The following Letters to the Editor appeared in the October 21, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.

Proposition 1

Dear Editor,

If Proposition 1 passes, everyone who goes to work to put a roof over their family’s heads gets a raise by being able to keep more money and use it for necessities. Those on fixed incomes will get a raise when their property tax bill is finally smaller than it was last year. Anyone well ahead of the game could take a cruise with the extra money they had budgeted for housing. It doesn’t matter what you decide to do, you will get a raise.

On the other hand, if you follow the lead of those telling you not to vote for Prop 1, they get the raise. And they know it.

Commissioners and city council members will have more money to spend on art and change orders. School administrators will get to decide on cost-of-living adjustments and salary range increases for themselves. Lobbyists will likely get bonuses when the corporations they represent have new grant funds they can apply for.

See how this works?

The government officials are telling us they cannot fund essential services if property tax revenue is nipped. At the same time, they get raises and give millions away to developers through Tax Increment Financing schemes. And if one more fourth generation rancher tells us the state cannot afford to cut property taxes while they have made bank selling off parts of their ranch to data centers and polluting our view with the wind turbines and power lines, we will wonder what the Code of the West even means anymore.

Many of us have not made any improvements on our home in years. We couldn’t afford to. However, our tax bill made it look like we must have added a wing.

We, the working class and the backbone of Wyoming, get to vote in this election to give ourselves a much needed and well-deserved raise by voting in favor of Proposition 1. It’s about time. Do what’s good for your purse not for the politicians.

Ben Hornok

Fed Up, Again!

Dear Editor,

In Harriett Hageman’s 2022 speech titled, “Fed Up” (https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/user-clip-we-are-fed-up/5028622) she said that, “we are fed up with a government that does not seem to work for us anymore.   We are fed up with out of control spending. We are fed up with $6 gas and $6 diesel.”

Here we are after four years of her being our representative and we have $5 gas and $7 diesel.  And she is right, we are fed up again.

She voted yes for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans while the average American can’t afford groceries anymore.

In 2025 the average American household paid $1700 in higher tariffs (taxes).

We have the largest national debt in our history of $40.5 trillion dollars.  That debt is about $118,000 for each person in the US.

Yes, I am fed up.  I am fed up with a representative who doesn’t represent me.  Who is more concerned about looking good in Washington than doing good for the people of Wyoming.

Finally, most of her campaign money came from wealthy out of state donors.

Now there’s Chuck Gray.  His campaign is funded by his wealthy family.  He is 37 and wants to be a career politician.  He has never held a real job.  We don’t need career politicians.  We need public servants.

The reason he won the primary with only 25% of the vote was that he outspent his opponents.

He says he will represent Wyoming but as Secretary of State he gave away our private voter registration information to Washington.  I think that is just the tip of the iceberg on who he will really represent.

Why do we want rich donors, and especially those from out of state controlling our elections?

Here is a great alternative I hope you will consider.

When I vote on November 3, 2026 as a lifelong Republican, veteran, and retiree I am voting for Democrats James Byrd for the Senate, and Lisa Kinney for the House.  These two are traditional Wyoming Democrats like former Governor Dave Freudenthal, and I believe they will represent us well.

John Kertesz