At a debate in Cody last week, state Senate candidate Paul Hoeft spoke about a gang of desperados who roamed the Big Horn Basin over a century ago.

The so-called Wood River horse thieves would, among other things, steal cattle and then use a running iron to alter the animals’ brands and hide their crimes.

“So it is today with a rebranding of the term ‘conservative,’” Hoeft told the audience at the Park County Library. But the current state representative from Powell assured the group that he is “a proven conservative Republican who won’t put a running iron to the conservative brand.”

Hoeft didn’t elaborate on his analogy, but he’s facing off in the Senate District 19 Republican primary with former state Sen. R. J. Kost of Powell, who has come under fire from local GOP leaders.

The Park County Republican Party’s central committee voted overwhelmingly in May to express “no confidence” in Kost’s campaign over an ad that they saw as encouraging Democrats to participate in the Republican primary. For his part, Kost has said the ad was simply offering information to voters and he’s noted that there are many unaffiliated voters in the district.

Kost did not attend the party-hosted debate last week, citing a prior engagement, but did send along a lengthy statement about his background and campaign. In it, he described himself as a proven leader and a strong believer in local control and limited government.

“I am a conservative, but today there are many definitions of the word,” Kost wrote. “We can view conservatism in different ways, and we should respect each other’s position.”

He declined to fill out a party questionnaire about his alignment with the Wyoming Republican Party platform, saying he doesn’t sign anything “that will or can be problematic in the future.” Kost explained that he decides how to vote after evaluating each bill, looking at its consequences and getting input from constituents.

“… I am running to represent everyone, not just some,” he added in his statement. “I want to bring integrity, honesty and character to the Legislature and to me that’s important.”

He also said he wants and needs good communication with the people he represents.

“I don’t want to convince folks to change their way of thinking,” Kost wrote. “I want to get to know how they think so I can see both sides of an issue, so we can look for solutions that will benefit us all. Sometimes that means compromise.”

Discussing education

Kost was a longtime educator and then administrator in the Powell school district, and public education wound up being a primary topic in the one-sided June 8 debate.

Hoeft told the audience that he supports the Legislature’s recent reformulation of K-12 school funding, known as recalibration. Lawmakers have taken criticism from some school districts for new restrictions on certain pots of funding. However, Hoeft defended the so-called “siloing” of funds, indicating the move was necessary.

In the 2025 session, the Legislature set aside funding for an 8.5% raise for teachers, Hoeft said, but in Park County School District 1, “they only got 2.1[%] and our superintendent ended up with 4.3[%].

“I had a struggle with that,” he said.

Hoeft said lawmakers also left enough flexibility for schools to shuffle money around the classroom, including to substitute teachers.

Districts across the state are facing a multi-million-dollar drop in funding for student activities, and Hoeft said lawmakers will come up with a solution. However, he said the bulk of the shortfall is being driven by dropping student enrollment.

“Whether we like it or not, folks, recalibration is coming,” he added later. “With less students, we have less needs. We have to get real about where we’re spending our money on education.”

He said Wyoming has great facilities, which can help provide a good education, but “unless we start making more babies, we don’t need all these schools.”

Hoeft also said the state needs to put more of a focus on teaching skills and on career technical education (CTE), “because that’s where the jobs are.”

“When we talk about our kids leaving the state, that’s part of the reason,’ he said, “because what we’re teaching them doesn’t provide for those CTE positions.”

Candidate priorities

Hoeft told the audience that he ran for the House two years with an aim of “right-sizing” the state government. If elected to the Senate this year, the  Wyoming Freedom Caucus member said he wants to push for audits of every state agency and continue efforts related to tax reform and school choice, protecting human life, children and women’s spaces and to strengthen Second Amendment protections, election integrity and “immigration accountability.”

“... these are the concerns brought to me by concerned Wyoming citizens in my district,” he said.

Kost didn’t describe specific policy priorities in his statement, but mentioned general goals, like “working to help others help themselves” and collaborating with others to help them understand the problems facing rural Wyoming and the Big Horn Basin.

“Wanting a strong financial government, I also recognize that spending some money helps our state grow and become stronger,” Kost added. “Using all our resources and their options can help move us forward for the betterment of Wyoming.”

Kost and Hoeft will face off at a 6 p.m. Wednesday candidate forum at The Commons in Powell and ultimately in the Aug. 18 Republican primary election. Senate District 19 covers not only the Powell area, but also the northern portion of Big Horn County.