Wyoming PBS, Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce, The Sheridan Press, Wyoming Public Media, and Cowboy State Daily present Vote 2026: The U.S.

House of Representatives Republican primary debate live from Kinnison Hall in the Whitney Center for the Arts on the campus of Sheridan College.

Greetings viewers, audience members, and candidates.

I'm Steve Peck, the public affairs producer for Wyoming PBS.

Welcome to today's Republican primary election debate among candidates for Wyoming's only seat in the U.S.

House of Representatives.

That seat currently is held by U.S.

Representative Harriet Hageman, a Republican who is not seeking reelection.

She is running for the U.S.

Senate.

The primary election is Tuesday, August 18th.

You just heard our debate partners during the opening sequence of the debate, and we add our thanks now to Sheridan College and its president, Dr.

Walter Tribley, for hosting this debate.

All ballot eligible candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties were invited to participate tonight.

Eight Republican candidates accepted the invitation, and they're on stage with me tonight.

One candidate, Keith Goodenough, declined the invitation, and another, Frank Chapman, withdrew formally from the campaign last week.

On the Democratic side, only one of the two candidates accepted the debate invitation.

So there will be no Democratic primary debate.

Tonight's debate is being aired and streamed live by Wyoming PBS and Wyoming Public Media.

Our debate comprises five segments.

First, a preview question was sent more than 24 hours ago to all eight participants.

I'll ask that question to open the debate shortly, and each candidate can respond for as long as 90 seconds.

The candidates will respond from left to right as you see them here, an order determined before the debate in a random drawing backstage in which the candidates participated.

Next, our panelists will ask four questions in sequence to the full slate of candidates.

Each candidate, in turn, will answer the same question, with 60 seconds allowed for the response.

The candidate who responded second to the initial preview question will respond first to the all panel question, and each subsequent response will move down the line in turn.

When we get to the end, we'll proceed in reverse order.

Third, we'll devote approximately 18 minutes to a short answer lightning round, with each candidate responding to a brief prompt with 15 seconds allowed per response.

We expect to have time for about a half dozen lightning round cues.

Fourth, our panelists will ask one round of questions.

That is a different question for each candidate.

The initial answers are limited to 60 seconds, after which the next candidate in line will be permitted 20 seconds for rebuttal or other response, followed by a final 15 seconds for the initial respondent to follow up if desired.

As always, we'll proceed down the line in order so that a different candidate goes first with each new question.

And finally, each candidate will have 30 seconds for a closing statement.

The closing statements will proceed in reverse order from the initial preview question that opened the debate.

In a joint briefing before the debate, we expressed to the candidates that we expect and require civil conduct and decorum during the debate.

We expect candidates to address the questions asked of them and that while occasional references to other candidates are not necessarily prohibited, prolonged challenges and pointed attacks at other candidates are not permitted and will be interrupted.

Our panel consists of three experienced Wyoming journalists, Weston Pope, government and public safety reporter for The Sheridan Press, our local media partner tonight.

Clair McFarland, reporter for the Cowboy State Daily.

And Nicky Ouellet, managing editor of Wyoming Public Media.

And this note: Wyoming Public Media and Wyoming PBS have similar names and are friendly partners in this debate, but otherwise are separate and unaffiliated organizations with different staff, different management, different licensing, different locations.

The timer for the debate is Ryan Schuchman of Wyoming PBS.

He'll operate a visual timing device resembling a traffic light, which you can see on stage.

Timing begins the moment a candidate begins speaking.

When ten seconds of the allotted time remains, the yellow light will appear when allotted time has expired, the red light appears, and if the candidate exceeds the allotted time, the red light will flash.

An audible alert will sound, and I will advise the candidate to stop.

Now we meet the candidates for U.S.. House of Representatives participating in tonight's debate.

Introduced from left to right as you see them.

Richard Dodson and I.T.

professional.

Colonel Kevin Christensen, retired U.S.

Army.

David Giralt, legislative policy advisor and former U.S.

Army Ranger.

Chuck Gray, Wyoming Secretary of State.

Bo Biteman, president of the Wyoming State Senate.

Reid Rasner, Wyoming businessman.

Steve Friess, Wyoming businessman and philanthropist and Jillian Balow, former Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Now we begin.

Each candidate was sent the following preview question yesterday.

Candidates, since March, the United States has been engaged in war with Iran, initiated by the U.S.

with widespread economic, military and geopolitical impacts.

The accounted cost for the war so far has been at least $37.5 billion.

In recent days, The secretary of defense appeared before a U.S.

House committee seeking as much as $70 billion more for the war.

You're running to become a member of the House of Representatives.

Would you have voted for that new funding request?

Why or why not?

Mr.

Dodson, 90 seconds.

First, I'd like to thank Steve and the panel.

The staff of Wyoming PBS and the people here at Sheridan College for hosting us here tonight.

No, I would not have voted for that.

It was a poorly conceived operation in the first place.

It was badly prosecuted.

In the second place, it has made nothing better.

It has made lots of things worse.

Worse.

The price of gas at my neighborhood gas station went up $0.40 a gallon today.

Nope.

Enough is enough.

Thank you.

Mr.

Christensen, 90 seconds.

No, and I'll tell you why.

I spent three years working at the Pentagon, and I feel like the Pentagon coming back to Congress and asking for $70 billion.

It's like getting in your Cadillac Escalade, driving to a poor neighborhood, rolling down your window and asking for gas money.

This got a $1.2 billion, $1.2 trillion budget.

I think they can work within that.

But our current Congress isn't about to grow a spine on that.

They gave a blank check to the secretary when they refused to follow the War Powers Act on day 61, there was no legal authorization for the conflict, and after that, they gave that blank check.

They can't be outraged now When he filled in the number and brought it back to him.

So that's how our current Congress handled it.

That's not how I will handle it in Congress.

Thank you Mr.

Giralt, 90 seconds.

Thank you for hosting this.

And thank you for the question.

As someone who's deployed as an Army Ranger, as a company commander for the 82nd Airborne Division, downrange to Afghanistan, this is deeply personal to me.

And it's not only measured in dollars and cents, it's also measured in lives, and it's measured in cost to family.

All families all across the state of Wyoming.

What's important to consider here are three constitutional questions before the House Armed Services Committee.

And I had the pleasure of working on these while I was a policy advisor.

One are the investments that we've already made to this point?

Are they demonstrating success?

Two is the end state defined?

I know through my time in the military that you never send soldiers into harm's way without defining a credible and clear end state.

And three are the investments that we're going to make in the future.

Do we know that they're going to pay off if if the administration can answer those three questions, which they have not done to this point, if they can be credibly and satisfactorily answered, then I think the answer is yes.

At the end of the day, we should not abandon soldiers who are in the field engaged in war, and we shouldn't abandon allies who are fighting with us to advance American priorities that we've demonstrated for 40 or 50 years.

And and when working for 40 or 50 years, identifying an adversary and a threat to the United States, to abandon this, to abandon them at this time, with no consideration of all the other factors, I think is a miscalculation.

Thank you.

Mr.

Gray, 90 seconds.

Well, we cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

President Trump has been very forward thinking and very prescient in saying we cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Think about Pakistan when they were allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon decades ago, how they've used it to leverage funds from the United States, from other entities, to hold us at the barrel of a gun.

We cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

At the same time, though, the Congress needs to make sure that any funding request is America First driven.

And that is what I will do.

As Wyoming's next member of the U.S.

Congress, we have to have an America First policy.

No boots on the ground, no forever wars.

We need to be tactical.

There needs to be a strategy to get this to the finish line.

And President Trump understands that we can't allow Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz to to leverage all their powers over over oil industry.

We have to be able to end this war quickly.

And that is what President Trump is working to do.

But I certainly support the objective of this administration to make sure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

And in the future, I will be reading through every single bill, because that's one of the things I'm going to do as the next member of Congress read through every single bill to make sure that it's America First policy driven.

But I support the administration in making sure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

Mr.

Biteman, 90 seconds.

Thank you, Steve.

I'll directly answer your question.

Based on the knowledge that I have of the situation right now, I would have to vote no.

Last November, American people sent Republicans to Congress.

