Jimmy Skovgard for U.S. Senate

06/23/2026

Talking about the economy.

Jimmy Skovgard measures the economy by what Wyoming families can afford: groceries, fuel, utilities, savings, and a sustainable life at home.

06/23/2026

I sat next to Chelsea Matthews, the current Albany County Assessor, at a local Republican gathering in Laramie. As assessor, Chelsea finds herself at the center of the ongoing debate surrounding a major voter initiative aimed at slashing property tax values by 50%. While acknowledging that people are actively seeking tax relief, Chelsea emphasizes her role as an educator rather than an advocate, seeking to inform the public on both the immediate relief and the downstream fiscal realities that come with such drastic cuts.

Our conversation dives straight into the complex trade-offs inherent in modifying county revenue streams. A 50% reduction in property values would trigger significant fiscal impacts, forcing hard choices about localized funding for municipalities, essential county functions, and vital services like rural fire districts and routine road maintenance, including snow removal. Chelsea points out that municipalities often bear a heavier burden when tax changes rely on individual applications, as the higher density of city residents leads to a more concentrated reduction in localized revenue. Ultimately, we agree that the best path forward is a deeply educated public that understands both sides of the ledger. Rather than allowing division to widen, citizens are encouraged to view their county assessors across all 23 counties as open-door, accessible resources to better navigate upcoming legislation and understand the true impact on our communities.

Join Our Grassroots Movement

Our grassroots rising campaign believes that true civic progress is built on education, transparent communication, and community dialogue. If you want to see a Wyoming where fiscal policy is handled with careful consideration for both tax relief and essential public infrastructure, please visit skovgard2026.org to get involved. By signing up to volunteer, participating in our town halls, or supporting our platform, you ensure that our state leaders remain accessible and accountable to the citizens they serve. Let us move past divisive rhetoric, engage directly with our local officials, and build a stronger, more informed Wyoming together.

06/22/2026

I sat with Terri Jones, the current Chairman of the Albany County Commission, to discuss her campaign for re-election. Terri explains that this third term will be her last because she firmly believes in term limits, a principle that aligns perfectly with my own core platform. We examine the fundamental value of serving a specific legislative season and then returning to civilian life to live directly under the outcomes and consequences of the policies we created.

Our conversation focuses on the critical fiscal pressures currently facing Albany County, particularly the severe risks associated with a pending voter initiative aimed at cutting property taxes. Terri details that property taxes make up nearly 48% of the county’s operating budget, providing the necessary structural financing to manage local infrastructure and essential public services. An abrupt drop in these revenues would directly impact the county’s ability to operate the local jail, fund the Sheriff’s office, and maintain critical road and bridge infrastructure across our expansive rural areas. While citizens possess a foundational right to bring these measures forward, we emphasize that voters must understand the downstream trade-offs, as hollowing out local budgets will inevitably force a reduction in our public workforce and service capacity.

Keep Our Grassroots Rising

We need your voice and your insight to ensure that our local county governments remain stable, resilient, and fiscally sound. If you believe in protecting our public infrastructure, funding essential safety services, and bringing common-sense, transparent representation to our state, please visit skovgard2026.org to join our movement. By signing up to volunteer, joining our community discussions, or contributing to our campaign, you help us bring authentic, accountable leadership back to the people of Wyoming. Let us stand together to build a stronger future and ensure that our governance always rests in the hands of the citizens

06/21/2026

Common sense!

Unintended consequences

That's become my catch phrase over the last few years as MAGA, Moms for Liberty, and the Freedom Caucus have taken the spotlight.

When they craft policies that may (but usually don't) work in metropolitan areas and apply them to frontier-rural Wyoming, they cause harm and confusion.

They vote for policies without considering how they conflict with existing state laws, or how they cause real damage to our Wyoming communities.

We need leaders who understand this and are capable of making decisions based on long term results and implications.

We need future - minded leaders who know why we love Wyoming.

Fiscal responsibility
Live and let live
Personal autonomy
Community support
Truth, honor, and integrity

This year, make a commitment to your family and your community that you will learn about the candidates and the issues. You'll consider what people say versus what they mean, and you'll choose candidates who are honest and clear with how they'll build a Wyoming future to be proud of.

