Governor of Wyoming

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	Wyoming Governor
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$105,000
2022-24 FY Budget:	$84,550,764
Term limits:	8 years in a 16 year period
	Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Wyoming Constitution, Article 4, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder
	Governor of Wyoming Mark Gordon; Republican Party; Assumed office: 2019-01-07
	Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
	Other Wyoming Executive Offices
	Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditors: Auditor • Director • Superintendent of Education • Director of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Governor of the State of Wyoming is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch, and the highest state office in Wyoming. The Governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is term limited to two four-year terms in any 16 year span.^[1]

Wyoming has a Republican trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

Wyoming has a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

See also: Wyoming State Legislature, Wyoming House of Representatives, Wyoming State Senate

Current officer

The 33rd and current governor is Mark Gordon, a Republican elected in 2018.^[2]

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of the governor in Article 4, the Executive Department.

Under Article 4, Section I:

The executive power shall be vested in a governor...

Qualifications

A candidate for governor must be:

a citizen of the United States
a resident of Wyoming for at least five years preceding the election
a qualified elector of Wyoming on the day of the election
at least 30 years old

Additionally, a sitting governor is ineligible for any other office.

Any governor who asks for, receives, or agrees to receive a bribe automatically forfeits his or her office and his or her right to hold any other office in Wyoming upon conviction.^[3]

Vacancies

This is a picture of a boot that lists all the governors of Wyoming. It sits outside the Cheyenne train depot.

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article 4, Section 6.

Wyoming has no office of the lieutenant governor; the Secretary of State serves as an ex officio Lieutenant Governor.

If the sitting Governor dies, resigns, is removed or impeached, is absent, or is temporarily or permanently unable to discharge the office, the Secretary of State shall serve as the Acting Governor for the remainder of the term or until the disability or absence ends.

Duties

The Governor is the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces and upholds and executes all laws faithfully (§ 4).

The governor does not have the power to create a law but does have the power to veto or reject a proposed law, subject to a majority override of the legislature (§ 8). He has a similar veto over appropriations (§ 9).

The governor is responsible for presenting revenue and expenditure data along with a state budget recommendation to the Wyoming Legislature.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

Addressing the General Assembly at the commencement of each session concerning the state of the state and making recommendations for legislation (§ 4)

Transacting all civil and military business of the state and expediting all measures the legislature has resolved upon (§ 4)

Remitting fines and forfeitures, and granting reprieves, pardons, and commutations, excepting cases of treasons, where her power is limited to suspending the sentence pending the legislature's action (§ 5)

Filling all vacancies not otherwise provided for (§ 7)^[4]

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Wyoming has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Elections

Wyoming state government organizational chart

Wyoming elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years. For Wyoming, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030 and 2034 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Monday in the January following an election.

If two candidates are tied after the general election, the legislature shall jointly cast ballots to choose between the two top vote getters.

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Wyoming governors are restricted to 8 years in office during any 16 year period.

Wyoming Statutes § 22-5-103

The person, by the end of the current term of office will have served, or but for resignation, would have served eight (8) or more years in any sixteen (16) year period in the office for which the candidate is seeking nomination or election, except, that any time served in that particular office prior to January 1, 1993, shall not be counted for purposes of this term limit. This provision shall apply to the offices of governor...

Note on Wyoming: Wyoming has no constitutional term limits. The statute was adapted in a 1992 ballot measure. Part of that measure relating to legislative term limits was declared unconstitutional by the state supreme court, in the case of Cathcart v. Meyer. It is unclear whether entire of the provision is legal.^[5]

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Wyoming from 1992 to 2013.

2022

See also: Wyoming gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Wyoming

Incumbent Mark Gordon defeated Theresa Livingston and Jared Baldes in the general election for Governor of Wyoming on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Gordon (R)	74.1	143,696
	Theresa Livingston (D)	15.8	30,686
	Jared Baldes (L)	4.2	8,157
	Other/Write-in votes	5.9	11,461

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 194,000
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Wyoming

Theresa Livingston defeated Rex Wilde in the Democratic primary for Governor of Wyoming on August 16, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Theresa Livingston	69.1	4,993
	Rex Wilde	27.9	2,016
	Other/Write-in votes	3.0	214

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,223
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Wyoming

Incumbent Mark Gordon defeated Brent Bien, Rex Rammell, and James Quick in the Republican primary for Governor of Wyoming on August 16, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Gordon	61.5	101,140
	Brent Bien	29.6	48,572
	Rex Rammell	5.7	9,378
	James Quick	2.9	4,728
	Other/Write-in votes	0.3	533

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 164,351
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Aaron Nab (R)