Laurie graduated with a BA in Biology and Comprehensive Science Education from Miami University in Ohio, where she was born and raised. She taught in a mid-sized public high school for seven years, then put her biology degree to use as a pharmaceutical salesperson, quickly advancing to top sales production positions. Shortly after the birth of her first child, Chelsea, she made the choice to put a career on hold and focus on raising a family. While it was a difficult decision to make from a financial perspective, it was an easy one to make personally that she never regretted and one that she wishes more families could have an opportunity to make today.
As the children grew older, Laurie was drawn into the political action realm in 2008. This led to her working for conservative state legislators and groups in Colorado and Wyoming. Shortly after the general election in 2014, Laurie received a call to take on the role of Congressional District Director in Colorado for the second largest agricultural district in the nation. As District Director she set up and ran the offices in the district and oversaw constituent services, assisting people who needed help with things like social security, the VA, travel/passport issues, etc. Her people skills and genuine desire to help people made her a perfect fit for this role in providing constituent services.
Laurie and her husband Rich moved to Wyoming in 2017, where their daughter and son-in-law, a University of Wyoming graduate, are raising some of the next generation of Wyomingites, their three grandchildren. Laurie has focused on putting down roots in the community and working the property she and Rich purchased as their forever home. They began improving their property’s fields, building infrastructure, and building a large hoop house and garden. Drawing on her biology and life sciences education, and attaining the Wyoming Master Gardner designation, she continues to manage their property as they bale and sell hay and alfalfa, and grow and sell seasonal produce. Laurie continues to spend many an hour on the tractor and at agricultural events around Sheridan.
Laurie also enjoys riding her horse Ruger, occasionally helping neighbors move cattle between pastures. Several multi-generation neighbors have taken the Brattens under their wings over the last seven years as they have worked hard to join their neighbors to defend the traditional values of Wyoming. Given the critical importance of water rights in Wyoming, look no further than their vote of confidence in electing her the Treasurer/Secretary of the ditch company which conveys territorial water rights. These same neighbors, whose families have lived in Sheridan for generations, have even penned a letter of support for Laurie which you can find on this website.
It’s the traditional values, the simple truths of the Code of the West, that drew Laurie and her husband to Wyoming. Wyoming is more than just a place. It is the very embodiment of the principles upon which this nation was founded. Laurie is committed to help preserve those values for your family and hers… for everyone who calls Wyoming home.