No matter where I go across Wyoming — whether it’s a ranch kitchen, a coffee shop, a church foyer, or a gas station counter — the conversations always return to the same place:
“It’s getting harder to afford to live.”
Not the political drama.
Not the party fights.
Not the symbolic resolutions and cultural headlines.
The real crisis keeping Wyoming families up at night is the rising cost of living. It’s becoming the great pressure point that crosses age, income, party, and region. And yet, despite how universal this struggle is, most political leaders simply are not talking about it.
Not because they don’t care — but because distractions have taken center stage.
While families juggle groceries, fuel, utilities, and property taxes, the political system is spending its time on issues that do nothing to make life more affordable. And the disconnect between what people need and what leaders prioritize is becoming impossible to ignore.
Families Are Struggling — Quietly, Constantly, and Without Relief
You don’t need a report or a statistic to know this. You just need to talk to the people who make this state what it is.
Parents tell me they are stretching meals.
Retirees tell me their savings are thinning too quickly.
Young couples tell me they want to stay in Wyoming but can’t see how they’ll ever afford a home.
Workers tell me they’re taking side jobs to keep up with utilities and insurance.
And every time costs rise, government seems to rise right along with them — adding rules, expanding agencies, debating issues that don’t touch the real pain people feel.
This isn’t an abstract policy complaint.
It’s daily life.
And when the daily cost of life goes up, the future becomes harder to see.
Most Leaders Aren’t Ignoring This Out of Malice — But They Are Distracted
The truth is difficult but important:
The political system rewards attention, not solutions.
It rewards noise, not responsibility.
It rewards symbolic victories, not meaningful ones.
So that’s where the time goes.
When a state party spends its energy debating resolutions about buffalos, foreign ideological hypotheticals, mRNA vaccines, or punishing government workers for speech, it may create headlines — but it doesn’t create relief.
None of that lowers the cost of groceries.
None of it reduces tax bills.
None of it stabilizes housing.
None of it strengthens family budgets.
Wyoming families aren’t asking for more symbolic battles.
They’re simply asking for room to breathe again.
The Real Culprit Behind the Cost of Living Crisis
The greatest driver of the cost of living is government — not as an idea, but as a growing machine:
- expanding agencies
- multiplying regulations
- increasing spending
- raising expectations on families
- inserting itself into areas where it does not belong
Every time government grows, the cost of living grows with it. And Wyoming is not immune. From rulemaking sprees to unfocused priorities, we are watching state government slowly drift into the same habits we criticize in Washington.
That’s how families end up paying the price for decisions they never asked for.
Wyoming Doesn’t Need Bigger Government — It Needs Better Priorities
If we want to reverse this crisis, we must face the root causes honestly. That means:
- reducing bureaucracy
- simplifying rules
- controlling spending
- stabilizing taxes
- supporting energy production
- empowering families instead of systems
These solutions aren’t complex. They’re just politically inconvenient — which is why most leaders avoid them.
But avoiding them doesn’t change the reality families face.
Wyoming deserves leadership that focuses on the problems people actually live with — not the ones politicians invent.
Why This Matters in the 2026 Governor’s Race
This crisis is exactly why I am running unaffiliated.
It’s why I refuse to be bound by party agendas.
It’s why I believe Wyoming must Be Something Different.
We cannot solve the cost of living crisis with the same political patterns that created it. We cannot put the people first by putting political priorities first. And we cannot build a future for Wyoming if we ignore the issue that is slowly hollowing out the middle class of this state.
In 2026, Wyoming has a choice:
More of the same distractions —
or leadership focused squarely on the people carrying the weight.
A Final Word to the Families Feeling the Pressure
I hear you.
I see you.
And I’m running for you.
Wyoming families deserve better than symbolic politics and political distractions. They deserve leadership that understands the real cost of living, the burden it places on households, and the urgency of solving it.
🖊️ Write-In Joseph Kibler for Governor in 2026.
Let’s get back to the issues that actually matter.
Let’s put people ahead of politics.
Let’s choose to Be Something Different.