Marshall A. Burt (born May 6, 1976) is an American politician who served in the Wyoming House of Representatives. A member of the Libertarian Party, Burt represented the 39th district from 2021 to 2023. Burt is the first Libertarian candidate to be elected to a state legislature since

Steve Vaillancourt John Steven Vaillancourt (December 1, 1951 – March 27, 2017) was an American politician, who served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He represented Hillsborough County District 15, the city of Manchester Ward 8. He serv ...

in 2000, and the first third-party candidate elected to the Wyoming Legislature in over 100 years. Burt was defeated by Republican

Cody Wylie Cody Wylie is an American businessman and politician. He was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives in the 2022 Wyoming House of Representatives General Election to the 39th district. Early life Wylie was born in Rock Springs, Wyomin ...

in the

2022 Wyoming House of Representatives election All 62 members of the Wyoming House of Representatives were elected on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 Wyoming elections. Primary elections were held on August 16. Republicans expanded their supermajority, gaining six seats. Background ...

Early life and career

Burt was born in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

. He is a

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

veteran, having served nine years in Okinawa, Japan, and in the Iraq War. He is employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as a track inspector.

Wyoming House of Representatives

Elections

2020

In the

2020 Wyoming House of Representatives election Members of the Wyoming House of Representatives were elected on November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 Wyoming elections. Primary elections were held on August 18, 2020. This election featured the first Libertarian state legislator elected a ...

, Burt was one of six Wyoming Libertarian candidates running in competitive districts. Burt ran in the 39th district. In a two-way race, Burt defeated his

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

opponent, longtime incumbent Stan Blake, receiving 53.6% of the vote to Blake's 44.9%.

2022

Burt ran for re-election in the

against Republican

. Burt was defeated by Wylie, receiving 25% of the vote to Wylie's 75%.

Tenure

In March 2021, Burt alongside a bipartisan group of house members, co–sponsored legislation that legalizes the sale, purchase, possession, and cultivation of cannabis, for any Wyoming citizen over the age of twenty–one. The bill missed its deadline to be considered by the house after a committee voted to approve it, so it died on the house floor. A bill identical to the March 2021 bill that would legalize cannabis was reintroduced in February 2022. Burt, once again, alongside a bipartisan group of house members, co–sponsored this legislation. On February 16, 2022, Speaker

Eric Barlow Eric Barlow (born May 8, 1966) is an American politician current serving as the Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives since January 12, 2021 and a Republican member of the chamber representing District 3 since January 8, 2013. Educatio ...

recognized the Libertarian Party as a minority party in the House, and Burt became the chairman of the Libertarian caucus.

Committee assignments

* Wyoming House Committee on Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs ** Joint Subcommittee on Interstate Compact on Students of Military Families *Wyoming House Committee on Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions

Political positions

Gun policy

Burt is a gun-rights supporter and opposes expanding

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

regulations. He opposes all gun registration and instant background checks, and calls for "no permit or residency required for either open or concealed carry

n the state of Wyoming N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Healthcare

Burt opposes federal and state vaccine mandates, calling them " unconstitutional".

Personal life

Burt lives in Green River, Wyoming, with his wife, Theresa Burt and his two children. He is a Lutheran. Burt has a tattoo on his left forearm associated with the Three Percenters, an anti-government and

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

militia movement. Burt denied association with the organization, responding that he "got the tattoo because the American Revolution symbolism appealed to me, and to me it represents my solid commitment to the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

Tenth Amendment The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. It expresses the principle of federalism, also known as states' rights, by stating that the federal governmen ...

Electoral history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Marshall 1976 births Living people 21st-century American politicians Members of the Wyoming House of Representatives Military personnel from Minnesota People from Green River, Wyoming People from Pine Island, Minnesota Wyoming Libertarians Libertarian Party (United States) officeholders