Open seat in House 13 pits Chestek against Pinch

Long-time representative Cathy Connolly is unable to run for reelection in 2022; the district moved from central Laramie to the southeast corner of the city.

Welcome to the Laramie Reporter’s 2022 Elections newsletter. This newsletter seeks to introduce Albany County and Laramie residents to the candidates who have filed to run and to explore the issues surrounding what promises to be an interesting, impactful local election.

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While many Wyoming House districts shifted during the redistricting of 2022, House District 13 changed perhaps most dramatically. Not a single residence in the old HD-13 is part of the new HD-13.

Cathy Connolly has been HD-13’s representative for more than a decade, having served since her first electoral win in 2008. She frequently ran unopposed in the primary and general. But now that the district has shifted, Connolly no longer lives in HD-13 and the seat is an open race in 2022.

House District 13

Stepping up to compete in that open race are Democrat Ken Chestek and Republican Wayne Pinch. Both are running unopposed in their respective primaries.

Chestek ran in 2016 for House District 46. At the time, Chestek’s neighborhood was part of 46, but it now helps to form the new 13. In the largely rural HD-46, Chestek lost handily in 2016 to Republican Bill Haley. Since then, Chestek has been an advocate for campaign finance reform.

Pinch might be a familiar face to those who have attended karaoke nights throughout Laramie’s bar scene. But he’s a newcomer to politics. Pinch said he was recruited to run in the new HD-13 by local Republican party leaders.

Chestek and Pinch answered a series of questions from the Laramie Reporter about their backgrounds, opinions and hopes for the 2022 election.

Laramie Reporter: What should voters know about your background, profession, and interest in politics?

Ken Chestek: I’m currently a law professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law. One of the things I specialize in teaching is legal writing, which is what statutes are and what the legislature does. So basically my skill set as a lawyer is a perfect fit for being a legislator and being one of the people who actually writes statutes that my students will then interpret. My interest in this is that I consider that I need to give back to the community in some way. I need to use my skills to make the state a better place.

Wayne Pinch: I was raised in the midwest, and attended Wayne State University. I’d like to think that I carry those midwest values. The first half of my adult life was spent in the entertainment industry and the second half was in construction. I’ve always been curious about politics and how the world works.

Reporter: If elected, what would be your priorities in office?

Chestek: I have a couple of priorities that I’m interested in. What I’ve been working on outside the legislature the past six years has been campaign finance and dark money. That’s going to be a first priority. But also, Medicaid expansion is another. Basically, things that help people. I think government should be right-sized. I’m not afraid of government. I think government has a role to play, to make a level playing field so that everybody can thrive. And my goal is to evaluate everything to decide whether this helps people thrive.

Pinch: Veterans’ health and mental health, water conservation and rights, diversification of Wyoming’s economy, affordable home ownership, overturning Citizens United, and the wants and needs of my district.

Reporter: What are the biggest issues facing the Wyoming Legislature today?

Chestek: There’s always a lot of substantive issues, but procedurally, it’s the lack of respect for each other. The level of political discourse has gotten so debased in recent years. People are retreating into their tribes and they are not really communicating with each other and are launching all kinds of personal attacks rather than looking at the substance of any particular issue. If one guy is for it, the other guy is against it because of that. And that’s not good thinking. That’s not a good way to do policy. And I think we need to change the tone of political discourse in Cheyenne.

Pinch: The budget. We are still flush with COVID cash, but it is running out. We overspend on central services. Coal severance. The cost of civil retirement and benefits is more than the revenue to support them. We can’t support continual raises. In schools, we are second in the nation in spending per student and 30th in discipline; our No. 1 export is our children.

Reporter: What does the Legislature do well? What should it improve upon?

Chestek: The level of discourse. I do think there are a number of non-controversial issues that both sides have been able to work together on in the past. What it does well is that it’s very fiscally conservative, but that’s also one of the things it does poorly – in that it’s almost too conservative. There’s a gigantic surplus socked away in a bunch of different savings accounts that are never to be touched. The rainy day fund hasn’t been touched even though it’s raining heavily right now.

Pinch: First, thanks for only meeting 45 days a year. We remain an example of our founders’ plan of part-time service and then returning to work. We need less in-fighting and more cooperation. Stop lying about your affiliations. Get out of the fishbowl and stop the negativity.

Crossover voting is lowbrow.

Reporter: What role should the state government play in addressing climate change?

Chestek: We need to encourage alternative energies. Not only to help the environment, but to help the economy. We know that fossil fuels are on the decline – not because of any Democratic policy against it; that’s not true. What is true is the market is moving toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuel. That helps the environment. But also, we have those resources. We have wind. We have sun. We have all kinds of renewable resources that we can use to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. And we should be doing everything we can to encourage renewable energy sources.