They gave them the House, the Senate, and the presidency with a clear mandate to secure our borders, to deport the millions of illegal aliens that came across our borders in an unprecedented fashion, to secure our elections, to Unleash American energy dominance and to bring the cost of living down.

They did not vote for a forever war in the Middle East again.

You know, before you come to Congress and ask for another $70 billion, I think the administration needs to answer some basic questions.

We've touched on them already.

What's the mission?

We've had a little bit of mission creep already.

How do you measure success?

How do we know if we've achieved that mission?

And what is the exit strategy and how are we going to come out about with a sensible, peaceful solution to get our troops out of harm's way?

Congress should not be writing a blank check for an undefined military commitment.

We owe it to our soldiers to have a clear, defined mission, and we owe it to the taxpayers to have accountability for every dollar that we spend.

Mr.

Rasner, 90 seconds.

Yes, I absolutely would have stood with President Trump and funded this request.

I would always vote to kill Hamas terrorists in the Middle East.

President Trump didn't start this war.

Iran started this war 47 years ago, and no other president has stood up to them.

Iran has killed thousands of Americans.

They're the largest sponsor of state terrorism.

They're critical to China's Belt and Road expansion.

They've tried to assassinate President Trump and his family.

They're terrorists who declared war on America.

And I would have stood with President Trump, and I would have been proud to stand in lockstep with President Trump on this funding bill.

Mr.

Friess, 90 seconds.

The first responsibility of the American government is to protect the American people.

And both.

Senator, I'm sorry, both.

Secretary Marco Rubio and Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey have described what was in store for us.

China and Russia had enabled Iran to build an enormous number of drones and short range missiles, which were going to prevent us from ever being able to stop them from having a nuclear weapon.

So I support the president's strategy in taking swift action.

As my colleague to the right has said, Iran started this in, I believe, 1977 with the seizure of our embassy.

I'm thrilled that we have a president that's finally stood up to Iran.

I would support this, but it is not a blank check situation.

We.

It's not a question of is 70 billion a big number?

It is a very big number.

But the question is, what will it cost us if we don't finish the job in Iran?

Thank you.

Miss Balow, 90 seconds.

First of all, thank you so much for hosting.

Thank you to the folks in the audience for attending tonight and being informed voters, before you go to the polls.

And thank you to the viewers for the same.

The first vote that Congress makes on this war should not be to write a blank check.

There are many questions that need to be answered in advance, and many opportunities given to Congress, both to make decisions and have discussions.

Over the years, Congress has ceded responsibility and no responsibility is more important than war and peace.

Generally, we know the goals on the war in Iran.

It is to end the state sponsorship of terrorism.

It is to open the Strait of Hormuz, and it is to keep Iran from having nuclear weapons.

I agree with all three of those general goals, but it is the responsibility of the U.S.

Congress to ensure that there is accountability for every dollar there is troops that are committed with a strategy and an end in sight, that there is a clear justification and clarity for the American people that has made clear, and that can only be done when there is a transparent discussion about the war and about the money that is being asked for.

There is no need for Congress to cede responsibility or surrender judgment, and that can be done transparently without surrendering or excuse me without.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes the first segment of the debate.

Next, we have a series of four questions to be posed by the panelists.

All eight candidates will answer the same question.

The response time is 60 seconds.

Mr.

Christensen, you'll go first, and the question is asked by Weston Pope.

Thank you very much.

My first question, in addition to the rural Health Care Transformation program, what steps do you plan to take to create more affordable and accessible health care in Wyoming?

I think we have to.

The rural health care was a great first step to solving some of the problems that we have in Wyoming, but it's not going to go far enough.

The problem we have is that we created a system where we've put the insurance company and the Pharmaceutic pharmaceutical company between the patient and the provider.

We did that with the Affordable Care Act.

When we did that, we enabled two industries that are some of the most profitable in our nation to get rich off of, off of that.

And that is directly hurting us here in Wyoming.

We need more insurance providers.

We only have two major private insurance providers.

We need to have more affordable options in Wyoming.

We also need to expand Medicaid in Wyoming.

When we look at what the problems are, they are fixable problems.

We spend more on our GDP than any other nation to insure so few people.

And that has to change in Congress.

Mr.

Giralt, 60 seconds.

This is probably one of the most common issues that I hear traveling across the entire state, and the rural health Care Transformation Program has appropriated two $205 million for the state of Wyoming for the subsequent four years.

That is not guaranteed.

And I, as the next member of Congress, seek to secure that funding so that we can also target price transparency for drugs and and for medications that our seniors are on those on fixed incomes and those at the lower or the younger end of the spectrum as well, need to have transparency and know that we're not footing the bill for research and development here, for new medications, for generic drugs abroad.

That's that is number one on in terms of importance.

Second to that is ensuring that we have a free market and that we can compete interstate when negotiating insurance terms for people so they can get more favorable insurance policies and they can achieve and seek medical care when it's necessary.

Those are two of the top priorities.

But again, this is the ultimate priority for the state of Wyoming and ensuring that targeted relief goes to our most rural hospitals across communities throughout the state of Wyoming.

Thank you.

Mr.

Gray, 60 seconds.

We have to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Obamacare was designed to fail by the left, and it is failing.

When you have a situation in Wyoming where we oscillate between 1 and 2 providers on the exchange, which by definition is a monopoly, you're not going to have accessible health care at an affordable cost.

So we have to repeal and replace Obamacare with an option that allows us to have insurance across state lines, creates competition, and then we have to have health care price transparency, which is an issue I've worked on a long time.

We have to require that there is an upfront sort of pricing mechanism so that individuals can understand what the costs of the care that they are receiving.

Too often when care is provided, people receive a bill that is way overcharged.

So we have to have that health care price transparency and repeal and replace Obamacare.

Mr.

Biteman, 60 seconds.

Thank you.

There's not a one size fits all solution to health care, especially in a rural state like Wyoming.

Washington, D.C.

Does not have our best interests at heart.

I think we need to repeal Obamacare.

And I don't necessarily think we should replace it.

I think the states should be able to handle their health care needs.

And, you know, we got Obamacare because Republicans wouldn't budge on preexisting conditions.

That was a terrible mistake.

Preexisting conditions was a big issue at the time, and Republicans refused to deal with it.

And we ended up with Obamacare that destroyed our health care industry in the United States.

The government took over one sixth of our economy.

Health care prices shot up and quality went down.

We need to have a safety net for the poor.

Absolutely.

We need to have a safety net for the sick and disabled.

Absolutely.

But for healthy Americans that want to purchase affordable health insurance, we should allow that.

And we need to encourage doctors and providers to move to rural states like Wyoming and offer incentives for them to do so, and cut the red tape that is causing a lot of them to go out of business.

Thank you Mr.

Rasner, 60 seconds This is a great question.

Thank you.

And I've actually wrote a policy position paper on this, and you can read about it at my website, Reid Rasner.com.

To fix rural health care in Wyoming, the Rural Health Care Transformation Act did a great thing.

What Representative Hageman voted for, returning over $200 million to the state.

But on top of that, we would have to eliminate the Obamacare community standard rate that is raising those premiums based off of our older population in the state.

In addition to that, we need to cap malpractice insurance premiums for doctors so they can have their practice opened in, in, in the communities again for OBGYNs, pediatricians, internists and general practitioners.

And if we cap that at $250,000 per instance, they'll be able to afford that insurance and hang a shingle outside their house again and be able to help all of you right here in Wyoming in rural communities.

We can bring back a program called nurse or Dr.

Of the neighborhood that will help take care of those student loans They come out of college with close to a half $1 million in student loans.

But when they come into these.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr.

Friess 60 seconds.

I was part of a team that raised about $30 million to try to, to try to fight and derail the implementation of Obamacare at the outset.

And it was set up to fail.

It was designed so that it would crumble and it would make everybody clamor for single payer health care.

That was really the objective of this, that the leftists put in place.

It does need to be repealed and replaced.

We do need more competition in insurance and insurance to be sold across state lines.

We also need pricing transparency.

One of my colleagues mentioned a program I understand is called WWAMI, which provides doctors some debt forgiveness for their medical tuition if they stay and work in the state.

That sounds like a wonderful program.

I think that needs to be expanded.

Similarly, the caps insurance is too high for liability for doctors to enter the state.

