Courtesy of John Meena
Courtesy of John Meena
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John Meena of Albany County is different from all of the other candidates for Wyoming's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in at least two ways.

First of all, at age 25, he is the youngest candidate. He is also, so far at least, the only independent candidate in the race.

Meena, who is a database administrator and accountant for the Wyoming School Facilities Department, says he doesn't pretend to be a traditional politician, embracing the idea of being the "ultimate outsider" in the race.

The non-traditional nature of his candidacy extends to his campaign plans. He says because he has a full-time job he won't have the time to travel around the state making the number and kind of campaign events that congressional candidates usually do. But he adds he will try to be available to answer questions as much as possible.

On specific issues, Meena says he thinks it's possible to both protect the environment and allow Wyoming's energy industries to thrive.

"We don't want to lose our coal mines and all of the revenues and bonus monies we get from these activities'' he says. Meena says he would favor "investing in other areas that can help us be this energy-dominant state."

At the same time he says he would favor "transitioning away from these pollutants, that, the facts are out there, are not good for the environment."

He says the long-term answer is in diversifying the state's energy industries in a way that preserves jobs and reduces pollution. He says as a member of congress he would work towards federal policies that would be helpful to those goals.

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