Gary Freeman, Townsquare Media.
Gary Freeman, Townsquare Media.
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In what could be one of the more high-profile 2016 Wyoming legislative races, Laramie County Republican leader Jared Olsen is running for the House District 11 seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Mary Throne.

Throne is the Wyoming House Minority Floor Leader and says she is running for another term. She is considered one of the state's more influential Democrats and has been elected to the seat five times.

So far no other candidates in either party have announced plans to run for the seat, but since the formal filing period for state candidates is coming up May 12-27, that could change.

Olsen says his key issues include stressing the need for Wyoming to stand up against is over-regulation of the state by federal agencies including the BLM and the EPA.

He also thinks the budgets of state agencies need to be looked at closely to find possible cuts at a time when the state economy is struggling because of low energy prices, which in turn are leading to big drops in state revenues.

He says he decided to run because he thinks some lawmakers aren't doing enough to fix the state economy. Olsen says that while energy and minerals will be critical for the foreseeable future, more needs to be done to diversity the economy.

He says the state can help by keeping taxes and spending low and doing what it can to create a good business climate.

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