Secretary of State candidate visits Saratoga

Running for Wyoming Secretary of State, Jennifer Young made a stop in the Platte Valley May 7 during her campaign tour of Wyoming.

Young, chairman of the Wyoming Constitution Party, met at the Saratoga Senior Center to converse with locals about why she was running for Secretary of State. Concerned about the future of education, Young was the one who had organized the petition to stop Senate File 104 (SF104) early last year.

Though not enough signatures were attained for the petition to take effect, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that SF104 was unconstitutional Jan. 28. Young spoke to a group of Encampment citizens on the same day of the Supreme Court's ruling.

After sharing her message, Young said she felt well-received and met some wonderful people. As part of a campaign tour all over Wyoming, she said she was running for the future of her family.

"My vested interest is my large family, and I'm one of five children so I have multiple nieces and nephews" she said. "I'm also the mother of three and grandmother of three. My family is my reason why."

Young said she is also out to help get the government back to a healthy state.

"We have a good government, but it's broken and the way to fix it is for we the people to be there," she said. "In a government of for and by the people, who are necessary to be there, we've stepped out. A lot of people call it complacency or apathy, but what I call it is trusting someone to do the job that you set the government up to do. We've lost the connection, and they've lost it with us and we've lost it with them. We have to step outside that trust and faith we had in them, and retake our place in that government."

Throughout her candidacy, Young said she hopes to inspire others to run.

"If I've done nothing else, I've inspired other average citizens to run, and that makes my heart smile," she said. "I've been getting in their space and letting them meet me, so they know I'm genuine and that I'm indeed one of them. I'm not just someone saying I'm one of them, and my true heart's desire is to do what's best for Wyoming, as I told my husband when I was struggling with deciding to run."

Young said she also wants to provide what is best for Wyoming as Secretary of State.

"All I want is what's best for Wyoming, even if it's not me, and I'm okay with that," she said. "My husband assured me that in this season, it's me. He told me 'you are in this because you are what's good for Wyoming,' and I believe him and value his opinion. We are our own worst critics, so I'm listening to those that know me and remembering that a bad leader doesn't have anyone following them. There are people who would like to see me in that position, and I haven't stopped moving."