It's a touchy subject, but it is something that needs to be addressed.

We are scaring doctors away with the high insurance premiums they have to pay.

I am pleased with the steps that Harriet Hageman took to support President Trump.

Miss Balow, 60 seconds.

The most important relationship in health care is that between the doctor and the patient, when health care is too government heavy as it is now, it becomes burdensome for everyone.

It becomes complex and it becomes bureaucratic.

That is not what health care should be.

As your congresswoman all work to make sure that there are tools like enhanced health savings accounts, flexibility with insurance plans, more free market insurance opportunities, and more opportunity or more more plans and more solutions that work for Wyoming.

In Wyoming specifically, we need to open up H1-b visas to get more professionals in the medical field to our rural communities.

We need to expand and be a leader in telehealth.

We need more women at the table to talk about our health care deserts that are especially evident in our maternal and, and, and pediatric care.

And finally, we need to expand and get more money for the rural health care Transformation Act.

Thank you.

Our next question is I'm sorry, Mr.

Dodson.

Thank you.

So I'm old enough to remember that insurance companies got between you and your doctor a long time before the ACA came along.

And I'm wonder if it was designed by the left to fail so spectacularly, why it was that it thrived so much under Democratic presidents and then only had problems under Republicans?

Those are some interesting questions, but let's think about this.

Health care markets can never be free markets, because I can tell you from experience, when you have medical maintenance medications, you can't just decide, hey, I don't want to participate in this market anymore.

Like you can't in a free market.

When you have a heart attack, you don't go shopping around for the best deal.

You go where you can get the care that you need because it's life and death.

And when it's life and death, it's not a free market.

So what do we do about that?

In other forums, I've talked about co-ops, maybe for insurance, maybe for providers.

I had another idea.

Let's limit patent protection for pharmaceutical companies and make them charge us the right prices.

Thank you sir.

That's the first of our four questions in this section.

Complete.

The next question is from Clair McFarland.

Mr.

Giralt, you're the first to respond.

We've watched communities erupt in controversy over license plate readers, surveillance cameras.

There's also litigation nationwide.

Is it the role of Congress to address this?

And if so, what's the best way?

I think that ultimately, the most important role that Congress has in protecting the safety and security of the American people.

And if we can determine that there are guardrails that need to be put in place, then Congress should do so.

The most important thing right now heading into the 21st century is what is being done with our data.

We should ensure that our data is housed here domestically so that our adversaries can't manipulate or use that data in an adversarial way against us.

So if there's a role for Congress there, absolutely.

I'm certainly in favor of more limited government.

I think when the federal government injects itself into local policy decisions, they tend to make a mess of things.

So I'm more in favor of federalism.

I'm more in favor of local communities, counties and states making those decisions.

So I would limit the involvement of Congress.

I would simply contain that to ensuring that our national security priorities are aligned and that we can protect ourselves against adversaries such as North Korea, the CCP and others.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray 60 seconds.

I am very concerned about the growth of the surveillance state We absolutely need data privacy protections at the federal level I'm the only candidate up here who has been talking about my concern with A.I.

Data centers, the growth of the surveillance state through those data centers, the need for us to repeal the mandated kill switch on our automobiles that Biden and the Democrats put into place next year.

Every single automobile in America is going to be mandated to have a kill switch that's going to monitor our heart rate.

And, yes, whether we paid our bill and our vehicle might not turn on if the A.I.

Bot doesn't like the answer to that.

So we have to stop the growth of the surveillance state.

It is out of control.

We have to repeal the Biden Democrat mandated kill switch, and we have to have data privacy protections.

Mr.

Biteman, 60 seconds.

Thank you.

Yes, Congress has been asleep at the wheel on protecting our Fourth Amendment rights for a long time, starting with the Patriot Act and now ending up with flock cameras everywhere.

They're ubiquitous around the United States.

Government's number one role is to secure your liberty.

The Fourth Amendment is very clear.

We shall be free from unlawful searches and seizures.

The Congress certainly has a role to play here.

They should be outlawed.

If you want to surveil me, get a warrant.

We, we Americans, our founding fathers, would be rolling in their graves right now if they knew what we're putting up with and what we're allowing to happen to us.

We are living in a surveillance state, and it's only going to get worse.

Like Chuck said, with data centers coming on, that data is going to be stored and used against you, and they'll be.

It's a horrible world to think what my kids will be inheriting if we don't stop these flock cameras and surveillance systems.

Mr.

Rasner, 60 seconds.

Thank you.

And I've been a proponent of repealing or reforming the Patriot Act for years.

Our Fourth Amendment right means something, and I definitely would act on these flock cameras, but also other data leaks that we see, especially when our election information is given over to federal bureaucrats right here in Wyoming and leaked to China.

It's a shame what's happening.

Our data leaked to China just this year from the federal government.

You cannot trust a bureaucrat with your information.

It should be housed securely right here in Wyoming.

Flock cameras have no place in Wyoming or in this country.

And our Fourth Amendment still means something.

And I'm sure Steve is going to agree with me.

I do.

Mr.

Friess, 60 seconds.

Thank you.

I'm probably misquoting Ben Franklin.

I believe the statement is something like someone who will surrender some of their liberty for safety deserves neither something in that frame.

I would like to see these things banned.

I think that we don't want to move anywhere near being a surveillance state the way people are in China, where you might not be able to take a bus ride across the country to visit your family if you haven't done the right things according to the algorithm that's in charge.

I think these are a frightening step in absolutely the wrong direction.

I hope our state legislature and governor in the next administration will will deem them off limits for the state of Wyoming.

Miss Balow, 60 seconds.

Yes, the most important role in government is to keep our citizens safe, secure and protect their privacy.

A.I.

Flock, cameras, et cetera.

Take away our sense of privacy and take away our real privacy.

We should have the freedom to take advantage of technology without giving up our privacy and without giving up our data.

I'll work on that.

And I've already been working on that as state superintendent, I took data privacy of our students very, very seriously.

That's hard data, and it pales in comparison to what children and families are freely giving over to domestic and international enemies, and sometimes not enemies.

But that shouldn't be done.

We need to protect children online.

We need to protect people online, and we need to protect the the the privacy of all citizens.

Mr.

Dodson, 60 seconds.

So I am, among other things, a student of history.

And one of the reasons why we have the Bill of Rights is because the people of the new Americas had lived under the tyranny of the King of England, and they decided it was necessary and required to write down those protections.

And so we've got the Fourth Amendment, as Mr.

Biteman already mentioned, and I'm going to raise him the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment, too.

And it is absolutely in the purview of Congress to protect our fourth, fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, as well as all the other amendments.

So what do we do?

Well, I agree with Mr.

Rasner as well that the current administration has been terrible at keeping our data private, browbeating states into surrendering voter registration data with our dates of birth and Social Security numbers, et cetera., et cetera.

And I think Congress should stand up and say, no, we're not going to do that.

And make it stick.

Put some limits on that, put some penalties on that.

Thank you.

Mr.

Christensen, 60 seconds.

My 27 year career in the Army, I've lived all around the world.

I've lived in places where people have given up their liberty for the promise of safety and security.

And let me tell you, it's fake and it's a fraud.

When we give up our freedom and we give up our security for security and the promise of safety, we become dependent on those who are going to give that to us.

Folks, this is no different than when Covid came along.

Do this and we'll keep you safe.

This is this is an empty promise.

Congress absolutely has a role to protect our freedoms.

And they have to do it because data has become an extension of who we are, our our, our private information is no longer in a file cabinet in your office.

It's online.

It's everywhere.

It can be housed in in countries all over the world.

When we give up our freedom, we give up who we are as Americans and Wyoming we don't do that.

Thank you.

Candidates.

That's two questions down.

Two to go in this round.

The next question is from Nicky Ouellet.

Mr.

Gray, you'll be the first to respond.

Whose role is it to ensure.

That artificial intelligence doesn't harm citizens?

And how do we do that?

Well, I'm the only candidate on stage that has been talking about concerns around these A.I.

Data centers, and expressed my opposition to these A.I.

Data centers and the way the media has tried to confuse the issue by confusing military applications with A.I.

Data centers, which are very, very problematic.

They want to automate our workforce.

They want to surveil us.

