Republican U.S. House hopeful Mark Gordon made his first campaign stop in Jackson Hole on Sunday and Monday.

While in Jackson, he skied at Snow King Resort and talked to residents there for the Town Downhill ski race.

Gordon, a rancher and businessman from Buffalo, said he is running because he feels it is a “watershed moment” for the country and he can provide “a fresh perspective.”

“I am not a politician,” he said. “It is time to take practical experience to Washington.”

On a national level, Gordon said he hopes to return the party to its roots of “limited government that is closest to the people: fiscal conservatism, belief in individuals not government, and having a strong defense.”

“Over the last several years, our party has strayed from our core principles nationally,” he said. “It went to their head to be in power.”

In addition to these principles, Gordon said he will focus his campaign on immigration policy, health care and the relationship between energy extraction and the environment.

A good immigration policy would simultaneously secure the borders while improving the nation’s guest-worker program, Gordon said.

“The programs themselves have to be efficient,” he said. “For H-2B visas, the quota there needs to be increased dramatically.”

In health care, Gordon sees hope in a 10-point proposal formulated by Sen. Mike Enzi, but those reforms can only help if Congress implements them, he said.

“People have talked for a long time about health care, and it is always so-and-so’s fault that it didn’t pass,” he said.

Energy needs to be extracted from public lands “in a very thoughtful way,” Gordon said, something he is not sure is happening in the burgeoning gas fields in the Upper Green River Basin south of Jackson.

“The Green River Basin has grown dramatically, and the jury is still a little bit out on it,” he said. “I was on the Environmental Quality Council and we foresaw some of the problems that came up with air quality.”

Gordon is a Wyoming native who grew up on a ranch in Kaycee. It is his love of the state and its way of life that motivated him to run for office, he said.

“I grew up here and loved growing up here,” he said. “I want my kids to have the some opportunities I did.”

Gordon is trying to differentiate himself in an increasingly crowded Republican field that includes former state Treasurer Cynthia Lummis, 2006 challenger Bill Winney, state Rep. Dan Zwonitzer and part-time substitute teacher and motivational speaker Swede Nelson. Democrat Gary Trauner of Wilson is also running.

The seat is currently held by Barbara Cubin, who is not seeking re-election.