Former legislator, state official announces run for Wyo governor
January 27, 2010 by Phil Noble
Filed under Recent Posts
by Phil Noble, Cowboy State Free Press Bureau Chief
CHEYENNE–Ron Micheli of Fort Bridger, who served 16 years in the state legislature and eight years as head of the state Department of Agriculture, formally announced his candidacy for the office of Governor of Wyoming in the Republican primary today. Using the state capitol rotunda as a backdrop, speaking before a crowd of 150 people, Micheli hit on themes including his experience and the invasiveness of the federal government.
Micheli spoke of small business values he developed as a fourth-generation Wyoming rancher in Wyoming’s Bridger Valley in extreme Southwest Wyoming. He also hit themes of fiscal restraint in state government, saying “the state budget has nearly tripled in the past seven years,” a reference to the length of time the current governor, Dave Freudenthal, has been in office.
Micheli also touched on family values themes. “We need a leader who will uphold the sanctity of marriage and uphold the sanctity of life,” he said. Of government in general, he said, “we need to keep taxes low, spending down and get out of the way and let the private sector work.”
“Our greatest challenge is coming out of Washington, DC,” he said, which is “punishing energy producing states like Wyoming. The Obama administration is producing job killing regulations.”
Continuing his anti-Washington theme, he said, “Our president is the most inexperienced person we’ve ever had in that office and we’re paying the price.”
He noted that Wyoming’s energy sector produces “almost 80 percent of state government revenues,” and is thus the most important sector to defend from federal intrusion.
Micheli is the third Republican gubernatorial candidate to formally announce, having been preceded by State Auditor Rita Meyer and former U.S. Attorney Matt Mead, both of whom announced last week.
