KEMMERER — Reid Rasner brought his “We The People” campaign to a townhall meeting at the Kemmerer Senior Center on Oct. 20. Rasner aims to unseat Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who has served in that position since 2007.

Rasner introduced himself as a fourth-generation Wyomingite who grew up in Casper, saying, “I am looking forward to meeting people of Wyoming and listening to the challenges we are all facing together.”

The meeting began with a brief background about his education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature with minors in history and theater from the University of Wyoming. Rasner is currently the founder and CEO of Omnivest Financial.

With a loose outline for a speech, he opened with topics he wants to focus on if elected. His priorities include enforcing term limits in Congress, balancing the budget and gaining energy independence. Other topics included completing the construction of the border wall and streamlining burdensome regulations across various sectors.

Rasner admitted that initially he did not want to run for political office but saw a need for change and felt compelled to serve. Then on week nine of his campaign, he said, “It has been a real eye opener. I have met some great people across the state.”

He said one of his main reasons for running is his desire to enforce term limits on congress.

“Term limits are critical to fix Washington, D.C.,” he said. “We need to break the chains of complacency and restore accountability to our government.”

He proposes three terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate and said this will create fresh ideas coming from Congress and eliminate problems in government.

Moving on to fiscal matters, Rasner said as a financial advisor, he is a staunch advocate for balancing the budget.

“Over the past four decades, Congress has held a blank check and squandered American taxpayer funds on foreign ventures and interests,” he said. “It’s high time we prioritize America’s interests and start caring for our nation and its citizens first.”

He said there needs to be debate on the house floor about the budget.

“We need to get back to civil debate,” Rasner said. “Balancing the budget isn’t just a financial goal; it’s a moral imperative. It’s about ensuring that we leave a legacy of financial responsibility and a brighter future for generations to come.”

According to Rasner, balancing the budget is a common goal in Congress, but no one seems to know how to accomplish it. He believes the answer is energy independence and exportation.

“Wyoming is a huge player in energy production,” he said. “It is one of the state’s biggest economic industries. We produce 13 times more than we consume and yet we still import coal.”

Rasner said the nuclear plant coming to Kemmerer is exciting and a great supplement to the current energy industry in the state, but said he is concerned about nuclear waste. An even larger concern of his, though, is the potential threat to the oil and coal industry. He said he has over 300 clients that work in the coal and oil industry and it touches a nerve with him that they are concerned about their job security.

Rasner said he feels another step in reducing the budget is limiting the size of government.

“The best government is a small government,” he said. “We need to look at the agencies and start cutting unnecessary ones. This is the way forward as there are currently over 400 agencies legislating from their offices.”

Rasner believes an example of government overreach that is close to home for Wyoming citizens is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. These are small electronic devices attached to the ear or neck of cattle, which enable farmers and ranchers to accurately track their animals’ movements and health records.

Rasner said the requirement for RFID is not a legislative initiative but from an agency and if passed will require ranchers to spend millions of dollars for these tags.

“Our ranchers already have a system that is economical and works,” he said. “The federal government does not need to have their hand in Wyoming’s agricultural sector.”

Rasner said it is imperative to reduce these agencies and give power back to the states. “The federal government was never created to be in on everything.”

After other issues were brought up and discussed during the meeting, Rasner concluded by saying voters need to elect someone new.

“We cannot keep electing the same people over and over,” he said.

He said he wants to represent Wyoming and America’s best interest.    

Rasner said he is updating his website with new legislation and will introduce his budget plan in March of 2024.