State Rep. David Northrup (R-Powell) and his Republican primary challenger, Paul Hoeft, didn’t explicitly lay out all their differences at a debate last week, but they certainly hinted at some of them.

Hoeft described himself as an “average, everyday citizen” and “dyed-in-the-wool conservative” who’s been bothered by what he’s seen from the state government.

The longtime auto service technician and Powell resident called for tax reform “for everyone,” improvements to Wyoming’s schools, improved secured and increased parental rights.

“Wyoming is considered to be the most conservative in the nation. However, the established in Cheyenne is little concerned with the hard-working folks like you and me,” Hoeft said. “It’s time for Wyoming to return to its conservative roots.”

Northrup, meanwhile, emphasized his deep Wyoming roots and his two-and-a-half decades of public service — including on irrigation, electric and school boards and a decade in the state House of Representatives.

The fourth-generation Wyoming farmer also burnished his voting record.

“While in the Wyoming Legislature, I have voted against raising taxes, voted for capping property taxes, and I have two bill draft requests on the Revenue Committee … to further lower property taxes,” Northrup said, referring to a pair of proposals he made to eliminate taxes on certain personal property.

He also referenced votes to prohibit “boys in girls’ sports” and to back parental rights, alongside support for more career and technical education at the college level.

Property taxes

At the Aug. 5 event hosted by the Park County Republican Party at the Cody Library, both candidates agreed property taxes are the top issue facing the state.

Hoeft said he’s heard senior citizens, parents and young people all express the same thing about rising taxes: fear. He said there’s no excuse for the “disturbing” tax increases that residents have experienced since 2020. Hoeft suggested government entities should have collected less money and that the state should roll property values back to 2019 levels.

“I am really tired of being misrepresented,” Hoeft told the packed audience, “and every time I turn around, it costs me more. And I don’t magically come up with extra money every day of the week — and I know you don’t, either.”

Northrup concurred that “we need to make sure that our property taxes go down,” saying he’s drafting two bills that would lower them further. But he also expressed a need for caution given the potential ramifications of cutting property taxes.

“If we’re going to reduce [taxes], understand we’re going to reduce services to you and I — and we have to reduce,” Northrup said. “We’re all going to have to figure out how we’re going to keep our hospitals working; we have to figure out how to keep the fire department running.”

Hoeft responded that Northrup’s concerns were “interesting, because before our property taxes went up, we had all those things.”

Through scrutiny and audits, Hoeft said the state can find unused money, implement “some real good fiscal responsibility” and reduce taxes.

Education

On the topic of education, both candidates spoke highly of Powell’s public schools, but in different ways.

Hoeft said the state needs to “get more bang for our buck” out of its public education system.

“We’ve got great schools. I think Powell’s got some of the best school teachers around,” he said, “but I think we need to ratchet it up one more level.”

Hoeft specifically said he sees some holes related to career and technical training. While working as an auto technician, he said he found high school graduates woefully lacking in the trades.

“We have to take a different approach in how we’re teaching our kids,” he said. “We need to give them avenues for their future.”

Northrup noted his own support of career and technical education, including, he said, pushing for a CDL program at NWC. Additionally, he said the University of Wyoming is currently working to bolster its CTE offerings.

Wyoming spends more per student than surrounding states and Northrup said its higher salaries allows school districts to hire teachers away from Montana, Utah, South Dakota and North Dakota.

The former Park County School District 1 board member also said the Powell-based district is likely the state’s best, telling the audience in Cody that, “We have great education in Powell.”

However, Northrup also said that within Wyoming’s education system, “we need to figure out how to get those notches knocked down to where we’re not spending so much money.”

He mentioned that consolidating school districts and having just one superintendent per county would save about $7 million, but “that’s a big political fight.”

In apparent response to Hoeft’s comments, Northrup said many school districts abandoned their auto programs because they were so expensive to run.

“Yes, they’re expensive, yes, we have to hire some more teachers, but isn’t that what we want to do?” Hoeft countered, saying districts could find donors. “We want to create paths for the future of our kids, and that’s how we get it done.”

Both candidates also expressed support for school choice, including tax credits that follow the student.

The two Republicans are vying to represent Powell and the surrounding rural areas in House District 25. They’re facing off in the Aug. 20 primary election.