Despite their different party affiliations, the candidates for Wyoming Senate District 28 share similar views on some issues.

Republican incumbent Kit Jennings and Democratic challenger Erich Frankland both support stronger penalties for drunken drivers and share reservations about the legislature imposing a statewide smoking ban.

However, on the issue of affordable housing - which has caused considerable debate in the district they are competing to represent - they differ.

Jennings, who's been in the Senate since 2005, favors a market-driven approach.

"As long as there are houses available, should we be going in and trying to figure our how to skirt around our constitution and give developers money?" he said. "I don't think so."

Frankland, a political science and history professor at Casper College, suggests tax rebates and other incentives to encourage affordable housing development.

"It is a desperate situation," said Frankland, who serves on the Casper Planning and Zoning Commission. "And if we do want to grow, we really need to address it, both at the state and local levels."

The candidates for Senate District 28 - which cuts a southwest-to-northeast swath through Casper - differ on other issues as well, including their views on land development.

Jennings said he isn't sure Wyoming needs more laws governing permanent land development.

"I think our tendency is to react. We look at one situation, and we put all the regulations on it," he said. "I'm not sure, in a lot of cases, that we give those regulations enough time to prove if they work or not before we stack more regulations on them."

Frankland believes the legislature should look at ways to enable counties to have more input on the development inside their borders.

"We need to have some development, but we also need to maintain what is great about Wyoming," he said. "We are going to lose the great open spaces, which is why people stay in Wyoming."

Both candidates said the Legislature needs to address the state's rapid rise in property taxes. They offered different suggestions for dealing with the problem.

Jennings, if re-elected, plans to introduce a bill that would allow qualifying homeowners to defer their property taxes. People with limited incomes would qualify, as would homeowners over 62 who have been in the state eight years or people who have owned their home for at least 10 years.

"If we could put that in the session in January … then we are going to have property tax relief available for just about everybody in the state who needs it," he said.

Frankland says the legislature should look at ways to provide property tax relief for people on fixed incomes. That could include capping tax increases and taking another look at how the state performs property assessments.

"They seem to be rather haphazard," he said. "You get these huge increases every once in a while that are seriously hurting people, particularly [people] on fixed incomes."

On other Wyoming issues, Jennings and Frankland share similar views. Neither favors increasing the state's fuel tax to fund highways. And both men say the state needs stronger penalties for offenders who repeatedly drive drunk. Such a bill failed during the last legislative session.

Neither candidate seems comfortable imposing a statewide ban on smoking in public places.

Jennings says it's a difficult issue for him. He enjoys eating a meal without cigarette smoke, but he believes the decision on whether to allow cigarettes should rest with the business owner.

"I don't really want to vote on it because I do think that is a local control and a private property issue, but if the bill … if it makes the Senate, I will vote on it, and my vote won't kill the bill."

Frankland believes a smoking ban would be more effective if it is locally driven. He noted that some communities have already done so - and the local approach allows for more buy-in.

"I don't necessarily want to see it imposed from the state," he said.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582.

Name: Erich Frankland

Party: Democrat

Age: 40

Home: Casper

Occupation: Casper College political science and history professor

Education: BA in political science from Earlham College in Indiana. Masters degree in political science from University of Oklahoma.

Family: Wife, Tammy; daughter, Amber, son, Conor

Political experience: Casper Planning and Zoning Commission for three years.

Name: Kit Jennings

Party: Republican

Age: 55

Home: Casper

Occupation: Owner, Roughrider Power

Education: Powell Senior High School, Northwest Community College, Sheridan

Family: Wife, Sheridan; sons Austin and Cameron, daughter Stefanie

Political experience: Wyoming State Senator 2005 to present