Third Party candidate Joel Otto will square off with Albany County Commissioner Tim Chesnut and Sen. John Barrasso in the race for Wyoming Senate.
Otto is a member of the board of directors for the Wyoming Liberty Group and has previously been involved with the Republican and Libertarian parties, according to www.ottoforsenate.org. He is now running for Senator as a member of the Wyoming Country Party.
The Wyoming Country Party advocates for “reducing government expenditures, taxes, regulations, and reducing the control that the federal government has over Wyoming and its citizens,” according to www.wycountryparty.org.
“I chose to run because I feel like we’re not hearing certain types of solutions, especially with healthcare. Republicans think it should be handled the Republican way and the Democrats think it should be handled the Democrat way,” Otto said. “I think healthcare should be between patients and doctors with little government interference.”
Otto is also concerned with education in Wyoming, based on what he has heard from teachers throughout the state.
“A lot of what I’m hearing from teachers is ‘just let us teach.’ Every child is different and I would just like to see a lot less oversight,” Otto said.
The connection between environmental damage and extracting natural resources is also an issue for Otto, but he believes there is a way to protect the environment while still using natural resources.
“There are environmentally-conscience people in Wyoming who are concerned about extracting natural resources,” Otto said. “I think we can work it out between the people who are extracting these materials and those who want environmental protection, but I think it needs to be done at more of a local level.”
Like many candidates, the national debt is also a concern for Otto.
“I got into this somewhat because of a concern for federal spending. What I see happening is default, and again I think we need local solutions. I think there is too much regulation and too much spending. I don’t see a way to tax our way out of this,” Otto said. “We have to cut spending.”
Even though Otto is running as a Wyoming Country Party candidate, he does not feel as though the views of each party differ that drastically from one another.
“As a Third Party candidate, I don’t see that their policies are that different from my own,” Otto said. “It seems like most people think problems have to be solved either the Republican or Democrat way, when really the government just needs to get out of the state and local levels.”
*Photo: Wyoming Country Party Candidate Joel Otto is running for Senate against Sen. John Barrasso and Albany County Commissioner Tim Chesnut.
