• As the top education official in the state for the past three years, Degenfelder has overseen several conservative education reforms.

By Noah Zahn
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder officially announced her bid for Wyoming governor Monday following an endorsement from President Donald Trump over the weekend.

“When my President calls on me to serve my state and my country, I answer,” she wrote in an X post Friday responding to Trump’s Truth Social post.

Degenfelder was elected to her current role in 2022, becoming one of the youngest statewide officials in state history at age 34. Since then, she has become known as a staunch conservative who often aligns with Trump’s priorities.

“Megan is an unwavering supporter of President Donald J. Trump, often referring to her political ideology as ‘the new generation of Trump Republicans,’” her campaign website said. “She attended the signing of President Trump’s executive order to overhaul the U.S. Department of Education.”

According to her website, she is a sixth-generation Wyomingite from a ranch in Casper and graduated from the University of Wyoming with degrees in economics and political science. While in school, she served as student body president and captain of the women’s rugby team.

Later, she earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, writing her thesis on the elasticity of demand between coal and natural gas.

“Coastal elites and liberal activists are coming for our oil, gas and coal jobs. Radical extremists seek to redefine genders, threatening our young women. And the political establishment cares more about undermining President Trump than serving the people who elected them,” Degenfelder wrote in a press release. “Not in Wyoming. Not when I’m Governor.”

Following her schooling, Degenfelder spent nearly a decade working in the coal and oil and gas industries across Wyoming.

“When the Obama and Biden administrations tried to strangle that strength with federal red tape and political pressure, I pushed back every step of the way. I’ll never let Wyoming be treated like an afterthought. In my years of experience working both in the coal industry and the oil and gas industry, I know firsthand the bureaucracy that slows down development,” Degenfelder wrote on her website.

As the top education official in the state for the past three years, Degenfelder has overseen several conservative education reforms. She spearheaded Wyoming’s first state-authorized charter schools and a voucher program designed to provide $7,000 annually for K-12 students in private or home schools. 

The latter is on hold pending an appeal of a district court’s suspension based on its constitutionality.

She also supported a ban on transgender athletes from high school into college, which was approved by the state Legislature last year.

On her website, Degenfelder committed to expanding career and technical education and skilled trade credentials, teaching American patriotism and not teaching “political agendas like CRT or DEI.”

Other issues Degenfelder supports align with Trump and conservative values, like sending money to the nation’s southern border and supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She’s also anti-abortion and supports Second Amendment rights, lower taxes, water and property rights, improved access to rural health care, and continued pursuit of blockchain and digital assets in Wyoming.

“When Wyoming leads, America wins,” she wrote. “Our bright future will be marked by our leadership, the unwavering spirit of our proud people and a commitment to leave this state stronger for the next generation.”

In Trump’s post about Degenfelder, he wrote, “Many of my strongest supporters and friends have been calling and telling me how great ‘MAGA’ Megan Degenfelder is…From everything I Know about her, she would be fantastic!”

Degenfelder enters a growing race for governor consisting of former state house speaker and current state Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, 2022 Republican candidate Brent Bien and Independent Joseph Kibler. 

Incumbent Gov. Mark Gordon will complete his second of two consecutive terms next year and has not announced any further political moves after that, saying he wants to continue to focus on his role as governor for now.

Unless Gordon chooses to challenge term limit laws, he would have to take four years off after this term before he could run for one more four-year term.

Although there have been other female gubernatorial candidates in the past, no woman has been elected to the Equality State’s top executive office. Wyoming’s only female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, made history in 1925 as the first woman to become a state’s governor after taking office following the death of her husband, William Bradford Ross. She served until 1927.

Though no official announcement has been made, Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, has made social media posts saying he intends to run for state superintendent of public instruction should Degenfelder run for governor.

“I’m currently focused on work as a House rep for the Recalibration Committee and the Budget Session, and I have logistics to work out with my wife and kids before any formal decision is made about a run for Superintendent. That said, unless any unforeseen circumstances arise, I can’t see why I wouldn’t,” he told the WTE in a statement.

Kelly ran for the position in 2022 and came in fourth in the Republican primaries topped by Degenfelder. Though he unofficially withdrew from the race before Election Day, he received 12,347 votes, or 8.4%.