They want to have this mandated kill switch on our vehicles, which is totally out of line.

Democrats and Biden put that in place two years ago, and it needs to be repealed.

And the Congress needs to take action to ensure that there is control here, that A.I.

Is not allowed to get out of control to automate our workforce out of existence, because that's what the Democrats and the radical left want.

And we can't allow that.

Mr.

Biteman, 60 seconds.

Thank you.

Whose role is it?

Primarily the states under our federalist form of government, the states have a primary role in protecting their citizens and the police powers that they have.

I'm opposed to the federal government cutting the states out of the ability to disapprove or approve data centers.

I think that should be done at the state level and local level.

If a community wants one or doesn't want one, that should be their choice, not the federal government's.

Now, the federal government may have a role in when it pertains to interstate commerce and issues like that that are nationwide issues.

But primarily, your question was whose role is it?

I think it belongs to the state and local governments.

Mr.

Rasner, 60 seconds.

Well, it's certainly the state and local governments to protect their citizens from these A.I.

Data centers.

And I find it very suspicious that even our own Secretary of State signed off on an A.I.

Data center less than one mile away from our nuclear facilities at Warren Air Force Base.

In 2023, even President Biden knew it was wrong and signed an executive order to force the sale of a Chinese Communist A.I.

Data center right here in Wyoming.

When he was president.

It is the state and the government's job to protect us.

That's their main duty, is to protect our citizens.

That's why we're building a strong border wall.

And that's why I stand with President Trump.

I need to respond.

To that.

When it's your turn to speak next.

And the next response, take the time then, please.

This is not a response, a call on.

You can respond when it's your turn to speak the next time.

At the next question, you'll have 60 seconds and few of the candidates are using the full 60, so give you extra time to plan.

Mr.

Friess, 60 seconds.

It seems like we got off on a couple tangents.

Could I have the question repeated for clarity, please?

Whose role is it to ensure that artificial intelligence doesn't harm citizens?

And how do we do that?

So if you do listen to the leaders of of the A.I.

Companies, it is alarming how many of them forsee a considerable possibility of A.I.

Going off the rails and causing destructive events to happen around, around the country and the world.

It's an alarming thing.

I wonder how much the genie is already out of the bottle.

I wonder how much A.I.

Is there there already?

Instances of it escaping ways they try to corral it into a into a singular spot.

But but I'm not for a cessation of data centers in the state or across the country, because we are in a race against China to build the most powerful A.I.

If we lose that race, we're in trouble.

Ending data centers in the U.S.

will put us at a great disadvantage, but we need to do it right.

We need to make it work for the state wherever we want to put them.

Thank you.

Miss Balow, 60 seconds.

A.I.

Is a topic that isn't just one dimension.

It'll be talked about over the next dozen years or more in up to a dozen or more committees across Congress, including the two that I want to serve on natural resources and energy and commerce.

I want to address three specific areas.

Number one is business.

That's where Congress needs to step in and work with business and industry to make sure that there's a framework that induces and encourages interstate commerce.

Second is the privacy and protection of our children.

It's really important that Congress weigh in on a national framework that then states and school districts and communities can get on board with and strengthen if they want to, to make sure that our children are safe.

The third is big tech.

Big tech wants regulation.

They want to report to government.

They want to have a partner in government to make sure that A.I.

Doesn't get off the rails.

That needs to have taken place yesterday, and it's something that I'll work on as your congresswoman.

Thank you, Mr.

Dodson.

60 seconds so the question is, who is empowered to put limits on A.I.?

And the answer is all of us, in particular, the federal government has very clear authority with regard to interstate commerce and how these A.I.

Data centers are communicating across state lines, across national lines around the world.

State government has police powers to protect, as Mr.

Biteman has already pointed out, the citizens of the state.

And so it is in their best interest to make sure that the power and water requirements of data centers are compatible with the needs of the rest of the citizens.

Local governments have control over zoning in their local areas, and where different kinds of infrastructure go, and the businesses who are replacing actual people with A.I.

Need to stop and think about it.

Would you let a three year old run your company, even if it's a very, very smart three year old?

Let's make sure we get A.I.

To a point where it actually is intelligent and not just guessing the next best thing to say.

Mr.

Christensen, 60 seconds.

Artificial intelligence has an important role to play in our national security, and it can have a very valuable role in our lives.

We have to remember first though, what's the a artificial?

It's not real intelligence.

We are responsible for making real intelligence and how we grow young people.

When we talk about who has the responsibility.

Yes, our counties and our states should be having engaged conversations with their local communities.

But moms and dads having conversations.

Do you know what your kids are doing with it?

Are they writing their papers for school?

With it?

You need to be engaged.

We all need to be engaged and talk about this.

When I worked at the Pentagon, I was working on some of the new technologies for artificial intelligence.

The tech companies didn't have an ethical framework.

Do you know what they were using?

Since the government had nothing?

Isaac Asimov's book, iRobot, that's what they went with.

It was the only thing that we could come up with.

We've been way behind this from the start, and it's time for the government to catch up.

Mr.

Giralt, 60 seconds.

I'd like to separate two different things, which is proposals to construct the data centers and artificial intelligence in our national security.

When it comes to the construction of data centers, that again, should be a county and local issue.

If there's a presentation for high paying jobs, respect for our resources, and a decision that is ultimately left to local communities, then that should be left to them.

When it comes to artificial intelligence and our security abroad and internationally, we arrive at a collective action problem, and their hard work needs to be done through the National Defense Authorization Act to ensure that we're safe, that our data is protected, and that we can live here in the United States knowing that freedom and opportunity are still something that we can experience.

And again, that our data is not being shipped to adversaries and is not being used by adversaries in order to manipulate the conversation here or our or limit our freedoms and opportunities here domestically.

Again, this is work that has to be done deliberately, and Congress is certainly behind the ball.

We're in the A.I.

Age, and Congress needs to be wise to start acting on this.

Thank you.

That's three questions out of four in this round.

Our final question in this round comes from Weston Pope.

Thank you.

Mr.

Biteman will be the first to respond.

What do you think Congress should do with all of President Trump's executive orders?

Which ones would you prioritize to legislate into law, and which ones would you skip?

Well, that's a great question.

I think first and foremost, being an energy guy, his energy dominance, everything he's done on nuclear and energy dominance needs to be codified by Congress.

Absolutely.

Those are game changers for the United States and for states like Wyoming, whose economy depends on energy.

We, we supply the whole nation and part of the world with energy.

They provide good paying jobs for our citizens.

And they build schools and they pay for great community colleges like the one we're sitting in right now.

Energy pays the bills.

We need our own domestic source of uranium in this country.

Wyoming has it.

We need to build out our our nuclear fleet for the next generation, for power generation.

So absolutely, those energy executive orders his immigration and election executive orders are also critical.

Those are things he ran on.

He has a clear mandate.

Congress needs to act.

They've been dragging their feet for too long.

They're going to waste another opportunity, and the voters are going to end up throwing them out of office if they don't get their act together.

Thank you.

Mr.

Reid Rasner.

60s.

Absolutely.

We should codify President Trump's executive orders and his energy executive orders.

We should codify his no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security so it doesn't expire.

Most importantly, we should look at executive orders that the legislators need to end, including Obama's terrible DACA order that the Supreme Court said the legislature needs to end that executive order through legislation.

That goes both ways.

We need to codify President Trump's.

But we also need to look past administrations to eliminate some of these executive orders.

We need an active Congress to do that.

Someone willing to go to Washington, D.C.

And fight for President Trump, stand alongside of him and fight for lower taxes to reduce your cost of living, to make homes more affordable, to make gas more affordable right there at the pump.

By codifying these executive orders.

Mr.

Friess, 60 seconds.

Several years before President Trump was even nominated, I coalesced a team of smart conservative attorneys in DC, and we built a library of executive orders.

President Trump used 20 of them in his first 100 days of his first term.

I also agree that his his his voter requirements voting requirements, executive order needs to be codified.

But one that happened in his first term that I think should definitely be made permanent into law is his regulatory budget.

And what this meant was that if an agency wants to pass a new regulation, that's going to put $100 million burden on the on the economy, they have to, quote, pay for it by repealing $100 million worth of regulation.

