Senate District 20 Candidate Profiles: Tom Olmstead

Where do you currently live and how long have you lived in Senate District 20?

My wife of almost 20 years and our two boys live in Basin. In 2020-21, in light of the widespread unconstitutional COVID restrictions and vaccine mandates, our family was faced with the harsh reality of the loss of my 25-year aviation career or conceding my deepest principles of personal freedom. Blessed with the opportunity, my wife set out on a two-week road trip with our oldest son through three states, speaking with locals, visiting schools, and searching for like-minded conservative communities that still embrace liberty, personal responsibility, and a chance to raise our children with the freedoms that so many have sacrificed to protect. We found that in the Big Horn Basin.

Why are you running for Senate District 20?

I'm running for SD20 for several reasons, land rights, health freedom, school choice, property taxes, stopping this radical environmentalism and this relentless woke liberal agenda.

Wyoming conservatives deserve representation that reflects our true principles. I have seen firsthand, the results of "moderate Republicans" continuously compromising away our rights and our hard-earned money. To say that the pervasive liberal agenda is not a threat to Wyoming is at best naive and at worst, dangerous. I truly believe that Wyoming is this nation's best hope for preserving our traditional family values, liberty and our conservative ideals.

How would you like to address the rising property taxes in the state and what impact would that resolution have on residents, businesses, special tax districts and local and state government?

The State has a spending problem and that needs to be addressed foremost. With skyrocketing inflation Wyoming families have been forced to tighten our belts, and the state government should be no different. There are always areas of minimal impact where frivolous spending can be reduced. With constant increases in the state budget, Wyoming is mimicking our federal government, which is unsustainable and will never allow for tax reductions that are desperately needed. The state government's primary role is to uphold its citizens' God-given and constitutional rights, provide critical infrastructure and basic services.

Relieving Wyomingites of extreme taxes and excessive regulations is the only way to let a free-market flourish. With lower state spending, local governments would have the capacity to properly fund specific programs and services that reflect the needs of those communities, without an excessive burden to the taxpayer.

What areas should the state focus on to diversify its economy, so it is not so dependent on minerals?

Wyoming has substantial room for growth in the manufacturing industry, though we must take care not to stifle with excessive regulations and look to ensure these manufacturing businesses align with Wyoming's core values and do not impede on our traditional industries.

Tourism is also a great area to focus on, though it's imperative to get a consensus from the communities in question. People don't want to change the whole dynamic of a community; they are just looking for smart growth and reasonable employment opportunities.

Though a diversified economy is wise, we should not be giving up on Wyoming's legacy industries and taking federal dollars to push this carbon capture hoax certainly is not the answer. More needs to be done on the state level to push back against these federal bureaucracies that are deliberately trying to destroy our energy and agriculture industries. It's not that the world suddenly decided they don't want our coal and our beef, it's that the regulations and "global" policies are intentionally trying to crush Wyoming's Industries. We need to change the narrative entirely and go on the offensive.

What is one other issue that you feel needs to be addressed by the State Legislature and how would you address it?

There are a lot more than one, preventing state dollars from supporting this diversity/equity/inclusion agenda, defining gender at birth and working to abolish all gun free zones, though I think a key one is medical freedom.

There is nothing stopping our governments from trying the exact same thing they did during COVID and if you do not have the right to choose what goes in your body, you have no rights at all.