Sara Burlingame announces campaign for House District 11 representative

CHEYENNE — Sara Burlingame said she and the community have seen a real breakdown in civility among Cheyenne’s current elected officials.

She wants to represent her neighbors and bring a principled, experienced voice to issues the community cares about, and defend Wyoming values of fairness and civility. This is why she is running to be a representative in House District 11.

Burlingame was raised in the intermountain West, attending kindergarten in Gillette before moving around Idaho, California and Nevada following her dad’s career as a soil scientist. She and her husband, Jason, chose Cheyenne to raise their family almost 30 years ago. They were both small-town kids, and the proximity to public lands for hunting, fishing and hiking, as well as the highly rated schools, drew them to the community, and the friends they have made convinced them to sink their roots in deep to their High Plains home.

With her prior experience serving in the Wyoming Legislature from 2019-20 in House District 44, Burlingame has had the opportunity to advocate for sound policies and welcoming communities, she said. In her role as director of Wyoming Equality, she has volunteered a lot of her time on boards and committees to support education, law enforcement, the arts and Wyoming wildlife.

“I’m eager to bring that experience back to the House to ensure a vibrant future for our children,” she said.

Schools are the No. 1 priority for Burlingame. She said she thinks the state is in real danger of bankrupting its K-12 education system.

“I think there’s a lot of well-funded out-of-state school voucher (Parent Advisory Committees) that are spending a lot of money to tell us that we can afford to defund public school education,” Burlingame said. “I think they’re wrong. So, I’m running to be an advocate with your kids in mind.”

Another concern Burlingame is focusing on is economic growth in Wyoming. She said the time for economic investment is now, and the state needs high-paying jobs that follow robust investment and infrastructure. Local communities need a “working Wyoming,” she said.

Women’s health issues and health freedom are also a high priority for Burlingame.

To accomplish her goal of gaining health care rights, Burlingame said she relies greatly on the broad community support of abortion laws that put the rights back in the hands of women, doctors and families.

She said the community needs more voices who are willing to speak out about women’s health care in the Legislature — to vote against and actively defeat measures that take rights away from Wyoming women.

“Women in Wyoming are very smart,” Burlingame said. “We know how to make decisions, and we make them in consultation with our families, with our clergy, with physicians. We do not make them in consultation with legislators. We know how to plan and care for our families.”