Wyoming may be best known for its breathtaking National Parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton as well as its Old West history and its many mountain peaks, wild rivers, and wide-open plains. It also has Devil’s Tower and one of the country’s top skiing destinations at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
Wyoming also has a diverse range of politicians from both political parties with their own share of accomplishments, responsibilities and overall power status within the state. We have compiled a list of the 20 Most Powerful Politicians in Wyoming.
#20 Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow
Party: Republican. Assumed Office: January 5th, 2015. Twitter: @jillian4supt 1,918 followers
Balow oversees the state’s education as one of the state’s elected five constitutional officers. She also sits on the student loan and education board as well as the State Board of Land Commissioners. Balow helped transform the state’s literacy laws to among the most rigorous in the country to assure all students read at or above grade level. She also worked with tribal partners to enact the “Indian Education for all” so that Wyoming students learn about the history of the Northern Araphao and Shoshone Tribes.
#19 State Auditor Kristi Racines
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 7th, 2019. Facebook: Racines4Auditor.
Racines chaired a committee to help businesses survive the Covid-19 pandemic. She worked with banks and other entities to see if businesses can get more time to pay off the rent. She also discusses with other state officials how renters can avoid being evicted after they lost their jobs.
#18 State Treasurer Curt Meier
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 7th, 2019 Facebook: Curt Meier for Wyoming
Over Meier’s long career in the Senate, he has sat on the Joint Appropriations Committee for eight years. He has also sat on the Senates Transportation, Highway, and Military Affairs Committee, as well as Political Subdivisions and Select Water Committee. Meier says he is very proud of his work in the Senate and he has been recognized by numerous organizations for the work he has done for the people of Wyoming. He was once presented with the Patrick Henry Award for his work with military service members and the National Guard.
#17 House Minority Whip Andi Clifford
Party: Democrat Assumed Office: January 8th, 2019 Facebook: Representative Andi Clifford, HD 33, Wyoming, D Committee Assignments: Committee on Tribal Relations, Labor, Health, and Social Services, Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivision.
Clifford recently announced her opposition to House Bill 75 calling it “voter suppression.” The legislation would require voters to show their state-issued ID in order to cast their vote. She says that if the bill becomes law it may discourage people from voting. She would often tell friends of hers “if you don’t vote, the system won’t include you, your vote is your voice. It’s about breaking down structural barriers. When people get civically engaged it enables a more diverse pipeline of political balance, especially for people of color.” She says we need to do everything in our power to encourage young people and people of color to vote and the bill doesn’t do that. She calls the bill restrictive because of the fact that people will be turned away at the polls if it were to pass because not everyone has a state-issued ID.
#16 Senate Minority Whip Mike Gierau
Party: Democrat Assumed Office: January 7th, 2019 Facebook: Mike Giearu Committee Assignments: Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources
Senator Gierau recently spoke on a new bill that would require voters to show their photo ID in order to cast their ballots. “I know virtually every elected official in the state of Wyoming, and they would rather lose an arm than run a bad election. It is absolutely incredible that this would even come up.” Giearu said. The Senator also added that he believes the bill will end up passing.
#15 Legal Review Administrator Kathleen B. Carlson
Party: Republican Assumed Office: 2012
Carlson graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in political science. Before joining the Attorney General’s office she was a Wyoming State Law Librarian. She also worked for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky. She has also served as a board member for the American Association of Law Libraries Chair of the State Court and Special Interest Section, and President of the Western Pacific Association of Law Libraries
#14 Special Assistant Attorney General Jay A. Jerde
Party: Republican Assumed Office December of 2013
Jerde attended the University of Wyoming and graduated in 1988 with a degree in economics. After graduating he served in the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Samoa for two years teaching economics at Samoa College. He later graduated from the Wyoming College of Law in 1994, he would serve as the law clerk under judges Edward Grant and Nicholas Kalokathis. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office in 1996. He has represented banking regulatory law, state tax law, civil rights, and tort defense litigation. He has recently represented the state in environmental cases. He reached his current position in 2013 when then-Attorney General Pete Michael asked him to be his Special Assistant
#13 Chief Deputy Attorney General Ryan Shelhaas
Party: Republican Assumed Office: March 2019
After graduating from the University of Wyoming Ryan Shelhass began his career as a civil litigator with Hirst Applegate then he joined the Civil Division of Wyoming’s Attorney General’s office in 2003. He began his career with the department as a tax litigator representing the Department of Revenue. Since joining the office he has also represented Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Military Department, Livestock Board, Secretary of State, State Auditor, and Banking Commissioner.