06/21/2026

I sit down with Ray, a young Wyoming resident who shares her perspective on the political issues most critical to our youth. Ray highlights housing availability and skyrocketing costs as a massive hurdle for her generation, noting that under current economic conditions, she is projected to be locked out of homeownership until at least age 50. We discuss current proposals to release certain public lands to increase housing supply, drawing on basic economic principles of supply and demand to address the state’s severe lack of inventory.

However, we agree that dumping public land into the market without careful planning is not the answer. I emphasize that we must establish clear guidelines first, as adjoining federal land sections currently block the natural growth of cities like Midwest and Jackson Hole, making it incredibly difficult for young people to secure standard financing. Beyond housing, our conversation covers broader economic anxieties, including the impact of international conflicts on global energy demands and the direct reality that Wyoming must continue to responsibly produce energy to protect our stability. Ultimately, this episode underscores my core commitment to this campaign: true leadership means listening directly to our people, rather than letting a handful of wealthy individuals dictate where our communities go.

Join Our Grassroots Movement

Our grassroots rising campaign is built entirely on the principle that your voice matters, and we need your engagement to build a more accessible future for Wyoming. If you believe that our state needs actionable strategies for affordable housing, smart land management, and an economy that works for the next generation, please visit skovgard2026.org to get involved. You can sign up to volunteer, share your thoughts on our community platform, or make a contribution to help us take this message to every corner of the state. Let us work together to ensure that our young people can afford to build their lives right here at home.

06/20/2026

Host Jimmy Skovgard sits down with Eric to examine the role of Political Action Committees (PACs) and organized voter coalitions within Wyoming’s political landscape. Prompted by Jimmy’s upcoming attendance at a debate hosted by a conservative family alliance in Cheyenne, the conversation explores the ethics and fairness of unified political advocacy. Eric asserts that collective organization is a fundamental right in a free society, though public interpretation of aggregate political information can vary.

The dialogue pivots to the structural and legal distinctions between individual campaign donations and PAC contributions. Jimmy explains that while individual contributions in Wyoming are capped at $1,500, a PAC can contribute up to $5,000 to a campaign, creating distinct structural advantages for well-organized groups. Responding to Eric’s query about whether financial influence in politics mirrors money’s influence in the justice system, Jimmy notes a core difference: the judiciary is bound to adjudicate the Constitution and the rule of law, whereas PACs are designed to promote fluid ideological agendas.

Jimmy also addresses transparency, pointing out that Wyoming PACs are legally required to log their financial data publicly on the state-maintained website, wycampaignfinance.gov. The episode concludes with a brief overview of the alliance’s four guiding pillars, sanctity of life, religious freedom, school choice, and parental rights, before Jimmy wraps up, promising a comprehensive debrief of the evening’s debate in the next episode.

Our campaign needs your help to spread this message of unity and civic engagement across Wyoming. Please consider sharing our digital campaign materials by visiting our outreach page at skovgard2026.org/share. We built this share page so you can easily select a specific topic to send to your network; simply scroll to the bottom of your selection, enter your first name, select the email box, and send the first one to yourself to see exactly how the page works. Once you see how it operates, return to the page on your cell phone and share it with your contacts by selecting “use contacts” in your email feed to message up to ten people at a time. To ensure we can expand our reach, the campaign is also looking to raise $2,700 to secure critical email addresses and an additional $4,000 to fund text messaging systems that raise vital awareness. Every contribution helps us build a more accountable government, so please consider making a donation, small or large, at skovgard2026.org/donate. Thank you for standing with us to make a difference.

06/19/2026

SHARE. SHARE. SHARE and VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

https://candidates.skovgard2026.org/

06/19/2026

Vote August 18
Wyoming’s primary is the de facto election.
This is where we elected 97% of our leadership in 2024.
Find out who is running. See the field. Compare the candidates. Ask better questions before ballots are cast.
Every candidate. One place. Wyoming voters decide.
We are missing data from several counties if you have links for candidates in Campbell, Carbon, Johnson, Sublette, or Weston counties please PM or share the links here.
To request changes to your candidate data contact me through the feedback link on the page.

