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.
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...
This is the kind of work I’ve spent a lot of years doing - sitting down with communities, working through big decisions, and making sure people have a real voice in the outcome.
In this case, it was conversations around bringing natural gas service into the Tongue River Valley. Not a simple issue, and not one where everyone starts in the same place.
That’s usually how it goes. Different perspectives. Real tradeoffs. A lot of questions.
What matters is how those conversations are handled - whether people are heard, whether the information is clear, and whether the process is something they can trust.
People don’t expect perfection. They expect honesty, follow-through, and to be heard.
That’s the standard I’ve tried to hold in my work - and that’s the standard I will bring with me to Cheyenne.
#butcherforwyomingsenate
Fantastic news for Wyoming! Thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen! City of Cheyenne, Wyoming - Government Cheyenne LEADS
Out here, we don’t always have the luxury of quick response times or big-city resources. We cover a lot of ground with not that many people — and that changes what it takes to keep communities safe.
What we do have are people who show up anyway.
Rural fire districts are built on neighbors stepping forward — often as volunteers — to protect lives, homes, and entire communities.
This is one place where government has a clear job: make sure the basics are there so those who serve can do it safely and effectively.
Supporting our rural fire districts isn’t about expanding government. It’s about doing the essential things well.
Strong communities don’t happen by accident — they happen when we take responsibility for the things that matter. Thank you, Tongue River Fire District, for taking such great care of our community.
Letter To The Editor: Above And Beyond On Little Horn Road
cowboystatedaily.com
Dear editor: On the night of April 11, a young woman’s life was saved on Little Horn Road in Big Horn County, Montana — and the volunteers of the Tongue…