Pinch: Lead the nation in nuclear power. Stop giving water away to the demanders. I’m proud of our clean air and water. I believe we are more of the solution than the problem.

Reporter: Does Wyoming need to consider a state income tax or otherwise diversify its revenue?

Chestek: New revenue sources through exploiting renewable resources. I think we can generate additional revenue that way. I do think that we can preserve some coal revenue by extracting coal for the purpose of making building materials. Rather than burning it and putting that carbon in the air, use coal to generate graphene and carbon fiber. There’s new technology to make bricks out of coal. And we can use the coal to build things and we continue the coal revenue stream. It’s going to be reduced but it’s not going to be the end of it either. State income tax needs to be in the conversation. That’s a last resort, but it’s not just something we can say “no way, no how.”

Pinch: No! No! No! The lack of a state income tax is one of the main reasons people and businesses consider moving here. We need to reevaluate our stance on what our energy is worth to others. I would entertain tolls. We deficit spend on public service. I would entertain a tax on tenants.

Reporter: Should Wyoming expand Medicaid?

Chestek: Yes. It’s a no-brainer to me. It’s obvious.

Pinch: Look at Utah as an alternative approach. We can access more federal funds.

Reporter: What role should the state government play in addressing the housing shortage seen in Laramie and other communities?

Chestek: That’s a tough question because I’m in favor of private industry and housing has typically been a private business. I don’t know that the government wants to get too deeply involved, other than through zoning and making it possible to build housing on smaller lots, or more density. That’s a local government thing; not something the legislature would really do. But that’s about as far as I would go, in terms of addressing the housing shortage, which is anything you can do to encourage or facilitate higher density housing. That’s fine with me. That’s good.

Pinch: The biggest shortage is in homes under $350,000. Downtown and university area multi-story condos in the 800-1,000 square feet range can provide home ownership and give these areas a cool look while providing the affordability factor. We provide developers incentives to build such projects and enlarge the tax base.

Reporter: If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, how should Wyoming’s state law change, if at all?

Chestek: I am one of those that would go in favor of legislatively enacting Roe v. Wade. I think the government has no business telling a woman what personal healthcare decision she can or cannot make. I would go – and I know this is not popular in the State Legislature, they want to go the other direction and ban all abortions – I would go the opposite direction. We should enable women to make their own choices and get the government to stay out of it.

Pinch: Wyoming has a tough abortion law waiting to be triggered if Roe is overturned. It’s automatic. This issue is unfortunately generations away from being settled. It remains an open sore of division that is part of our nation’s overall stress. We need to compromise.

Reporter: Should Wyoming pass a non-discrimination statute, prohibiting employers from firing employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity?

Chestek: Absolutely. Recently, the Lander School Board went the opposite direction. They had that protection in their local policy and they removed it, rather controversially, a few weeks ago. And one of their rationales was, well, the state doesn’t require this. Well, the state should. The state should certainly adopt a non-discrimination statute – not just gender identity and sexual orientation, but also military status and all the other categories that were removed from this policy in Lander ought to be included in state statute.

Pinch: Equal rights under the law. Wyoming is an at-will state. At-will states still need to uphold civil and personal rights. It’s an issue for the courts. We don’t need legislation.

Reporter: If elected, what is one bill you would like to write, sponsor or introduce?

Chestek: Probably a bill to ask the U.S. Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to enable state and local governments, and Congress actually, to regulate dark money and regulate spending in political campaigns. That’s been my motivating argument or the policy I’ve been pursuing as an activist outside the legislature for the last six years. We got close to having the legislature adopt that in 2019. I would like to get that over the top and get it done in 2023.

Pinch: Decriminalizing cannabis and hallucinogens for medical research and use. It’s very promising for the treatment of PTSD. My son acquired PTSD in Iraq while kicking doors open in Fallujah. He and so many like him have been forgotten about and left to deal with this condition on their own, while being denied the very things that can help.

Reporter: Finally, why should the residents of Albany County vote for you?

Chestek: Because I will listen to them. There’s no way any legislator can do what all of his constituents want him to do because the constituents disagree with each other. I can’t promise to do what the individual voters want because the individual voters want different things and sometimes opposite things. So all I can really promise is to listen to them, take their arguments into consideration. I will make decisions based on facts and science and I will carefully consider all sides of the issue based on facts, and render a decision which is in line with my basic policy that the government’s role is to facilitate human freedom and maximize people’s choices.

Pinch: First of all, I'm not a career politician. Since I am a huge proponent of term limits, I will only serve one term. I owe no allegiance to any one. I intend to listen to the people of my district and represent their views. I am what is known as a 50s Democrat or a barely right of center Republican. My district is heavily populated with university folks; I believe I will communicate clearly with them.