JACKSON, Wyo. — Born and raised on a ranch in the Tetons, Sam Mead sees the people of Wyoming as a practical and pragmatic bunch — the kind of people who create unconventional solutions, but don’t turn down assistance when offered.
A father and fifth-generation rancher, Mead is challenging establishment GOP politician Harriet Hageman for Wyoming’s lone seat in the U.S. Senate. Mead will join Hageman, Jimmy Skovgard, John Holtz, and Jill Edwards on the Republican primary ballot, while another legacy state politician James Byrd runs as a Democrat against Billy Benavidez. Mead met with Buckrail to detail his Equality State perspective, sense of duty to his home state, and love for public lands.
“Growing up here, it’s made me really self-reliant, and there’s no problem I look at, like, ‘This is intractable,'” Mead told Buckrail. “Down to my core, I just love it. I think it’s the wide open spaces. I don’t think there’s any other place, even in this country, where it just feels like you can do anything.”
Mead is the son of Brad and Kate Mead, co-founders of Wyoming Whiskey distillery in Kirby. He ran the distillery there and served as mayor for the town of about 75 residents. Mead’s great-grandfather Cliff Hansen served as Wyoming governor in the 1960s then as a U.S. senator until 1978, and his uncle Matt Mead led the state as governor from 2011 to 2019.
In Sam Mead’s words, there was no family expectation that he would run for political office. Instead, he feels a sense of duty to the state for what it has given him and his family. He also thinks of the Wyoming his children will grow up in, and how he can meaningfully contribute to that future.
“At some point, when you have the capacity to do so, you should stand up and make a difference,” Mead said. “Because I don’t want my kids asking me someday why things are the way they are — if I didn’t do anything about it. I think we should lead by example, and I want my kids to know that they can fix things; they have agency.”
Mead thinks that “we all felt a little bit helpless” when public lands across the West were slated for the chopping block. To him, the state’s representatives in Washington, D.C., weren’t listening and didn’t care what constituents had to say. On public lands and many other issues, Mead wants elected politicians who will listen to the state and take responsibility for their own political tasks. “I don’t see that,” he said. “I didn’t see anyone else doing it. So here we are.” He believes the state needs someone who will stand up and work to find solutions that serve the rural state’s residents.
He believes the Affordable Care Act was well-intentioned, but that it isn’t the right fit for Wyoming. People in the state are facing health care costs that rival a mortgage, he said, and out-of-the-box solutions are key in a rural state like this. He hopes to see a more flexible approach to the health care industry, from insurance companies to professional EMT responses.
When it comes to the topics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the conflict in Iran, Mead tries to view things logically. He’s grateful that immigration is being addressed and believes that the U.S. needs a way of vetting people coming into the country. However, he thinks the money currently being spent on ICE and enforcement could be better spent on immigration lawyers and judges at the border. If cases could be processed faster, then people would be disincentivized from arriving illegally. He also acknowledged that he didn’t like the implications for due process and the Fourth Amendment that were making waves earlier in the year.
“I don’t think there’s this world where treating people with respect and like they’re actual people clashes with enforcement and having an immigration policy that actually works,” Mead said.
Mead questions how the Iran conflict serves the people of Wyoming. He stated that American oil reserves are running low, and he finds it difficult to remain optimistic. He is worried about the cost of fertilizer and its impact on the state’s agriculture industry.
“Regardless of how you feel about if Iran was close to obtaining nuclear weapons, or enriching the uranium or not,” Mead said, “the story we get from the [Trump] administration is not consistent. And there’s not enough transparency there to even assess whether or not what we’re doing there makes any sense. And I think that’s a failure. And I think it’s a failing in Congress not to be able to take responsibility for that. Go for the war powers, and rein things in, and at least get some clarity.”
In Mead’s opinion, the federal government’s role is to set a baseline for state performance so that states don’t “race to the bottom.” Environmental regulations and labor laws, for example, should start at the federal level so that states can build upon them and compete in ways that lift up entire populations. Wyoming’s public education system and public university help to create an “incredible asset” in the youth of the state, Mead said. He understands why young adults leave Wyoming, but he thinks a better job can be done to create an environment that is easy for people to return to and raise a family.
“At the end of the day, I want to solve our problems and take care of people in this state,” Mead said. “And I’m uninterested in towing any sort of political line, if it means that it’s not going to benefit people in the state.”
