Wyoming
Republican Brent Bien First To Announce Campaign For Wyoming Governor In 2026
BIG PINEY — The first candidate to throw his name in the ring for Wyoming governor in the 2026 election is Cody Republican Brent Bien.
Bien told Cowboy State Daily on Saturday at the Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee meeting in Big Piney that he’s running for governor in 2026. Bien believes he can bring strong leadership to Wyoming and represent the voice of the people.
“It’s like any corporation, any entity, the climate is all set by whoever’s leading,” he said. “It’s community climate and having a direction where Wyoming is going to be 10 years from now, where is it going to be five years from now, where’s it going to be next year?”
Bien ran for governor in 2022, finishing a distant second to Gov. Mark Gordon in the GOP primary out of four candidates.
Bien was a relative unknown in the Wyoming political scene headed into that election and was outraised by Gordon financially roughly five to one.
Since that time, Bien has gained much larger statewide recognition, staying actively involved in politics and spearheading a ballot initiative campaign over the past 18 months to cut property taxes by 50% in Wyoming, which is nearly guaranteed to go to voters in 2026.
The 2026 Field
Bien is officially announcing his campaign substantially earlier than any candidates did for the past two governor elections, but that could be because there have been at least a handful of Republican names already tossed around as potential hopefuls for Wyoming governor in 2026.
Gordon and Secretary of State Chuck Gray did not immediately respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.
State Treasurer Curt Meier said he doesn’t want to run for governor, but may be forced to if changes aren’t made to his office and the Secretary of State’s Office that he wants to see take place.
There have also been rumors that Gordon may consider a run for a third term, but the governor has been noncommittal about this and numerous sources have said he would have to take the matter to court to get it approved.
“Whoever’s going to run, let them jump in,” Bien said. “If he (Gordon) wants to challenge it, let him jump in and let the folks decide when the time comes.”
Bien said he’ll support any candidate in the race who he thinks will advance liberty, but said that’s a high bar to achieve.
“I’m very picky when it comes down to who I’m going to trust my liberty to, and right now I’m not seeing it,” Bien said.
Bien’s Platform
Bien is a hardline conservative who believes Wyoming is headed in a negative direction despite President-elect Donald Trump winning the election and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus taking over a majority in the House.
“On the right side of the equation of politics we have a tendency to sit back on our laurels after we have a good victory,” Bien said. “Now is the time to capitalize.”
Bien grew up in Laramie and served in the Marines for 28 years. He retired to Wyoming in 2019 after finishing his military career as officer-in-charge of the U.S. Marine Corps base on Guam.
Bien believes there has been a lack of principled, conservative leadership in Wyoming and wants the state to become more self-sufficient to create better individual liberties.
“That’s what makes America so great, it’s that self-governance,” Bien said.
Bien wants to make enshrining civil liberties and freedom the cornerstones of his campaign agenda to reduce federal government overreach in Wyoming.
He said he believes the federal government has allowed an anti-American, globalist, elitist agenda to pervade society and undermine constitutional rights, putting the government’s priorities over its people.
Bien asserts that the government should work for and gain the trust of its people, not the other way around.
“I really believe that the strength of every relationship, no matter what it is, revolves around trust,” Bien said. “If the folks trust you, there’s no telling what we can do with this state.”
He also believes Wyoming has become a corporatocracy, with its state lands being sold off to the highest bidder. The State Board of Land Commissioners recently approved a $100 million sale of the iconic Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park after a call to put the land up for public auction was rejected last year.
Taking up the property tax initiative, he believes, was one step in his fight against this. If elected governor, Bien said he will continue to address this issue.
“This all comes down to our liberty because without our liberty we own nothing, we have nothing,” Bien said.
Earlier this year, Bien’s BCR Voter Initiatives started a new campaign to require all Wyoming election ballots be counted by hand, and Bien said he will make election integrity a major priority of his campaign.
He also wants all judges and the attorney general elected by a public vote in Wyoming. These positions are currently selected by the governor.
Bien said he has no concerns about fundraising this go-around and feels confident about his chances because of the network he’s built around the state.
“We do have a lot bigger groundswell right now, a lot bigger network,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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