JACKSON, Wyo. — A fourth Wyomingite has emerged as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that will be left open by Cynthia Lummis.
Fifth-generation Jackson rancher Sam Mead has announced his campaign and joins republican candidates Harriet Hageman and Jimmy Skovgard, and democrat candidate James Byrd. Mead is the son of Brad and Kate Mead, founders of Wyoming Whiskey, and great grandson of former U.S. Senator and Wyoming Governor Clifford Hansen. According to his campaign website, Mead formerly served as the mayor of Kirby, Wyoming.
“There comes a time for every person where they realize that if they do nothing to change the way things are, they are complicit in the status quo,” Mead’s website reads. “I can no longer sit on my hands and watch as our representatives seek to sell our public lands, spend our tax dollars carelessly, and divide the good people of Wyoming.”
Mead makes it clear on his website that protecting public lands from being sold is one of his priorities: “Our public lands belong to all Americans, Wyoming has been their steward for generations, and we take that seriously. They are not for sale.” He also lists spending, energy, jobs, agriculture, Second Amendment rights and affordability as the issues he will fight for.
Wyoming ranks highly in the nation for veterans per capita, and Mead does not believe the government should treat veterans’ benefits as a “line item to cut when the budget gets tight.” On rural health care in Wyoming, Mead says: “We need policies that keep rural hospitals open and make it possible for doctors and nurses to actually live and work in small Wyoming towns.”
