Retired Army veteran announces his bid for Nethercott's seat in the Senate

Jan. 3—CHEYENNE — Gregg Smith said he's barely heard a word from Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, in the two years that he's lived in her district. This radio silence prompted him to run for her seat during the 2024 election.

"I mean, I agree with her on all of her stuff," Smith told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Tuesday. "But does everybody? Does the majority?"

Smith is a retired Army veteran, father of two daughters and lead singer in a local country band called "All In." Over the past few weeks, he said, he used his social skills to talk with neighbors about where they stood on policy issues and politics, in general. These conversations revealed a large amount of distrust between constituents and their elected officials.

"In general, they don't like politicians. They think they're all lying, conniving and greedy," Smith said. "If (elected officials) spent more time actually talking to the people, these people would trust them more."

Despite no previous political experience, Smith said he was qualified to run for office for one simple reason.

"In our Constitution, it says 'Government of the people, for the people, by the people,'" he said. "I'm the people. I mean, to me, that's all the qualification you really need."

Confident in his public speaking abilities, as well as connecting with the people in his district, Smith is determined to find out what the majority wants and take that message to the Legislature.

Property tax relief

In Smith's opinion, constant clashing in the Legislature between the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a far-right Republican group, and the more mainstream Wyoming Caucus has delayed past attempts to address property tax issues.

"If you have two sections within the same party fighting, how are you supposed to get anything done?," he said.

Four draft bills addressing property tax relief will be considered in the upcoming biennial budget session. One proposes expanding the property tax relief program, another suggests a cap on property taxes, a third would provide property tax exemptions for long-term homeowners and a fourth would create three additional classes of property taxes.

Smith's only comment was that all four bills seemed to be "pretty straightforward."

"I haven't seen anything suspicious about them yet," he said.

A pending voter-initiated property tax ballot measure proposes slashing property taxes for all residential homeowners by 50%. After it was conditionally certified by Secretary of State Chuck Gray last September, the proposal needs nearly 30,000 signatures by Feb. 12 to be added to the 2024 general election ballot.

Smith said such an extreme measure "sounds great to a voter," but he believes the loss in property tax revenue would be detrimental for cities and counties.

"Road repair would disappear or be minimalized," Smith said. "City developments will go away. Because it's not just city money paying for this stuff, it's state money."

Abortion

As both a Republican and a Christian, Smith said he is pro-life. But as a man, he doesn't think it should be up to him to decide whether a woman should get an abortion, especially in cases of rape or to save the mother's life.

"It should be a woman's decision," Smith said. "While I'm pro-life, it's not my decision to make, and it shouldn't be the government's decision to make for a woman."

Deciding when an abortion should be illegal, however, is a "gray area." Smith said the life of his nephew, who was born four-and-a-half months early, was saved after the premature baby was placed in an incubator.

Admitting he isn't a physician, Smith said an unborn baby's life should be protected once brain waves and a heart beat are detected, and the fetus can survive outside the mother's body.

"That might go against my party, but that's one of the few things I'll go against them on," he said.

Smith said he planned to file his candidacy with the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office during the candidate filing period, which begins May 16 and ends at 5 p.m. May 31.

The filing period is open to anyone who wishes to run for office, with the exception of school, college and special district positions. These positions have a later filing date that begins Aug. 7.

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.