Paid for by the Candidate
I’m Ember Oakley and I’ve been your conservative, effective Representative for the past four years. I’m proud of many accomplishments: serving as the Vice Chairman on Revenue, shepherding property tax reform through the House, serving as the Chairman of Tribal Relations, where we are having great communication and success on issues facing our Reservation, as well as being the Chairman for the Riverton State Office building, and serving four years on the Judiciary committee, where I bring my legal experience to bear. I want to continue to bring my work ethic, experience and knowledge as Riverton’s Representative in the Wyoming House.
This year has been a trying year for many conservative legislators in the Wyoming House. We have been attacked by an unprecedented amount of mailers and texts. Almost exclusively, they contain outright lies and misleading information.
Freedom Caucus flyer
Here are some of the specific false allegations sent out on a Freedom Caucus flyer:
• “Voted NO – to KEEP President Trump on the ballot this fall.”
It is not true that the Wyoming Legislature voted whether Trump would be on the ballot. It is patently absurd. That is not something state legislatures handle. It is not the process, and it is not possible. We were in session in February and March and President Trump became the Republican nominee at the RNC last month. I support President Trump, the Republican nominee. I would never support any measure to remove the vote from the people.
• “Voted NO – to CAP property tax increases at 4%.”
The “capping” of year-over-year property tax increases passed the House in the form of HB 45. I was a cosponsor of the bill. I am the Vice Chairman of the Revenue Committee, so the bill went through my committee. There, I worked on the bill and we advanced it. I then spoke on the Floor about it, and of course, I voted for it. We did good work on it; it is now in Wyoming law. Saying I voted against it is a false claim. (Further, for those interested, all of the session, both on the Floor and in committee, is recorded and documented. You can watch me champion this bill.) Please consider any source that is willing to say I voted against this bill, and their willingness to hoodwink you.
Pro-life flyer
This past weekend, a flyer came out questioning my pro-life record. It said to “stop opposing pro-life laws” and “stop betraying preborn babies,” despite having voted in favor of every single pro-life law we have passed.
Here are the hard facts about my pro-life votes:
Before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, we heard a “trigger ban” bill, HB 92, which passed the House. I voted for that. Then we passed HB 152 in 2023, which was probably redundant, but another ban on surgical abortions. I also voted towards the passage of SF 109, to ban chemical abortions. The flyer claimed that I voted to “water down” the chemical abortion bill. We heard testimony from doctors. A pro-life doctor testified and asked that we remove the banning of a specific drug, misoprostol. We learned that it is used to treat women who‘ve had miscarriages. I brought an amendment to remove the outright prohibition of that specific drug. The reality is, if chemical abortions are illegal in our state, we don’t need to ban drugs that have a serious medicinal use. Especially when the doctors using them explained their necessity. This serves as a perfect example of the purposely misleading information, however. I was also warned that if I amended the bill, they would “come after me.” Even when threatened, though, I will never be intimidated or refuse to listen to testimony from constituents and experts because of threats. You can count on that.
Open borders and criminals and taxes, oh my! flyers
Another slew of mailers from out-of-state labeling me a liberal said I stand with big union bosses in Wyoming, and those “union bosses” are for open borders, which bring in criminals and higher taxes. I don’t.
I believe there’s a crisis at our border and we must address it. I have supported efforts for Wyoming to stand strong with Texas, where we can be of assistance, and for any efforts to change federal policy where possible. You can tell they are out-of-state groups that do not know that I am a criminal prosecutor in Wyoming and have dedicated my career to addressing our crime here locally. And they also do not know Wyoming. We are a Right to Work state and do not have “big union bosses.” This group merely polled the top two issues concerning Republicans: the border and taxes. Then they made a silly flyer saying I somehow support those. In my community, I can stand on my record as a prosecutor, as serving on the Revenue committee and delivering property tax relief this year, and for passing a smaller budget than when I was elected to office. I clearly do not stand with union bosses, open borders or higher taxes. These claims are ridiculous.
