KHOL · One Small Step: Melchor Moore and Laurie Thal – Excerpt
Teton County Commission Republican candidate Melchor Moore grew up in Jackson in a Republican, Mormon family that first settled along Mormon Row in what is now Grand Teton National Park. Laurie Thal has been a resident of Wilson since 1975 and grew up in Toledo, Ohio, with Democrat, Jewish parents.
Moore and Thal both talk about who most influenced their political and social perspectives. Moore said Donald Trump’s books greatly influenced him and inspired his career. Thal shared that her parents were active in their Toledo community and how that has inspired her. She remembers waking up to the sound of her mother typing letters to their elected officials.
In this excerpt, Moore and Thal talk about their experiences finding their religious communities. Moore reflects on his religious journey in Jackson, Rome and Puerto Rico. Thal helped found the Jackson Hole Jewish Community in the 1990s.
Moore is an artist, art dealer and appraiser running as a Republican candidate for the Teton County Commission. Thal is a glassblower and designer who raised her daughters here.
This conversation was recorded for KHOL’s One Small Step Program that brings people with different beliefs into the recording studio to talk and discover their common ground. For election season, KHOL paired candidates running for local office with the constituents they aim to represent. These conversations cover the who and the why behind our political and religious beliefs and, in just an hour, seek to find some common ground.