The idea being that we can't have agencies that just keep slowing us down, slowing down, corporations slowing down free enterprise.

There's a there's a we've reached a point where it has to stop.

And that's one that I would codify right away.

Thank you.

Miss Balow, 60 seconds.

In addition to codifying executive orders related to energy, there are a number of repeals and reforms in regulation that have also unleashed energy across the state that needs to continue.

So anything that can be codified to strengthen our energy dominance in Wyoming needs to be done.

That includes making sure that we have opportunities to double down on nuclear energy, not just uranium extraction, but the whole process of enrichment and advanced technology and realizing new revenue streams in energy.

A couple of other areas that need to be looked at.

Codifying include immigration, strong borders.

Make our strong, make our country strong, and we need to keep going on on immigration and making sure that our border stays secure no matter who is in office.

As president.

Third, is making sure that some of the executive orders related to education are codified.

And President Trump's executive order so far have done that.

Thank you, Mr.

Dodson.

60 seconds.

Pennies.

We don't need pennies.

I would support the executive order to continue not making any new pennies, but I wouldn't codify it.

I think we should allow the executive to make that decision.

Change it as necessary as time goes on.

But we don't need to waste money creating coins that are worth less than the metals that go into them.

And that's it.

Mr.

Christensen, 60 seconds.

As the only candidate that's actually worked in the federal government, let me tell you, executive orders have become a substitute for not having a legislative agenda.

We should do it.

The constitutional way.

Members of Congress who represent the people of their state go to Congress, and you put into proposals into bills to do the work that needs to get done in accordance with the priorities set by the people with whom they represent.

You know, when we have executive orders, they should be simply to give priorities on existing laws.

They provide clarity and they provide purpose and direction on on, on priorities for existing laws.

They should not be trying to create new laws.

And many of these executive orders have done that.

A legislative agenda should be set by the president and then implemented in Congress.

According to the U.S.

Constitution.

Mr.

Giralt, 60 seconds.

Is the only candidate who has worked in the federal legislature.

I would just simply like to add that the Congress is not a rubber stamp to the chief executive.

It simply cannot be the case that we have to oscillate between every four years, depending upon who's in the White House.

I think it's important that Congress gives families across the state of Wyoming the stability and the the predictability that we need for ten, 15 or 20 years.

I support executive orders that are in support of our small businesses.

99% of Wyoming businesses are categorized as small businesses.

I support executive orders such as the Energy Dominance Bill and any executive orders that seek to preserve our public lands so that we can enjoy them and all, and our public lands hold up the three legged stool of our economy here in the state of Wyoming, agriculture, tourism and energy development.

Responsibly using those resources so that we can thrive and that we can live here and enjoy those those, those same resources for generations to come is important.

And they should be codified in Congress for years to come, not simply to the next administration.

Mr.

Gray, 60 seconds.

It is so important that we codify President Trump's executive order.

Some of the ones that I would prioritize are proof of citizenship for registering to vote, which we got done in Wyoming.

And now we need those baseline election integrity standards at the federal level, stopping the Wall Street housing speculation that is driving up housing costs and codifying President Trump's executive orders on stopping illegal immigration.

But 20 minutes later, I'm finally going to respond to this false statement from one of my opponents who's been making false statements for six months against me.

I have been the strongest secretary of state in the nation.

On stopping China and North Korea.

Fox news has reported on it.

Our work with the FBI and stopping China and North Korea.

I stopped a Spanish wind farm, which was being proposed by our governor in Converse and Niobrara counties, and I'm the only member of the state Board of Land Commissioners to cast a no vote on the easement for the data center that was proposed in Cheyenne.

So these lies, which the people of Wyoming are rejecting, because Rasner is now in seventh place.

They are lies.

Thank you.

That concludes the all panel round of the debate.

Next is the lightning round.

1 or 2 word prompts will be given from each panelist.

Each candidate has up to 15 seconds to respond.

We'll go through as many of these as we can get to.

With about 18 minutes allotted for it, the first respondent will be Mr.

Rasner.

The first question comes from.

The first prompt comes from Clair McFarland.

Donald Trump.

Best president ever.

Mr.

Friess.

He saved the Republican Party.

He made it once again.

The party of the working man.

Miss Balow.

Executive officer, president and part of a check and balance with Congress.

Mr.

Dodson.

America was already great.

We didn't need to make it great again.

Mr.

Christensen.

He's our president, and as a person who spent his life serving his country, I'll always honor him as my president.

Mr.

Giralt.

Leader of the Republican Party and priorities setting setting forth a good generation.

Setting good.

Setting forth good priorities for the next generation.

Mr.

Gray.

American hero.

Mr.

Biteman.

He gave us America first.

I will take that fight to Congress.

And a man whose Republican Congress has hung him out to dry by stonewalling his agenda.

Thank you.

Next.

Lightning round prompt is from Nicky Ouellet.

Nationwide abortion ban exceptions.

Mr.

Friess, youre first.

Nationwide abortion ban.

Exceptions.

Could you clarify?

Are you feeling?

How do you feel about a congressionally mandated abortion ban?

And would there be exceptions to it?

Oh, boy.

My vote would be no.

Miss Balow.

No exceptions.

Supreme court weighed in.

These are states decisions.

Mr.

Dodson.

As long as there's such a thing as an ectopic pregnancy, we're going to have to have exceptions.

Mr.

Christensen.

10th amendment to the Constitution.

States rights and exceptions as determined by that state.

Mr.

Giralt.

I'm a pro-life person.

Those decisions should be left to the states as determined by the Supreme Court.

Mr.

Gray.

I'm for considering a national pro-life policy, and I'm strongly pro-life.

Proud to be endorsed by Wyoming right to Life.

Mr.

Biteman.

If it's a nationwide constitutional amendment for a personhood, I would support that.

But I think it should be left up to the states per the 10th amendment.

Mr.

Rasner.

I'm 100% pro-life, no exceptions.

Thank you.

Our next prompt is from Weston Pope.

Harriet Hageman, miss Balow, you're the first to respond.

I'm actually going to respond to the last one and say an ectopic pregnancy treatment is not an abortion.

Mr.

Dodson.

She is terrible at responding to constituent letters.

Mr.

Christensen.

Hard working and very dedicated to Wyoming, but I disagree with her on a number of things that she's chosen to do at the Trump administration level.

That Wyoming people didn't support.

Mr.

Giralt.

She's done an excellent job on legislation such as the Speed and Reform Act, and I will have additional priorities that I'll seek to achieve as the next member of Congress.

Mr.

Gray.

Congresswoman Hageman is a strong, strong, wonderful advocate for Wyoming.

Mr.

Biteman.

She's a good cook and she makes a mean lasagna.

Mr.

Rasner.

She's a strong conservative, and I look forward to working with her very soon.

Mr.

Friess.

She's a friend and big shoes to fill for the next person who takes her spot.

Thank you.

Our next prompt is.

From Clair McFarland.

Mr.

Dodson, you're first to respond.

Racial gerrymandering.

Dumb idea.

Don't do it.

Mr.

Christensen.

Unconstitutional.

Don't do it.

Mr.

Giralt.

Unconstitutional.

Mr.

Gray.

It's unconstitutional.

I'm.

And I'm proud of enforcing the Supreme Court's decision undoing that racial gerrymandering earlier this year.

It's unconstitutional.

Mr.

Biteman.

un-American.

Mr.

Rasner.

It's unconstitutional.

Mr.

Friess.

Thrilled that the Supreme Court shot it down and that we will now have districts gerrymandered or drawn, we should say, for more appropriate reasons.

Thank you.

Miss Balow.

Unconstitutional, illegal, and a political frustration.

Our next prompt is from Nicky Ouellet.

Mr.

Christensen, your first to respond.

Citizens United.

A choice.

Frustrating.

You know, I won't elaborate too much, but I think the amount of money that's been spent in this race, I think, has frustrated a lot of voters across the state of Wyoming.

Mr.

Gray.

It's a Supreme Court decision that needs to be reevaluated.

Mr.

Biteman.

Unfortunately, money is speech, and I don't have a whole hell of a lot of it.

Mr.

Rasner.

The Supreme Court said yes to it.

Our legislature should take up all election funding and codify that.

Mr.

Friess.

