This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
A Laramie massage therapist will vie for the Republican nomination for Wyoming’s junior U.S. Senate seat.
Jill Edwards announced her candidacy in a Facebook video last week after meeting the deadline to file paperwork to run for office.
“If you're like me, you feel like Washington, D.C. has forgotten what real life looks like, but Wyoming hasn't,” she said. “I'm running for U.S. Senate because working families deserve representation from someone who actually understands struggle, who actually understands sacrifice and who actually understands community.”
Her campaign website lists rural families, rural communities, public land protection, and mental health and suicide prevention as her top priorities.
Edwards said she supports term limits, government accountability, rural health care, mental health access and “protecting Wyoming values without turning neighbors against each other.”
In another video, which Edwards usually films herself while in a vehicle, she talked about how a sense of community is part of what she considers “Wyoming values.”
“You didn't have to agree with someone politically to help them out during a blizzard, drop off food after a funeral, or stop to pull a stranger out of a snowbank. Wyoming has always been tough, but being tough never meant being cruel, and I still think that we can be strong without losing our humanity,” she said.
The political newcomer faces four opponents in the Republican primary, including current U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, John Holtz, Samuel Mead and Jimmy Skovgard.
Two Democrats are also running: James Byrd and Billy Benavidez.
Wyoming’s primary election is on Aug. 18.
