The two Republicans vying to become the Powell area’s next state representative shared their views at a forum last week, with veteran and current Navy cybersecurity contractor Matt Legler emphasizing Constitutional principles and Powell Mayor John Wetzel stressing local control.

In his opening statement at the Park County Republican Women-hosted event, Legler said he supports the country’s founding principles, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“There’s a lot of other things that I could say, … but I think when you look at those principles, a lot of other things flow from there,” he said, “like the right for parents to choose what’s best for their kids, the right to life for all — and certainly, as a Christian, I have some pretty strongly held views in that regard.”

In his June 17 intro at The Commons, Wetzel noted his two decades of city government experience and shared some top priorities. That included a pledge to “fight to keep Wyoming public lands in Wyoming’s hands, managed for multiple use, not locked away by federal overreach, or worse, sold away.” He said those lands are key to Park County’s economy.

Wetzel also said he would “resist unfunded mandates and one-size-fits-all state directives that override the judgment of our local communities.”

He criticized the Legislature’s recent recalibration process for K-12 school funding, saying new restrictions tie the hands of school leaders. 

“I believe local school boards and administrators should have the flexibility to direct resources where their students actually need them,” Wetzel said, “and not be constrained by categorical buckets that don’t reflect the reality of our classrooms and activities.”

He praised the state’s K-12 education system, community colleges and the University of Wyoming. While balancing funding between the three entities is a challenge, Wetzel mentioned that the state’s community colleges “definitely could use a little bit of a boost.”

He called education “the most important part of what we do,” because “kids are the most important thing.” He added that items like education and roads need to be funded and the economy needs to be taken care of.

“... there is enough money to go around in Wyoming, so I am not one of those people that will say no to everything,” he said, though he added that state spending needs to be lean and effective.

Legler also had high praise for education in Wyoming. Thanks in part to his time in the military, “I’ve seen a lot of different school systems,” Legler said, and “our school systems are amazing.”

He said schools on the East Coast “are more indoctrination than education.”

“I hate to see some of those things creeping in here, so I definitely want to fight against some of that,” he said.

Legler also said he’d like to see more career and technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) inside schools, while wanting to get the federal government and, to some degree, the state government out.

“I think we’ve got too much regulation going on in our schools,” he said, “and so when you talk about budgets, like the biggest thing that costs money that doesn’t provide value is bureaucracy, and rules and regulations, and all of those things.”

Earlier in the forum, Legler said he thinks the state is doing “a pretty good job” with its budget, but it may need “a little bit of a scalpel, just minor adjustment” in places.

As one example of a potential change, he takes issue with some UW scholarships that require students to attend the university for all four years; Legler believes students should have the option of spending two years at a Wyoming community college and then receive the scholarship for their final two years at the university.

Both Wetzel and Legler are among roughly three dozen Wyoming candidates who’ve signed “The Peacemaker Pledge,” put together by a group of Christian leaders around the state. Signers commit to “bringing the peace of Christ back into the public square — to show a divided world what it truly looks like to follow Him, not as a culture warrior but as a Kingdom person.”

The 235-word document includes a commitment to “stand faithfully upon my convictions without giving into cruelty” and to love one’s enemies alongside friends.

Legler and Wetzel are each seeking to replace Rep. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, in House District 25, as Hoeft is running for the state Senate. The district includes the city of Powell and the surrounding rural areas.