It was an interesting ruling.

I think it could have gone either way, but the ruling that that money is speech, is it just intrigues me that that's where they came down.

Miss Balow.

Thank God for Wyoming, where elections are not bought.

Mr.

Dodson.

Elections should not be for sale.

That said, I'm doing pretty well on a budget of under $5,000.

Thank you.

Our next prompt is from Weston Pope.

Political Heroes.

Theodore Roosevelt.

Mr.

Gray.

President Trump, Reagan.

Mr.

Biteman.

Coolidge, too.

Pardon me, Mr.

Biteman.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan.

Mr.

Rasner.

President Trump our a great senator Craig Thomas and I loved Representative Barbara Cubin.

Mr.

Friess.

I like Washington, Jefferson and I'll add a non-politician, Charlie Kirk.

Miss Balow.

Ronald Reagan, Al Simpson and the spouses and families behind all elected officials.

Mr.

Dodson.

Can't go wrong with the Mount Rushmore, Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Mr.

Christensen.

Alan Simpson and Ronald Reagan.

I'll ask our timer how we're doing for our 18 minutes.

We have time for more.

Our next prompt from Clair McFarland.

Nuclear Waste.

Mr.

Gray, your first respond.

Awful.

And I was proud to lead the effort to make sure that there would not be nuclear waste storage in Wyoming.

We were able to successfully stop that last year.

Mr.

Biteman.

It should be up to the local communities to decide if they want to be the repository for nuclear storage, because it could be very lucrative financially for them.

But other than that, it should not be a federal mandate.

Mr.

Rasner.

I'm against storing nuclear waste in Wyoming.

I am for the expansion of our uranium mines.

Mr.

Friess.

It's a challenge.

But for some communities it might be a manageable opportunity.

Miss Balow.

A small part of nuclear energy and a local decision.

Mr.

Dodson.

I've been impressed recently with the technologies available for sequestering nuclear waste.

That said, I'm happy to let New Mexico have it.

Mr.

Christensen.

We don't always want it in our own backyard, but there are opportunities out there.

Nuclear energy is is clean, and there are some communities where it would make sense to have nuclear energy in Wyoming.

Mr.

Giralt.

There should be community driven decisions, and we should not be seen as the national repository for nuclear waste.

Continuing on, our next prompt is from Nicky Ouellet.

In-person town halls.

Mr.

Biteman, youre first to respond.

Oh, they're good if people show up, it's up to them to show up, though.

Mr.

Rasner.

I'm all for them and I will continue.

What Representative Hageman did by visiting every single county across Wyoming every single year.

Mr.

Friess.

It's a joy to meet the people of Wyoming up close.

I'm all for them.

Miss Balow.

I'm holding them now and I will hold them after I'm elected.

Mr.

Dodson.

I'm a big fan.

Everybody should have the opportunity to tell their representatives what exactly it is that they're thinking.

Mr.

Christensen.

I did town halls for six years in the federal government.

If you want to know what people think, you have to be a public figure who's willing to stand there and get the questions and be honest and open with the people that you serve.

Mr.

Giralt.

Best opportunity to hear in-person feedback, whether it's positive or negative, is is held through in-person town halls.

Mr.

Gray.

Town halls are wonderful.

I've held them as a state legislator now as Wyoming Secretary of State, and I will continue to do them as Wyoming's next congressman.

Across Wyoming, multiple town halls in every single county, every year.

In addition, my cell phone, which I've always given out 307-251-1372, 307-251-1372 and that comes to me directly.

We have time for a couple more.

Next prompt is from Weston Pope.

Recommended vaccinations.

Mr.

Rasner, youre first to respond.

I am against forced vaccinations.

In fact, I was kicked off the Natrona County Planning and Zoning Committee for not wearing a mask, and I'm proud to carry that badge.

No one forces anyone to have a vaccination.

Mr.

Friess.

The more I learned, the more questions I have.

Miss Balow.

Tread carefully.

Some vaccines can help eradicate disease.

Some vaccines may be recommended, but not necessary.

Mr.

Dodson.

One of the first things the Army did when I enlisted back in 1986 was vaccinate me for just about everything under the sun and including smallpox.

I'm a big fan.

Mr.

Christensen.

Nobody gets between moms and dads and having conversations with their doctor to make recommendations on what's best for them and their children, nobody gets between them.

Mr.

Giralt.

I'm perfectly okay with recommendations, and I'm wholly against any sort of mandates.

Mr.

Gray.

Vaccine mandates are outrageously wrong, and I'm the only candidate up here on the stage that has a track record of stopping them.

As a Wyoming state legislator and getting that 2021 special session called to stop the Covid.

Biden vaccine mandates.

Mr.

Biteman.

Well, I, too, was in the legislature at that time and fought very hard for your healthcare freedom and your right of personal autonomy.

You can't live in a free country and have somebody force you to take a vaccine against your will.

Recommendations are just that recommendations.

But at the end of the day, you're ultimately responsible for your healthcare and your child's health care.

Next prompt is from Clair McFarland.

Israel.

Mr.

Freiss, youre first to respond.

Our ally in the Middle East.

All of us can go visit the holy sites where Jesus walked because Israel is in control.

Miss Balow.

Historical and strategic ally.

Mr.

Dodson.

Israel is not Judaism.

Mr.

Christensen.

Israel is an important ally.

It is an important asset for us in the Middle East, and we have to always cultivate that relationship with them.

Mr.

Giralt.

Where our priorities align, we should work with Israel as a force multiplier and where they diverge.

We should be okay going about our own separate ways.

Mr.

Gray.

Israel is a strategic ally, but all of our policy in regards to Israel must be driven by an America First goal.

It must be driven by America First policy goals.

Mr.

Biteman.

Mossad, Jeffrey Epstein got us into the Iran War.

Used to be a strong ally, but now I'm starting to question that.

Mr.

Rasner.

Israel, Israel is our greatest ally in the region.

And I always say it's Wyoming first America always and Israel forever.

Thank you.

We'll continue our next prompt from Nicky Ouellet.

Miss Balow, you'll be first to respond.

Increasing the number of representatives in the House.

No.

Mr.

Dodson.

As many people have complained that we've got the bare minimum and they have dozens more, I say, yeah, let's do it.

Mr.

Christensen.

Absolutely not.

Not needed.

Mr.

Giralt.

No.

If you think a body of 435 representatives is dysfunctional then I would suggest thinking about what, 3 or 4 that number would do.

Mr.

Gray.

I'm opposed.

Mr.

Biteman.

No way.

Mr.

Rasner.

Not on my watch.

I'm a fighter.

And you got to send a fighter to Washington to deal with these Democrat socialists.

Mr.

Friess.

Because of the lack of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, there may be 10 to 14 representatives in Congress that shouldn't be there.

Continuing, Weston Pope has the next prompt.

Mr.

Dodson, you'll be first to respond.

Public lands for housing.

Oh, housing is a big deal, and it's going to be hard to solve that because it's a big deal nationwide in every community.

Probably not, though.

Not public land.

Mr.

Christensen.

Certainly for state lands.

And there's cases all over the West where certain parts of public lands have been sold to communities to assist in growing communities and having that available for for housing.

Mr.

Giralt.

There's already a process in place, and it should be utilized.

But first and foremost, that should always be a community driven decision.

Mr.

Gray.

We must keep public lands in public hands, manage our public lands for multiple use, make sure that we can recreate on our public lands.

And the lead proposal was outrageously wrong.

It was wrong for Wyoming, wrong for our nation.

Mr.

Biteman.

For housing and areas in the West such as Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Jackson Hole where they are out of supply.

Yes, it might make sense, but it should be a locally decided issue.

Mr.

Rasner.

We keep public lands in public hands.

I'm a hunter and a fisherman and I recreate on those lands.

And I know all of you do.

And they have to stay open and accessible to all of us here in Wyoming.

Mr.

Friess.

It should be a local decision.

The decisions made closest to the people are the best, and I understand some of our towns Worland I believe there's there's federal land right up to the back to the back door of some houses.

I'm sure that some land swaps would be a good idea.

Miss Balow.

No wholesale sale or transfer of public lands.

Local and state voices make decisions about land transfers for housing, but avoiding treasured lands needs to be done at all costs.

Thank you.