GO WYOMING

Wyoming 2026 primary voter guide and candidate lookup for candidates.skovgard2026.org.

06/19/2026

Jimmy sits down with guests Gina and Douglas Kohn to discuss pressing political issues in Wyoming, focusing heavily on state-level governance and the concept of judicial overreach. Gina highlights concerns regarding “lawfare,” noting instances where the judiciary has blocked or overturned anti-abortion legislation passed by duly elected state lawmakers. Douglas questions the extent of judicial oversight, prompting a broader philosophical discussion on how our system balances the will of the majority with the protections allocated to the minority.

The conversation shifts toward finding actionable, civil solutions, with Jimmy introducing his open-source, data-driven survey tool hosted at grassrootsmvt.org . Utilizing voter registration files obtained from the Secretary of State, the platform aims to aggregate local voices by house and senate districts, offering politicians a verified look at public sentiment. While acknowledging technical and security hurdles, the group emphasizes the value of using technology to engage younger voters and foster community consensus. The episode concludes with a mutual agreement to share the platform with regional pro-life advocates for feedback, reinforcing the host’s belief that resolving deeply divisive issues will ultimately require widespread collaboration, citizen initiatives, or formal constitutional amendments.

Our campaign needs your help to spread this message of unity and civic engagement across Wyoming. Please consider sharing our digital campaign materials by visiting our outreach page at skovgard2026.org/share. We built this share page so you can easily select a specific topic to send to your network; simply scroll to the bottom of your selection, enter your first name, select the email box, and send the first one to yourself to see exactly how the page works. Once you see how it operates, return to the page on your cell phone and share it with your contacts by selecting “use contacts” in your email feed to message up to ten people at a time. To ensure we can expand our reach, the campaign is also looking to raise $2,700 to secure critical email addresses and an additional $4,000 to fund text messaging systems that raise vital awareness. Every contribution helps us build a more accountable government, so please consider making a donation, small or large, at skovgard2026.org/donate. Thank you for standing with us to make a difference.

06/18/2026

In this episode of Grassroots Rising, host Jimmy Skovgard sits down for an outdoor conversation with Bo (Bonita Pearson) a ranch wife, campaign manager, and mother, and Chris Smith, a local city councilman in Gillette. When asked what single issue they would fix with a magic wand, Bo instantly identifies affordability. She discusses the intense economic pressure crushing young adult children trying to establish themselves, noting that a massive influx of printed currency has degraded the dollar while basic costs have skyrocketed. Despite solid career opportunities in the trades and the modern gig economy, the absolute lack of affordable housing and rentals makes starting an independent life nearly impossible for the next generation.

The group debates potential local solutions to the crisis, highlighting the astronomical cost burdens created by excessive local codes and regulations. Chris notes that preparing a single lot to be "shovel-ready" in Campbell County can cost around $90,000 before a foundation is even poured, pushing standard starter home values completely out of reach for average families facing 7% interest rates. While discussing a proposal to utilize public land for senior housing developments to free up mid-level homes, Bo strongly emphasizes that government must never stand directly between buyers and sellers. Instead, the discussion turns toward the critical need to break down political echo chambers and end the rigid cliques currently stalling progress at the local, state, and national levels. Chris draws on the legacy of Senator Mike Enzi, reminding listeners how the late statesman regularly crossed the aisle to build genuine personal relationships, proving that leaders must find common ground to move the needle forward for the communities we represent.

Our campaign needs your help to carry this message of fiscal sanity, economic security, and community collaboration across Wyoming. Please try sharing our digital campaign pages by visiting skovgard2026.org/share. This specialized share page is built so you can easily select a specific topic to distribute directly to your network; simply scroll to the bottom of your selection, enter your first name, select the email box, and send the first layout to yourself to see exactly how the page works. Once you have seen its layout, return to the page on your cell phone and share it with your contacts by selecting "use contacts" in the email feed to message up to ten people at a time. To ensure we can continue to raise awareness and counter federal overreach, our campaign is also looking to raise $2,700 to secure critical voter email addresses and another $4,000 to distribute vital campaign updates via text message. Please consider making a financial donation, small or large, at skovgard2026.org/donate to stand with us today. Thank you for your continued support.