Quintin Blair

Quintin Blair, general manager for Blair Hotels in Cody and a staple on the Park County Travel Council and other volunteer boards, is running for the state House. In a Wednesday interview, Blair said he’ll put local issues first.

“I grew up in this community and chose to raise my family here. I am running so the next generation can be just as proud as I am to call Wyoming home,” Blair said in a Tuesday press release. “I refuse to allow extreme ideology or partisan politics to get in the way of good policy. Our neighbors deserve more — representation that shows up, listens to them, and fights for them in Cheyenne.” 

Blair is running for House District 24 and is set to face incumbent Rep. Nina Webber, R-Cody, in the Aug. 18 Republican primary election. Webber, who’s seeking a second term, is part of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and has said she puts the Wyoming Republican Party platform at the core of her voting decisions. 

Blair told the Tribune he’s a conservative, “but I’m based on the issues and Wyoming first. A national agenda that’s created elsewhere doesn’t make sense for Wyoming. We need to make decisions based on what’s best for Wyoming and not a very rigid, narrow party platform.”

Blair said his primary issues are protecting Second Amendment rights, keeping public lands public and not allowing them to be sold, and investing in education. 

“We have to invest in our next generation,” he said, adding that with all the discussion about getting young people to come back to the state, it’s important to provide every opportunity possible.

“So investment in  K-12 is very important,” he said. “And I’m not in favor of spending money to spend money, but … we owe it to the taxpayers to spend that money responsibly and investing in our children and their education is a good investment.”

Blair said he was pleased with the Legislature’s recent recalibration measure to raise teacher salaries but said he would want to be part of a solution in passing new bills to ensure school sports and activities are also well funded going forward; this year many districts are facing large deficits in funding for athletics due to the more strict funding rules within the new law. 

As someone who has spent his life in the tourism industry in a town that thrives on it, Blair said he wants to maintain that support for a key state industry. 

“Tourism works very well for Park County. It works well for Wyoming, and it should be used to work for the people that live here, to benefit the people that live here,” he said. “The lodging taxes are paid primarily by visitors, which means outside dollars come into our economy and take pressure off of local families and the local tax burden, while providing entities that we maybe wouldn’t have otherwise [such as the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and Cody Nite Rodeo].”

Blair currently chairs the Park County Travel Council and previously served as vice chair of the Wyoming Office of Tourism Board of Directors. He has also served on the Cody Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. 

Professionally, Blair manages Blair Hotels, one of the largest private employers in Park County. He is also on the Cody Fireworks Committee, Buffalo Bill Art Show, PEAKS to Conga cancer survivor fundraiser and Cody Culture Club. 

“Representation is not optional. It’s the job,” Blair said in his statement. “I’m running to make sure the people of House District 24 have a representative who remembers that.” 

His campaign site is QuinBlairforWyoming.com.