Our next prompt is from Clair McFarland and Mr.

Christen -sen, youre first to respond.

ICE.

As in the the agency.

The agency ICE.

Okay.

All right.

Important sovereign nations have secure borders.

We are a sovereign nation.

If you do not have secure borders, you're not a sovereign nation.

Mr.

Giralt.

They should carry out their orders with human dignity.

And we should prioritize funding to ensure that they can successfully accomplish their mission.

Mr.

Gray.

We must support ICE and their very important work.

We have to enforce our immigration law, stop illegal immigration.

And President Trump is doing great work on that, and he needs to be supported by the Congress.

Mr.

Biteman.

Yes, in order to deport the tens of millions of illegals that flooded across our border during the Biden administration, ICE needs to be properly funded.

But most importantly, properly trained to do their job effectively and humanely.

Mr.

Rasner.

We need to fully fund ICE and our Border Patrol and make sure they are in our communities with doing mass deportations.

Mr.

Friess.

ICE is an essential part of our national security.

We need people that aren't supposed to be here to leave.

This Balow.

ICE is critical.

Law enforcement, and they must be fully funded and able to do their jobs.

Mr.

Dodson.

Any federal government agency that would summarily execute an American citizen for legally carrying a weapon on the streets of America should be abolished.

Thank you all.

That concludes the lightning round portion.

We move now to our final questioning round of the debate.

One round of individual questions, one question per candidate.

60 second responses from the initial respondent.

The next person in line may use 20 seconds for a rebuttal or other response, followed by 15 seconds back to the original respondent for a follow up if desired.

Our first question will be from Nicky Ouellet and.

Mr.

Gray is the first to respond.

As a freshman in the lone representative from Wyoming, what specific steps will you take to be an impactful, productive member of Congress?

Well, I have a track record of this.

When I was elected to the Wyoming State Legislature, I was really one of only 6 or 7 conservatives at that time.

And we passed a wave of conservative legislation over the six years that I served in the state legislature.

The ultrasound bill, which was the first pro-life bill in over 30 years, the bill to ensure that we had access to markets for our coal, and then voter I.D.

In in 2021.

And what I learned during that time is that people respond to legislators with conviction, legislators that are approachable have a sense of humor, but also are authentic.

And that's certainly what I am.

I'm, I believe in what I believe.

I believe in standing for the silent majority in Wyoming and other legislators are drawn to that.

And even legislators like on voter I.D.

That voted no for years, I was able to work with them over time and get them to yes.

And that's what I plan on doing as Wyoming's next member of the United States Congress.

Mr.

Biteman 20 seconds to respond.

Well, that's not the history I remember serving with my good friend Chuck.

He developed a reputation of being a bully, and he treated people roughly.

And he did not have the respect of his colleagues because of the way he treated them.

Mr.

Gray 15 second follow up, if you like.

Well, Biteman is wrong.

I had a track record of calling for recorded votes, which created accountability.

Legislators didn't like that, and there were some that were upset about that.

But I stand by that.

Legislators should be on the record with their votes.

They shouldn't have voice votes, and that's why some of them didn't like that.

But other ones I worked with and got them to the finish line.

On issues like voter I.D.

Thank you sir.

The next question will be for Mr.

Biteman, and the questioner is Weston Pope.

How will you cut U.S.

spending and where in the budget specifically would you look for cuts?

60 seconds sir.

60 seconds well Elon Musk and DOGE identified billions and billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse.

That's where you start.

You can't ask the taxpayers to fork over another dollar until the U.S.

Government has been responsible stewards of taxpayer money.

You start with waste, fraud and abuse and go from there.

Mr.

Rasner.

20 second response.

Absolutely.

And I like what you did in the state legislature.

Bo and thank you for that.

And I'd like to remind everyone that in 2021, as a freshman legislator, our very own Secretary of State, Chuck Gray, voted to give tax breaks to big data centers right here in Wyoming and usher them in.

Am I going to get to respond to that, per your rules?

Am I going to get to respond?

Are you ever going to follow your rules?

I'm following the rules, sir.

Okay, so I can't respond.

You said.

You'll have another.

You'll have another chance to speak during this round.

Youre not following your rules.

I am following the rules.

Invite you to check them.

Do you want to continue, sir?

You're not following your rules, I. I just ask you to follow the rules.

Our next question is from Clair.

I'm sorry, Mr.

Biteman 15 second follow up.

If you'd like.

Oh.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Next question is for Mr.

Mister Rasner.

You'll be the first to respond.

And the question is from... Clair McFarland.

Okay.

Thank you.

The federal government is arguably the least transparent level of government in this nation, and records requests take months if they're answered at all.

Do you seek to fix that?

And how?

Absolutely.

And I would talk about sunshine laws and making sure we have clear transparency in our Congress and in our federal government so that you can have public records requests so that you can have access and more access to our federal government in those documents.

It's very important to me.

Transparency has always been important, and I'm the most transparent candidate standing up here on the stage tonight.

Mr.

Friess 20 seconds to respond Sunlight is the very best disinfectant.

And as a conservative philanthropist, building the conservative movement, one of the organizations we supported was open the books and they go state by state and help laws get passed.

So you can see how your dollars get spent.

And we help them across the country.

Mr.

Rasner, 15 more seconds if you'd like.

We have to have sunshine laws.

I'm glad you agree with me, Steve.

Thank you.

Next question is from Nicky Ouellet and Mr.

Friess.

You'll be the first to respond.

Indigenous people are murdered and go missing at disproportionately high rates here in Wyoming and across the nation.

What measures would you support to address this crisis?

I've begun learning about this issue, and it's it's terrifying to me.

When I was last in Cheyenne, there was an entire exhibit at the at at the State museum there.

And I was, I was very moved by the plight of these women who seemed to come at high, very high rates to, to very tragic ends.

I think there's got to be more funding for this.

There's got to be more focus on this.

It's tragic.

I don't know the answers, but I know, I know that we've got to look to we've got to look for answers to this.

It's it's tragic.

Miss Balow 20 second response.

If excuse me, if indigenous issues are tragic, the issues with women are even more tragic with the tribes.

As state superintendent, I was formal and informal with the tribes, with both government to government as well as informal, just building relationships.

So I'm glad to hear that Steve would do the same.

Mr.

Friess 15 second follow up if you'd like.

I look forward to learning more about how this issue can be addressed.

Thank you.

Next question is from Weston Pope.

Miss Balow, you're the first to respond.

Housing affordability is a much talked about issue around the nation, including Wyoming.

Is affordable housing a matter for Congress?

And if so, do you have specific ideas on how to address it?

Throughout this campaign, I have visited communities and talked with leaders and citizens and housing is always a challenge.

It's a challenge that's unique to each community.

It always comes down to affordability, inventory and the high price of buying and selling houses.

We have antiquated laws in Congress, and that is something that I would fix.

As your congresswoman, making sure that we reduce regulations that make it burdensome to buy, sell or build a house, making sure that we incentivize the buying and selling of houses so that young people can achieve the American dream, making sure that we, especially incentivize first time buyers, and that while we're doing that, we update antiquated laws around housing so that it works for today's generation and tomorrow's generation.

Finally, curbing spending in Congress that is out of control and reckless.

Reckless will undoubtedly bring down the interest rates for houses, making them more affordable.

Mr.

Dodson, 20 second response.

Housing affordability is probably the main obstacle that is keeping us from getting more people moved from homelessness into housing, and it's going to take more funding for housing supports at the federal level.

Miss.

Balow 15 second follow up.

If you'd like.

More than 60% of Americans agree that owning a home is still part of the American dream, I want to ensure that that happens for everyone in Wyoming.

Our next question is from Clair McFarland.

Mr.

Dodson, you're the first to respond.

The federal government has held tribal lands in trust for more than a century.

This helps to keep those lands intact but intact.

But it can also cripple development and infrastructure.

Would you change that?

And how?

Tribal lands are probably one of the biggest sticking points in our history with regard to the native tribes.

Anything that we do at the federal level is going to have to be with and in conversation with and cooperation with the nations themselves.

We can't do anything at the federal level by ourselves without really stepping on a lot of toes.

So whatever it is that we do, we're going to have to reach out and say, hey, what are your ideas?

