WYOMING — The fifth Republican candidate running for Wyoming’s open U.S. Senate seat is Jill Edwards, a Laramie massage therapist.
On May 28, Edwards announced her candidacy in a video on her campaign’s Facebook page. In her announcement video, she says that “working families deserve representation from someone who actually understands struggle, who actually understands sacrifice and who actually understands community.”
On her social media platforms, Edwards is vocal about her nonestablishment background, saying that she is a widowed mother of two teenagers and works three jobs. She is campaigning on platforms that include term limits, government accountability, rural health care, mental health access and protecting Wyoming values. In a social media video, she defines those values as hard work, care for neighbors, a sense of independence alongside community, the ability to be tough but not cruel, and to be strong without losing humanity. In a Facebook post, she states that she is self-funding her campaign instead of raising contributions.
“When I speak about the issues facing Wyoming, you can be confident I’m speaking because I believe in them, not because someone wrote a check or expects something in return,” Edwards wrote on Facebook.
Term limits and government accountability are important to Edwards, who believes that government officials should not be permitted to buy and sell individual stocks while serving in office. She said that if elected officials allow the federal government to shut down, then they should not receive a paycheck until the government is reopened. “When the government shuts down, real people feel it,” she said in a video.
She supports policies that “reflect real life,” according to her campaign website, including affordable health care and child care, strengthening local schools and supporting teachers, and maintaining local opportunities so residents can remain in the state. Edwards is in favor of talking honestly about what it means to bring big data centers and technology to Wyoming. In a video, she states that there is already talk of water conservation in Laramie and Cheyenne, two locations where data centers are being introduced. She notes that while she is not against technology, she is for Wyoming first.
Edwards also prioritizes public lands protection, saying that public lands should remain public and accessible for hunting, fishing, recreating. She supports responsible energy and resource development with input from local voices on land management decisions. In response to the recent decision by the Trump Administration to cut the size of two national monuments in Utah, Edwards said the following in a Facebook video:
“It kinda sounds like a land grab to me. People in Wyoming should be nervous. They should look at this and really think about who they are voting for. … Are they going to make sure our public lands stay public? Whoever gets into the governor’s office could do the same thing that the governor of Utah is doing, and are you comfortable with that?”
Edwards will face off against Republicans Harriet Hageman, Sam Mead, John Holtz and Jimmy Skovgard in the primary on Aug. 18. On the Democratic ticket, James Byrd is running against Billy Benavidez.
