GILLETTE, Wyo. — County 17 has sent out a questionnaire to those running in the primary election in August. The following are the answers from Abby Angelos, who is running for State Representative for District 3.
1. Please introduce yourself and describe your educational and employment history. Please include your name and hometown and highlights of past Campbell County involvement.
I am Abby Angelos, a 3rd generation Campbell County resident raised as a preacher’s kid right here in Gillette. I am a wife, a mother of three, a Head of the Women’s Ministry at Family Life Church and with my husband a business owner. My family has deep roots here in Campbell County, going back to the 1930’s when my great-grandparents homesteaded here. I come from a long line of conservative entrepreneurs, from the dairy here in Gillette in the 1940’s, a tire business that is celebrating 58 years, to ranching and farming right here in Campbell County. I graduated from Wright Jr. Sr. High school in 1998 and shortly thereafter married and started a career in Property and Casualty Insurance. In 2000 we moved to Portland Oregon where I worked for Telco Insurance Agency, affiliated with a credit union. In 2003 we moved back to Gillette where my husband took a position land surveying in the oil and gas industry and together, we started a job in Youth Ministry at Family Life Church. Over the last 19 years I have been in some form of ministry position, all while raising my three daughters. I just completed my 7th year on the PTO board at Pronghorn Elementary school and have served on the Meal Ministry Team at my church which provides meals to families in need, or who have experienced a death, birth, illness or surgery. In October of 2019, I accepted the Women’s Ministry position at Family Life Church, and in 2020 my husband and I took his part time job building guns and started Omega Precision Firearms, LLC.
2. Why have you decided to run for this office?
I decided to run for House District 3 after experiencing gut wrenching shock at what our State and Country have been through over the last two years. I’m concerned for our children’s future, and the future of everyone who calls Campbell County home. Will our children be able to live here and raise their families in the community that we love? I am sickened over how our freedoms have been stripped from us, all while living in the most conservative State in the union. Our businesses were shut down, our energy industry has been crippled, and to top it all off our friends, family and neighbors were having to choose to take a vaccine or lose their jobs. I decided enough of the complaining about what was going on and decided I needed to step up and do something about it.
3. Compared with other candidates running in this election, why are you the best candidate for this position?
I am a Conservative Republican and stand for traditional family values, the sanctity of life, protecting our 2nd Amendment, fiscal responsibility, health and medical freedom, and supporting our jobs in the ranching and energy industries. I do not believe that government drives meaningful economic development. True economic growth comes from removing government from the markets, deregulation, and fiscal responsibility. Unlike my opponent, I believe that when we accept federal handouts we are devaluing our money and worse we are selling our freedoms at some point down the road.
4. What is your vision for the future of your district? What, if any, new initiatives would you like to implement if elected?
My vision for Campbell County is one of independence from the whims and dictates of DC. We are strong independent people with abundant resources and agriculture. There is no reason why we as a state should bend the knee and be told how to live by politicians on the other side of the country. We have a fight ahead of us. Wyoming is facing the current administration’s mandates regarding what bathrooms children will have to share and attaching that to our federally funded lunch program. I want parents to know that I will stand up for their children in the education system by keeping our women’s sports and locker rooms for women. I was against our first round of lockdowns and mandates and I will stand against any future ones, period! I would support property tax legislation and assure the residents of HD3 that I will stand for legislation that supports the Coal, Oil and Gas industry, putting Wyoming first. Our families and communities who are supported by the energy industry live under a black cloud with every administration change and enough is enough. Where Campbell County goes, Wyoming follows. I will stand up for HD-3’s conservative values, your jobs and your freedoms.
5. How will you effectively manage taxpayer dollars? Do you plan to promote any changes to existing taxes? If so, why?
My household runs on a budget and I have to stay within that budget. There are a small group of legislators in Cheyenne that actually understand working within a budget, but sadly, they are outnumbered. The first step is accountability. Large sums of federal money was poured into Wyoming during COVID with little to no oversight in how that money was spent or appropriated by leadership. Meanwhile, the state budget was cut, only for our spending to be subsidized by federal dollars. This makes us very vulnerable to future dictates from the federal government, and contributes to the inflation we are all feeling today. I want residents to know that I am against an income tax and would support property tax attribution. This means you pay the property taxes based on what you purchased your home for. With rising property values our property taxes have risen dramatically and this has affected long time residents and those on fixed incomes.
6. Is there anything else voters should know about you as they determine whom to vote for?
Our experienced politicians have been doing “business as usual,” and will continue to do so. Business as usual is how we have gotten where we are today. We need someone who is not tied to the political establishment; someone who does not think our problems are solved with government money. I see our challenges through the eyes of an everyday working Campbell County resident and that’s who I intend to represent in Cheyenne.