Start there.

Mr.

Christensen 20 seconds.

The tribes are sovereign nations, and we, the United States of America, have made agreements, and we have to honor those agreements.

The tribal lands have to be managed in accordance with the wishes and desires of the tribes, in accordance with the treaties that we have signed up to.

And we have to be willing to live up to that.

Mr.

Dodson, anything to add 15 seconds?

I just wish I'd said it as well as he did.

Thank you.

Next question is from Nicky Ouellet.

Mr.

Christensen, you're the first to respond.

What would you change about our system of federal immigration enforcement?

If anything?

Well, I'd say the problem we have with illegal immigration is that our legal immigration system is broken.

When you look back at our Immigration Control Reform Act, that our very own Senator Alan Simpson, championed back in 1986, we set penalties for businesses that bring in illegal immigrants.

We don't enforce that.

We go after the people, the people who are coming here for opportunity.

And that's part of what's wrong.

We have to fix legal immigration.

We need to have in our country access to the immigration workforce.

We need it in our farms.

We need it in our number two industry for the state of Wyoming.

They're important, and we have to be able to do it legally.

We need a wall.

Every wall must have a door.

And we have to have people coming through that door in an orderly fashion, in accordance with our laws.

Mr.

Giralt 20 seconds to respond As the son of two legal immigrants who came to this country and allowed me and my brothers to experience and enjoy the American dream, this is deeply important to me.

We need to have an efficient legal system, but we also need to ensure.

And that includes digitizing it, ensuring that our immigration courts are fully staffed, fully funded, and that people can navigate those systems efficiently.

But it.

Mr.

Christensen, 15 seconds if you'd like.

As we enforce these laws that are out there on the books, let's also remember the human factor.

We're Republicans.

We can be compassionate towards the people who have tried to come here.

Final question in this round is from Austin Weston Pope.

Mr.

Giralt, you're the first to respond.

Much of the U.S.

Representatives work comes in committee hearings, research and analysis.

Are there a couple of specific House committees well suited to your interests and experience?

Absolutely.

And as again, the only person who's worked in the federal legislature, I'm very excited.

And I want to emphasize the importance of our next member of Congress sitting on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee and the Budget Committee.

I'm very proud to be supported throughout this campaign.

Maybe not with the amount of money that others have, but with support through demonstrated hard work by members of Congress who sit on those committees.

The importance of each one of those committees is the House Armed Services Committee is the only committee in Congress that has passed a bill for 66 years, the only one, if we want to have our priorities included in federal legislation, we need to have a member who can sit on that committee.

Second is the House Natural Resources Committee.

This is critical to our public lands, to mineral and energy development.

It is critical that a member can sit there and work with other people in order to advance the priorities, not only of our minerals and energy extraction, but also through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to honor the agreements that we've had historically in the past, and most importantly, to sit on the Budget Committee if we want to get reckless spending under control, we need to have a member who will do serious work on the Budget Committee.

Thank you.

Mr.

Gray, 20 seconds.

Well, I'm very passionate about defending our core coal, oil and gas, soda ash farming and ranching industries.

And that's why I want to serve on natural resources on AG, but also the admin committee, which has jurisdiction over election bills, the Save America Act.

I was asked to testify because Wyoming was the first state in the nation to get the Save America Act done at the state level with our leadership, and I want to get that done as an admin committee on the admin committee and also ban congressional stock trading.

Mr.

Giralt 15 seconds.

If you'd like.

Very good.

What's important here is that the committees that drive my decision, or rather the people who drive my decision to determine which committees I'll sit on are the people of Wyoming.

The priorities are of Wyoming, are the priorities that will drive my decisions on representation and which committees are most important to this state.

This concludes the question and answer period of the debate.

Candidates.

Thank you.

We move now to closing statements, which are recommended for 30 seconds.

We'll go in the reverse order that we began the debate.

Miss Balow, you'll begin.

Thank you.

I'm a tried, true, tested and accountable leader in Wyoming.

I'm a fifth generation Wyomingite and I am ready to go to work for Wyoming 24/7 365.

I am not interested in soundbites.

I'm not interested in headlines.

I don't have family wealth to manage back home, and I will be all Wyoming all the time.

I understand all of Wyoming.

I'm an FFA mom.

I'm an Army mom, I'm a teacher and I'm a leader.

I appreciate your vote on August 18th.

Thank you, Mr.

Friess.

I'm pro-life.

Pro-second amendment and pro never raising your taxes.

All of our polling shows that this is really a race between two individuals up here.

I called Harriet Hageman today and said, what's the most important thing to be successful in Congress?

And she said, Steve, you need to be able to get along with people and work well with them.

I think I set myself apart in that respect.

Thank you.

Mr.

Rasner.

I'm Reid Rasner a fourth generation Wyomingite and self-made businessman right here in Wyoming.

I cut my teeth at Wyoming Glass in Casper, and I built tremendous businesses and employed over 200 people in this state.

I didn't get to grow up in Jackson Hole, and I didn't get to become a career politician.

But I'm here to fight for Wyoming against the Socialists in Congress.

I can get things done.

I'm a businessman, and that's what we need in in Washington, D.C., not more career politicians.

Thank you, Mr.

Biteman.

Thank you.

I'm Bo Biteman.

I'm the current Senate president of the Wyoming State Senate.

I'm a land man, a husband, a father of two teenage daughters.

I live right here in Sheridan County.

My wife works here at Sheridan College.

I am a people person.

I get along well with people.

I build coalitions.

That's how I was effective in the state legislature.

Talk is cheap.

You need to send somebody to Washington, D.C.

that's actually done everything that's being talked about up on this stage.

I have a ten year proven track record of delivering actual conservative wins, putting them into law, and leading.

I urge you to take a look at my record and vote for me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray.

Well, I have a track record of getting things done.

As a Wyoming state legislator, as Wyoming secretary of state, proof of citizenship for registering to vote stopping data centers, voter I.D., and the polling that we just got off the presses from Fabrizio Trump's top pollsters.

This is a two man race between Christensen and I, and I've enjoyed debating Christensen over Mr.

Christensen over the the last few months, but he's much too liberal for the silent majority in the state of Wyoming.

So the conservatives need to unite around our campaign.

Christensen is in second.

And we need.

We need to have a united uniting of the conservative movement in this race.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Giralt.

My name is David Giralt proudly.

I'm the son of two legal immigrants who came here and gave me the opportunity to experience the American Dream.

With that was an understanding of the responsibility that we incur as a part of that dream.

I then went on to serve as an Army Ranger, deployed twice to combat, and had the opportunity to serve as my last active duty assignment in helping different members of Congress, draft and pass federal legislation.

With only one member in Congress, it is imperative that that person understands the system, has relationships and a network ready to deliver results.

On behalf of the people of Wyoming and for the future generations.

Thank you.

Mr.

Christensen.

Mr.

Gray was right about one thing.

It is a two person race, and it has evolved between the two of us.

You can see the stark differences between us, who can work with people and who can't.

I have a proven track record too.

I've led people in combat.

I've influenced in Congress on the House and Senate Armed Services committees in the state of Wyoming.

I have led public lands for six years.

This is about a choice of who you want to lead.

I'm not a liberal.

I think I've been called a Reagan Bush era traditional conservative.

And I'm glad to be associated with that.

Thank you, Mr.

Dodson.

When I was 20 years old, I ran for the local school board against an education professor at the college that I was attending.

I lost that race by two votes.

And the next day, 11 people told me that if they'd known it was going to be close, they would have voted with eight of us on the stage.

And what 40% of us undecided?

Anybody up here can win.

If you think your candidate has no chance, you're wrong.

Make sure you vote.

Candidates.

Thank you.

Remember, the primary election is Tuesday, August 18th.

Around Wyoming early voting already has begun.

Contact your local county clerk's office for instructions on early voting if that's how you wish to proceed.

This debate can be seen again anytime online at Wyoming PBS and YouTube.

Wyoming PBS plans four other debates next week for Secretary of State and State Superintendent of Public Instruction on Tuesday, August 11th, and for U.S.. Senate and Governor on Thursday, August 13th.

All four of those debates are at Central Wyoming College in Riverton.

Thanks for being with us.

You're watching Wyoming PBS.