Ryan Shollenberger said he knows it’s a paradox to be a Libertarian who’s held primarily government jobs.
But the substitute teacher, Air Force veteran, firefighter and now candidate for the Wyoming Legislature’s Cheyenne-based House District 11 said working in the military and the public-school system have given him insight into government functions.
Going into the Nov. 3 general election, Shollenberger faces Democratic nominee Britney Tennant, who founded an animal-rescue group and runs the state’s largest open-admission animal shelter, and Republican nominee Dan McIntosh, who teaches college-level economics and serves in the Air Force Reserve.
For around 93% of Wyoming legislative seats in recent history, being a Republican equals a general election win.
But House District 11 is a rare “purple” seat with a tight margin between the two major parties. A Democrat held it as recently as 2016 and, starting that year, a Republican won it with margins ranging from about 60 to 300 votes.
That Libertarian Party hasn’t sent a nominee to vie for that seat in at least four decades.
But Libertarians are a factor in Wyoming.
Libertarian Marshall Burt became the state’s first third-party candidate elected to the Legislature in over a century in 2020. And the party’s nominee Bethany Baldes came within around 40 votes — twice — of winning Riverton’s state House seat.
It's About 'Accountability'
Shollenberger, who turns 44 this month, said his goals are accountability, transparency, fiscal conservativism, and fine-tuning school choice.
“I think there’s just less accountability in government,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And that’s why, if you want someone who vigilantly watches where funds are being expended, for what purposes — that’s what I’d try to represent: To promote transparency and accountability of government.”
He also said he’d like to position state government to budget with the same scrutiny as families and businesses, “not be ever-increasing toward funding.”
Shollenberger said he supports school choice and considers bolstering it a priority.
The state passed a $7,000 per-student first-come, first-served voucher program for alternate schooling choices. That program is under court scrutiny right now, its future in doubt.
“More options mean better choices, and better prosperity for the students, the parents, and the teachers involved,” said Shollenberger.
His May 31 speech to the Wyoming Libertarian Party delegates who ultimately nominated him, while gathered in Green River for the party’s convention, were more grandiose.
“Health-care freedom and free markets should be expanded, not restricted,” he said. “(We should be) limiting government overreach. Reducing unnecessary regulation. Putting trust back in the hands of the people. Upholding the Constitution and defending liberty must remain the forefront of our republic.”
“When freedom is protected, individual choice flourishes,” said Shollenberger, adding that he’d listen to his constituents and “work tirelessly to maximize their freedoms.”
The delegates applauded.
Originally from south Florida, Shollenberger joined the Air Force in 2009 and was deployed to Afghanistan and Colombia, he told the convention. He landed at the FE Warren base in Cheyenne in 2020.
He switched from active duty to Air Force Reserve, then to Wyoming National Guard in 2022, and has served in various units throughout Wyoming since.
A friend suggested substitute teaching around 2022, said Shollenberger. He’d been working as a meteorologist, plus odd jobs.
He gave it a shot.
“It turns out to be a great job,” said Shollenberger, who’s been teaching, plus coaching sports, in Laramie County School District 1.
Then last year, Shollenberger trained at Guernsey to become a wildland firefighter, and revisited the training again this summer.
He said Tennant and McIntosh will likely out-spend him, and he’s hoping for a boost from grassroots, word-of-mouth interest.
Tennant raised $27,954 in the primary election and spent $11,670 of it by the filing deadline, campaign filing records show.
McIntosh raised $21,560 and spent $12,946.
“The candidates themselves are great members of the community,” Shollenberger said.
Still, he added, he believes his message is resonating with people in the district so far.
Britney Tennant
Tennant, who founded Black Dog Rescue and is now CEO of Cheyenne Animal Shelter, told Cowboy State Daily she plans to outwork her opponents and earn the district’s vote.
“I’m running to hopefully make some changes for the better, so the next generation of young people will have opportunities to stay here,” said Tennant.
She said the Wyoming budget should be altered to truly serve people in ways they expect.
As a priority, Tennant said she wants to prioritize state-funded childcare, up to the preschool age, for working families.
“I employ a lot of young women in particular, and I have watched really talented young women leave the workforce over and over and over again after they have children,” said Tennant, “because they can’t afford child care here.”
She added: “If we want these people to stay and raise families and contribute to our economy long-term, we have to provide a system that works for those families. And right now, we don’t have one.”
Looking back on the primary election – where non-Freedom Caucus Republicans mostly swept their caucus-backed opponents – Tennant said she feels Laramie County will be in good hands even if she doesn’t win. But the county hasn’t had Democratic representation in years, which she said throws the region out of balance.
“I am a Democrat and I’m loud and proud about it,” said Tennant. “But I think it’s really necessary for us to have some kind of balance or distribution of values or priorities in our elected bodies.”
The Freedom Caucus came to power, she said, “because of a wild imbalance in the Legislature.”
Giving Democrats a seat at the Laramie County legislative table could tug that one-sidedness back into balance, she said.
Tennant is a fifth-generation Wyomingite who graduated from the University of Wyoming, then from Regis University in Denver with a master’s degree in nonprofit management.
She pointed to her experience overseeing a multi-million-dollar budget, and her chairmanship of the Wyoming State Board of Veterinary Medicine.
She’s laid the groundwork in her own life to serve, she said, and she’s optimistic about the general election.
About McIntosh
McIntosh, 42, said he was born and raised in his district, his family still lives there and those roots have driven his will to run.
“I want to see this area continue to provide opportunities that I got to enjoy when I was a kid,” he said.
McIntosh directs Laramie County Community College’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis, teaches economics law and policy, and helps coach cross country at Cheyenne East High School. He also serves as a space operations officer in the Air Force Reserve.
In an interview ahead of the primary election, he tried to describe that job with care.
“It basically means – I’d never say this among true pilots – but we pilot the satellites that are in orbit,” said McIntosh.
He said he believes his work skills, including having budgeted for a larger-scale department, suit him for the Legislature. But character, decency, and knowing when to build coalitions versus calling out wrongs are more important goals and traits for that role, said McIntosh.
“I won’t blow smoke up and qualify myself as, ‘Oh I’m the perfect candidate for all roles,’” he said.
McIntosh said he’s a Republican because he believes in smaller government, lower taxes, “allowing the free market to do much more than – I think – a lot of Democrats, especially more recently, have (aspired).”
He said he’s pro-life and pro-gun.
McIntosh carries a noteworthy statistic into the general: He defeated his Wyoming Freedom Caucus-backed opponent, Paul Wing, by a vote of 868-227 in the primary.
He said he would like to see the Legislature work together, and quickly, to address some data centers’ massive power demands, water issues and any shortfalls in the state’s siting policies. He said Wyoming has fallen behind in this area.
The Cheyenne area is Wyoming’s most teeming hub of data center development, with at least 10 operational, five under construction and nine more on the horizon, Cheyenne LEADS reports.
Arguably no industry has brought as much controversy to Cheyenne residents this year as data centers.
McIntosh did not immediately return a voicemail request for a more current interview by publication.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
