Editor:

When I had lived in Wyoming about 15 years and after two of my three children had been born here, someone told me I was "almost a native." I know I will never be a true native, nor will my daughter who was not yet two years old when my husband and I moved to Wyoming.

However, native or not, I care deeply about the issues that impact this state, and it pains me deeply to hear one of our candidates for the House of Representatives imply that the other candidate does not understand Wyoming because he is not a native, although he has lived here almost 20 years and both his children were born here.

My purpose here is not to support one candidate or the other, but it is to implore both candidates to address the serious political concerns of the citizens of this state.

We need to discuss how to improve our schools when more than 70 percent of our high school graduates are not ready for college work.

We need to discuss how best to manage the significant energy resources our state produces. We need to discuss how that energy development impacts our environment, both in our towns and in our wild areas.

We need to discuss how Wyoming plays a part in the larger, national picture and the ways in which Wyoming citizens can be part of the national conversation.

As a voter, I want to know both candidates’ positions on these and other important issues; I do not want to hear candidates lowering themselves to discussing who has the better "native" credentials.

Both candidates need to do their best to convince voters that they have answers, that they can work cooperatively with members of the other party, and that they have the future of Wyoming and its people at heart.

We should not be expected to vote for someone simply because of that person’s birthplace.

JANE E. WOHL, Sheridan