Campaign Trail Updates
A Conversation About the Work Ahead
Today I had the chance to sit down with Jake on the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show for a short conversation about this campaign and what I’m hearing across the [...]
Melissa Butcher Announces Run for Wyoming Senate District 21
Melissa Butcher, a Sheridan County business owner, announced today she will run as a Republican for the Wyoming Senate in District 21, bringing her experience in business leadership, collaborative problem-solving, [...]
Butcher for Wyoming Senate District 21
Sheridan County business owner, community facilitator, and candidate for Wyoming Senate District 21. Focused on trust, opportunity, and Wyoming’s future.
Spent yesterday afternoon volunteering at Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Bighorns with some incredible supporters and friends, insulating new homes being built in Ranchester.
Years of remodeling our own homes and businesses still come in handy! I love the satisfaction of seeing a building take shape, especially knowing our work yesterday will result in a family being able to own their own home.
Strong communities don’t happen by accident. They’re built by people who show up, work hard, and help their neighbors.
That spirit is still alive in Wyoming — and it’s one of the reasons I believe this state is still worth building.
Last night, I spent a couple of hours around a table with about twenty neighbors talking about something that’s been weighing on a lot of us lately:
How much harder it has become for working people and young families in Wyoming to build real stability for the future.
Not luxury or excess - just the ability to work hard, own a home or property someday, raise kids here, save a little money, and believe the next generation will still have the opportunity to make a life here too.
It was a thoughtful and honest conversation. People came from different perspectives, but there was a surprising amount of agreement about the pressures families are feeling and the importance of protecting and strengthening opportunity and stability here for the long haul.
Those conversations are a big part of why I decided to run.
I believe good stewardship means thinking beyond the next election cycle and making sure Wyoming remains a place where hard work matters, people can put down roots, and future generations still have a reason to stay. I also believe government has a responsibility to support the long-term conditions that keep Wyoming communities strong.
Campaigns like this are built neighbor by neighbor and conversation by conversation. Your contributions help me continue getting the word out, traveling the district, meeting with residents, hosting community discussions, and staying connected with communities across western Sheridan County.
If you believe in this kind of leadership and would like to support this effort, I’d be grateful for your help.
butcherforwyomingsenate.com/donate/
I came across these photos recently from some of the road construction projects my dad worked on when I was a kid.
I spent a lot of summers traveling Wyoming with my family while Dad helped build the highways that connect our communities. I loved being on the road with him, and he made sure we kids understood how important that work was to the growth and prosperity of our state.
On road trips together later in his life, he would fill the time with stories of the roads he helped build. I can still hear him as I travel between communities, remembering the projects and the work that went into them.
The work that goes into building something that lasts.
The coordination, the effort, the pride in doing a job well.
The understanding that what you do today affects people for years to come.
We’ve inherited something built with care, effort, and long-term thinking. It’s our responsibility to carry that forward - to continue to invest wisely in the systems, communities, and people that keep Wyoming strong.
That’s the kind of real-world, Wyoming-based perspective I bring to this campaign - and to the work ahead.
For more than 30 years, I’ve lived and worked in northern Wyoming, taking part in a wide range of projects that shape our communities.
- Helping guide public outreach for major infrastructure efforts.
- Working with communities on long-term planning and economic development.
- Building businesses, creating jobs, and knowing what it means to sign the front of a paycheck.
Different challenges, different responsibilities, but all grounded in the same thing: working with people to solve real problems.
That’s the kind of real-world, Wyoming-based experience I bring to this campaign—and to the work ahead.
Your vote, or lack thereof, shapes your future and that of your family, friends, and neighbors.
Are you ready for August 18?
Whether you’ve voted for years or you’re just getting started, understanding how the process works is critical. Voting is a cornerstone of how we participate in our communities and help shape the direction of our state.
If you’ve never voted before, want to better understand recent changes to Wyoming election laws, or simply want to celebrate one of the foundational principles of our democracy, join us at Whitney Commons tomorrow.
Come learn, connect, and show up for Wyoming.
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In Wyoming, when something needs to be built or rebuilt, we don’t walk away from it. We figure out what comes next.
In Kemmerer, they’re building one of the first next-generation nuclear plants in the country, right next to a coal plant that has helped power Wyoming and the surrounding region for decades. For that community, this isn’t about politics. It’s about what comes next, and whether they can keep jobs and stability.
For more than a decade, I led public outreach for a uranium mine in Crook County. My role wasn’t to be the engineer. It was to understand the project, translate it clearly, and sit down with landowners, local leaders, and neighbors to talk through what it would actually mean for them. Those conversations included both the opportunities and the concerns, and they weren’t always easy.
What I learned is that projects like this only move forward when people trust the process and feel like they’re being heard. That takes industry that’s willing to listen, and government that does its job - clearing the path where it should, protecting what needs to be protected, and then getting out of the way.
Kemmerer is working through a real challenge and forging a path forward. This project builds on an existing energy site, keeps people working, and helps secure the town’s role in Wyoming’s energy future.
We have communities here in Sheridan County facing similar pressures. The details may look different, but the challenge is the same - how we keep people working, keep our economy strong, and keep moving forward instead of losing ground.
Energy has long been the engine of Wyoming’s economy. When those decisions come to Cheyenne, you deserve someone who does the work to understand both the project and the people it affects, asks the right questions, and gets it right.
If you’re interested, the attached article gives a good overview of what’s happening on the ground in Kemmerer.
#butcherforwyoming #WyomingEnergy
Wyoming celebrates 'nuclear renaissance' as feds approve license for a new reactor
www.npr.org
Construction of an advanced nuclear power plant partly funded by the U.S. government is now underway in Wyoming. The Bill Gates-backed company says its technology is proven but there are still hurdles...