Other false claims and tactics: Saying certain bills were a “No Vote” when they failed introduction or weren’t introduced.
Hundreds of bills are introduced every year by committees and legislators. Many, often a majority, will not get heard. In 2024, 221 bills were numbered for introduction. Of those, 136 failed introduction or were not considered, over 60%. Our citizen legislature has a very limited number of days. That’s especially true in a budget session. It almost seems backwards, but the even-numbered years are slated to pass the biennial budget, in only twenty days. A large focus has to be on the budget. It is our duty. Another way information is skewed is to say that legislators voted against bills that were not introduced.
It is NOT true to say that a legislator voted against a bill because they voted not to introduce it during a budget session. With very real time constraints, everyone votes not to introduce many bills in a budget session. It does not mean they took a position on the bill; they may support the idea. It may be a difficult bill or concept that is better tackled during a forty-day general session. This tactic was used against me on the “What is a Woman Act”. I did not vote against the bill. However, I believe that specific out-of-state piece of legislation, also introduced in several other states, brought to us via the national Freedom Caucus, is a poor piece of legislation. Its structural issues were too much to tackle in a budget session. Wyoming lawmakers could craft a much better bill to address the issues. However, my opponent has published on his website and in the paper that I voted against the bill. That is a false statement.
(This tactic was also used regarding other pieces of legislation such as illegal aliens using out-of-state licenses and others.)
Transgender and other issues.
Much ado has been made regarding legislators’ “conservative credentials” in other realms, often claiming that only the Freedom Caucus supports these issues. They will say “look at the voting record” by citing propagandist websites. I agree that everyone should look at actual votes. Not a site that interprets and tells you what to think. Because the actual voting records clearly demonstrate that an overwhelming majority of the House and almost all Republicans support the measures that have been undertaken regarding abortion, transgender issues and gun rights. I have voted to support all of these issues.
Two specific bills about these issues have passed into Wyoming law in the last two years: boys playing in girls’ high school sports and children getting surgeries to change their sex. SF 133 passed in 2023 that prohibits boys from playing in girls’ sports. I voted for the bill. In actuality, I am the only female in the Wyoming House who played high school sports in Wyoming. I was an individual state champion in track. I have spoken on the reality that if boys had been allowed to compete against girls, I might have been one who lost her title to a male athlete. I have never supported boys in girls’ sports. This year, we also passed SF 99 – Children gender change prohibition. I voted for it out of Judiciary Committee and I voted for it on the Floor. No child should be undergoing surgery on their genitalia. That’s why it overwhelmingly passed.
Not any of the issues that have been raised in these mailers spoke the truth. Yes, please do look at my voting record. I have outlined it here. It shows, objectively, a solid pro-life voting record, voting for property tax reform and a fiscally conservative budget, voting against boys in girls’ sports, and every other conservative issue brought forth.
The next question to think about is whether you – or anyone – want to support an unknown movement that purposely lies and misleads people about where a legislator stands on issues? I am disappointed to see this dishonesty come to Wyoming. People are trying to make Wyoming voters afraid of an invisible boogeyman. Honestly, there is not one bit of legislation from the Wyoming Legislature that is “woke”. It is an extremely conservative body and there is absolutely NO liberal or leftist legislation coming from your House of Representatives. Not about guns, not about transgender issues, not about abortion.
Our political scene has become disheartening. I work hard and vote conservatively as the lifelong, active Republican that I am and have always been. Yet people will believe a flyer from an unknown source that makes claims about things that are easily proven as lies?
Be careful with that, Wyoming. If we are going to reject facts, yet follow social media and mailed rhetoric from people obviously trying to mislead, we are going to get the representation to match. We will have the stooges the out-of-state groups sending the mailers want.
The truth is that I have voted with objectively conservative principles. If you really want to know the truth, it is there for the taking.
Thank you for informing your vote, and I ask for your continued support on August 20th.