#12 Attorney General Bridget Hill
Party: Republican Assumed Office: March 15th, 2019
Bridget Hill grew up in Saratoga, Wyoming where she attended the University of Wyoming and earned her undergraduate degree in law and accounting. After School, she served as a staff attorney under Justice Larry Lehman and Michael Goldman of the Wyoming Supreme Court. After her time with the court, she joined the Wyoming Attorney General’s office as an Assistant Attorney General where she represented The Office of State Lands and Investments, State Loan and Investment Board, and the Board of Land Commissioners. She has also served as State Projects Attorney and Director of the Office of State Lands before she was appointed to Attorney General by Governor Mark Gordon.
#11 Secretary of State Edward Buchanan
Party: Republican Assumed Office: March 1st, 2018 Facebook: Ed Buchanan Secretary Buchanan serves as the State’s Election Officer, Securities Commissioner, Corporations Administer, and Notaries Public Commissioner. In addition, he serves on the state’s canvassing board as well as the State Loan and Investment Board, and The Board of Land Commissioners, along with other Wyoming elected officials. He also served in the Air Force as an intelligence briefer to senior command. After his service, he earned a Law degree from Wyoming College of Law. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 2002 where he represented Goshen County for 10 years while he practiced law. As a State Representative, he served as Chairman of Judiciary, Majority Floor Leader, and Speaker of the House.
#10 Justice Kate M. Fox
Fox was appointed by former Governor Matt Mead and was sworn in January 2014. Prior to her time on t
he court, she worked for a law firm named Davis & Cannon LLP. She joined the firm after she served as a law clerk in a Federal District Court Judge named Clarence A. Brimmer
#9 Chief Justice Michael K Davis
Assumed Office July 1st, 2018, Appointed by: Governor Matt Mead
Judge Davis served as a member of the United States Army from 1973 to 1975, after he got out the Army he received his B.A. in summa cum laude from Western State College of Colorado in 1977 and a Juris Doctorate with Honor from the University Of Wyoming College Of Law in 1980. He practiced law at Yankee and Toner in Sheridan from 1980 to 2006 and then from a Cheyenne office branch from 2006 to 2008 until he became a District Judge. He is also a Judicial Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
#8 Minority House Leader Cathy Connolly
Party: Democrat Assumed Office: January 10th, 2017 Committee Assignments: Management, House Education, House Labor, Health and Social Services, Rules and Procedure, Department of Family Services Advisory Council, Educational Attainment Advisory Council, State Workforce Investment Board, and Executive Committee.
This year she co-sponsored a bill to end capital punishment in the state of Wyoming along with 12 Republicans. The arguments coming out of the House were both moral and fiscal ones. Death Penalty cases tend to be more expensive giving the length of the trials, appeals, and jury selection. Connolly said that the push to end capital punishment was a long time coming. As far as reaching across the aisle is concerned Connolly said that is what she is here for. “That is why I do the job that I do in a body that is kind of a supermajority. I believe in the system, I believe that as a state, as a bipartisan body we can come up with solutions, and the only way to do that is to work together.” Connolly said. Despite the bipartisan support the bill would fail in the Senate by eight votes.
#7 Majority Leader Albert Sommers
Party: Republican Facebook: Albert Sommers Assumed Office: January 12th, 2021 Committee Assignments: Management Council, Broadband Task Force, House Education, Rules and Procedure, and Colorado River Basin Forum.
Sommers is among a group of lawmakers that would shift authority over an elk feeding ground closure from the Wyoming Game and Fishing Department to the Governor. It would require the Governor to consider Game and Fish recommendations. Four of the bill’s sponsors list ranching as one of the professions. Close quarters on 23 of the state’s feeding grounds would worsen the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease which is an incurable and deadly disease similar to Mad Cow Disease. “The bill establishes a transparent process that would impact more than just wildlife. I want to make sure this is a discussion with all agencies involved.” Sommers said.
