyoming to a third generation, making me a fourth-generation Cowboy. Coach Corbett is my great grandfather. I have worked on projects overseas, and major projects in Wyoming and other states.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING? The people deserve better representation.

WHAT IS WYOMING’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW? The federal government impact on production of Natural Resources. Liberal left activists using NEPA and the Courts to undermine the Commerce Clause, Private Property Rights, and individual freedom.

NAME: CHUCK GRAY

AGE: 32

OCCUPATION: Radio broadcaster

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: State Legislator for House District 57 since 2017

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING? I’m Chuck Gray.  I’m a small business person and have represented portions of Casper in the state legislature for six years.   The Secretary of state oversees elections and that is a large part of why I’m running.  During my service in the State Legislature over the past six years, I’m the only SOS candidate with a proven conservative record and a proven record regarding election integrity. I was the lead sponsor of the voter ID bill, which passed in the 2021 session. My work as a public servant has always been dedicated to giving power and accountability back to the people from which it’s being taken away by big-government policies, self-serving politicians, and bureaucratic overreach. I’ve led on fighting out of control property tax increases. With me what you see is what you get.

There are many common sense reforms we must make to our election processes.  We must ban ballot drop boxes. These ballot dropboxes are unattended and open up our elections to ballot harvesting fraud.  We must also move to an election with entirely paper ballots with no exceptions. There also needs to be an audit of each election. The State needs to fight to protect the voter ID law I led on. And we must ban crossover voting.  And also have runoffs.  The recently announced policy of hiding certain voter registration and turnout data from the public is a horrible idea and a recipe for disaster.  We need more transparency, not less.  The Secretary of State also serves as the Lieutenant Governor, so we need one who has a proven conservative track record.  Wyovote.com, the American Conservative Union, and Wyoming Right to Life have all recognized my conservative track record.  Please contact me any time at 251-1372 and I ask for your support.

WHAT IS WYOMING’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW? The biggest challenge right now is inflation and the attacks on our way of life by Biden.  The attack on coal, oil, gas, agriculture, and other key industries is very real and we must stop their efforts.  I have a track record of doing that by successfully passing the coal export bill in the 2019 General Session.  We must stop inflation by stopping the out of control spending.  I led on this issue at the state level as a state legislator as a consistent fiscal conservative, and we also need that leadership at the federal level.

NAME: TARA NETHERCOTT

AGE: 40

OCCUPATION: Attorney

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: State Senator, 6 years

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN WYOMING? 40 Years

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING? I was born here, raised here, and chose to build my life in Wyoming. I care deeply about this state and am running to build a stronger Wyoming. My experience as a small business owner and practicing attorney in corporate formations combined with my passion for election integrity and consumer/investor protections make me uniquely qualified. As a state senator, I have chosen to serve on the corporations and elections committee, the home committee to the secretary of state’s office. For the last 6 years, I have worked and advanced every election and corporation related law that has been enacted for this time. I served on the Secretary of State’s task force to replace aging voting equipment, ensuring that Wyoming’s voting equipment is secure so you can trust in the confidence of you vote. I am formally educated in securities regulation and have represented victims of financial crimes. I serve on the capital finance and investments committee, the committee that oversees the state’s $25 billion investments, the SOS also serves on the State Investments Board, making key financial decisions.

WHAT IS WYOMING’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW? The main issue facing the state right now is increasing inflation and a challenged economy. Wyoming’s hard-earned dollars are not keeping pace with the costs of daily life. Our Wyoming families are struggling, and I am committed to solving these concerns as your next Secretary of State. My role as a member of the State Land and Investment Board can help by getting those state dollars out of Cheyenne and into rural Wyoming to help alleviate these financial stressors. Ensuring that the corporation registrations are increasing and raising revenue for the state is also vitally important as that means less taxes for Wyoming families.

Equally important is voter confidence in our election process. Our system of government and very liberty depend on free and fair elections. I will fight to protect your vote and election integrity. I will continue to provide education and outreach about Wyoming’s election process and invite those to volunteer and participate with their local county clerks as poll workers and election judges. As a sponsor of voter id legislation, I know how important this issue is to Wyoming voters.

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