Winter sees challenge from Skates for House seat

Two Republican candidates are facing off in the primary election for the House District 28 seat representing Hot Springs, Big Horn, Fremont and Park Counties. The top vote earner will move onto the General Election in November where they could still face a write in candidate from either party.

Here we are including candidate bios/submitted descriptions and information from the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber sponsored candidate forum held in July.

Kevin Skates

Kevin Skates grew up in Wyoming. He was born in Cody.

“Our district is in need of representation that will garner our Wyoming values. We need a fresh perspective and someone that has energy and uses common sense. I am a lifelong Wyoming Republican and earned a degree from the University of Wyoming in Parks and Recreation Administration. It has been my choice to live and remain in Wyoming because the people and quality of life is unmatched. My desire is to keep our state strong,”said Skates.

He added, “For Wyoming to improve economic success and public safety we must secure our national borders. I agree with Ronald Reagan - A nation that cannot control its borders, is not a nation. It is crucial we continue pushing forward with our natural resources such as oil, gas, coal and uranium. Tourism is our second largest industry and provides an essential tax revenue for our great state. It is critical we continue to promote our wonderful resources while preserving our Wyoming tradition.”

“My conservative leadership skills will be a benefit to district 28 and the state. I served as the president of the Thermopolis Rotary Club, Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism Board and Wyoming Recreation and Parks Association. In 2014, I was awarded the Reach Award for my expertise in tourism and hospitality by governor Mead. During my career, in retail and public service, I spent my time working with people and business’s to help improve our quality of life. My constitution is solid and I am willing to devote the time to listen and learn,” said Skates.

John Winter

Born and raised in Cody and residing on Kirby Creek since 1999 with his wife, Diane, John Winter graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in Range Management and worked for the Bureau of Land Management as a Range Conservationist and Wild Horse Specialist. He returned to the private sector in agriculture and as a big game outfitter in the Thorofare. He served in the 65th and 66th Legislative Sessions of the House of Representatives and is currently in the 67th Legislature for a third term serving on the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources, House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources, and Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee.

According to Winter, he is endorsed by Wyoming Family Alliance, Wyoming Right-to-Life, Gun Owners of America and Utah Senator Mike Lee.

“I am pro-Trump and his America First Agenda (God, country, family), pro-Wyoming Republican platform (God, liberty, freedom, American exceptionalism, pro-life, 2nd Amendment, private property rights, religious freedom, and consider myself to be a common sense constitutional conservative,” said Winter.

He added, “I have always felt the Hot Springs State Park is one of the most exceptional assets to our community and to the state, and I am working closely with the Wyoming Office of State Parks and Cultural Resources to make improvements.”

“Since I began my political career in 2018, my main goal has been to make Wyoming the best it can be by living up to our claim of being the most conservative state in the Union. Right now, this is not the case. Our Legislature is dominated by many Legislators who claim to be conservative but are far from that. This fact leads to the most recent action by Governor Gordon where he has developed his own extensive list of Legislative candidates. Not only has he listed his preferences, but his PAC is funding these people for election. I am happy to report that my name is not on his list of preferred candidates. I do not believe a single truly conservative candidate appears on this list,” said Winter.

Answers to questions asked during the candidate forum

What are your goals regarding economic development?

John Winter:

Economic development is something that affects the whole state of Wyoming. Only the biggest concern I have is the way that the energy resources are being challenged. And to me, we have to make these energy issues, the coal, the oil and gas, our primary concern and anything else we do with the economy has to be, I think, related to private enterprise. I think that that’s the only way. We need to support it and encourage it in this county and in the Big Horn Basin. We have tremendous issues out there that we can deal with. Travel, recreation, wildlife. There’s so many good things here. And I think that with a bit of help with our local government, we’re going to be able to make this good. But again, we need to utilize private enterprise any place we can.

Kevin Skates:

Well, first, we all love Wyoming, and I think there are millions of people around the country that love this state. They want to be here. They want to come see us. They want to spend money. And we got to figure out a way to keep them coming. Our oil, gas and coal are very  cyclical. They go up and down. And tourism being involved in the state park for years here in Thermopolis we’re rock solid. Our visitation was always way up. And so I think we need to really progress in tourism, try to bring people here to spend those dollars. They’re not going to stay here. They’re going to come and visit. We need to really expound on that through outdoor recreation. And I think people want to come for cattle rides, they want to come for rock climbing. They want to come to fish. They want to come because of our open spaces. So there are so many ways to get them here. And then also, I think we have to grow conservatively with small business. I went up to Cody, where the small business guy started several years ago. Wyoming meats employs about 10 to 15 people, and they package jerky and beef sticks. And those are the kind of things we need in general. We cannot sustain large businesses. It’s small businesses we need to keep coming to our state.

What are the strengths of Hot Springs County?

Kevin Skates:

My tenure at the State Park, I went to many meetings with consultants that came here and evaluated Hot Springs County, evaluated our area, and they loved our opportunity in Thermopolis. We have hot springs. We have World-Class fishing. We have dinosaurs. We have history. We have the canyon. And they don’t think we can take advantage of it enough. I think our potential is crazy good. And I think it’s going to take all of us in this room and the elected officials that are going to be up here, whoever they are to make a concerted effort to make that happen.

John Winter:

There’s a lot of them.  The primary strength of Hot Springs County, I really believe, are the residents here. The citizens of Hot Springs County are amazing. And I wholeheartedly endorse them. Hot Springs State Park is a phenomenal place for expanding and making it better. And Kevin was involved in that quite heavily. I believe if you have a good job, I think. But we need to make the state park better than what it is right now. We are doing that with the state agency to improve things down there. The people of Hot Springs County, I would suggest that you get involved in this whole effort in the state park to review and to make suggestions to them as to what’s going on there. And, because there’s a big effort there. Hopefully we’ll continue to make Hot Springs County stand out. I appreciate all of you