#6 Senator John Barrasso
Party: Republican Assumed Office: June 5th, 2007 Twitter: @barrassoforwyo 730 followers
Senator Barrasso has a medical degree and has practiced orthopedics in Casper, Wyoming where he briefly served as Wyoming’s Medical Chief of Staff. He has also served as President of Wyoming’s Medical Society, President of National Association of Physician Broadcasters, and as a member of the American Medical Association of Ethics and Judicial Affairs. As an elected official he says he supports limited government, lower taxes, less spending, traditional family values, a strong national defense, and he considers himself pro-life. As a Senator, he sits on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee as the Ranking Member.
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#5 Senator Cynthia Lummis
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 3rd, 20221 Twitter: @CynthiaMLummis 25.5k followers
Senator Lummis is the first woman to represent Wyoming in the United States Senate. As a politician, she served in the Wyoming House of Representatives two times from 1979 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1993. She also served as a State Senator from 1993 to 1995, State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007, and as a US congresswoman from 2009 to 2017. She has supported bills such as the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, which would direct the US Department of Agriculture to establish at least one Forrest Revenue Area within each unit of the National Forrest System designed for forest management for the production of forest materials and forest reserve revenues.
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#4 Representative Liz Cheney
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 3rd, 2019 Twitter: @Liz_Cheney 199k followers
Liz Cheney is the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and served positions in the Bush administration such as Deputy Assistant for Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. She is also a pro-business socially conservative neoconservative who supports regime change in Iran. In 2009 she founded the Keep America Safe non-profit organization with Bill Kristol which deals with national security issues. She is also one of few Republicans to support Donald Trump’s second impeachment after the attempted insurrection that took place on January 6th.
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#3 Speaker Pro-Tempore Mike Greear
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Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 12th, 2021 Committee assignments: House Rules and Procedure, House, Minerals, Business, and Economic Development, Enhanced and Improved Oil Recovery Commission, UW Energy and Resource Council.
Greear voice his concerns about an annual conversation stamp increase from $9 to $21. The new law is designed to provide a reliable source of funding for the Wyoming Game and Fishing Departments’ “Access Yes” program where the department negotiates with landowners to provide hunting and fishing around the state. The increased fees will generate $1.67 million in revenue every year. 85 percent of the funds will be directed to funding the purchase of access agreements to provide public access to state lands that are inaccessible to the public for hunting or fishing purposes. The last 15 percent will go to wildlife conservation efforts. “What happens if Game and Fish are unable to find landowners willing to participate in the “Access Yes” program? What happens if they are not a willing seller? Where does the money go? What happens if they don’t spend it in three years?” Greear said. The bill passed on March 11th by a vote of 36 to 26.
#2 Speaker of the House Eric Barlow
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 12th, 2021 Committee Assignments: Management Council, Rules and Procedure, and Management Audit Committee
Speaker Barlow served in the Wyoming House of Representatives representing the third district of Wyoming since 2013 and became the Majority Leader in 2019. One of the first bills he fought for as Speaker of the House was a bill to expand Medicaid to the citizens of Wyoming. Expanding the current program would have given healthcare to 24,000 uninsured residents by opening eligibility to include non-disabled adults who make less than $8.25 an hour in a 40-hour workweek. These people fall into a “coverage gap” meaning they cannot afford private insurance and are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. The health department estimates 54,000 people fall into that gap and that expanding the program would cover 14,000 to 38,000 of them. They also estimate that the exact number is close to 24,000 would be covered. Despite the momentum it had in the House it never made it to the Senate floor and it died 3-2 in a five-person committee after state officials voiced concerns that the federal program would force the state to support abortions and “transgender surgery.”
#1 Governor Mark Gordon
Party: Republican Assumed Office: January 7th, 2019 Twitter: @GovernorGordon 7,502 followers
During his tenure as Governor, he has imposed a statewide mask mandate in December of 2020 which he later lifted in March and imposed restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings. In November of 2020, he proposed a $500 million budget cut to account for the declining revenue of the fossil fuel industry, which is crucial to Wyoming’s economy. In April of 2021, he signed a $430 million cut due to the imposed budget forecasts for the year 2021 and the stimulus checks that President Biden sent out earlier this spring.