Brent Bien

As the 2024 general election comes to a close, Brent Bien of Cody is already thinking about the next one. In an interview, Bien said he’s seriously considering another run for the governor’s office in 2026.

“I’m looking at it pretty hard,” the retired Marine, civil engineer and pilot told the Tribune last month, saying he’s concerned about Wyoming.

Bien challenged Gov. Mark Gordon in the 2022 Republican primary, receiving 29.6% of the vote to Gordon’s 61.5%, but the governor will be term-limited in the next election.

Various names have been floated as possible replacements for Gordon, including some of the other four statewide elected officials.

However, “I will tell you right now that of all the potential candidates … I right now do not have the confidence to entrust my liberty to any of them,” Bien said. “I just don’t.”

He charged that those currently running the state — including Gordon and State Treasurer Curt Meier — are “bean counters.”

“All they care about is bringing more money into the state,” Bien said. “So what they’ll do is, they’ll compromise our liberty to do that.”

He said the paradigm in Cheyenne needs to shift to “put people ahead of government.” 

Over the past couple years, Bien worked with his friends Rich Weber and Cheryl Aguilar on a pair of ballot initiatives. They and supporters have already gathered more than 28,000 signatures on one that would cut property taxes in half on residents’ primary homes — and they’ve been drafting another that would have Wyoming’s election results counted by hand instead of by machine. In his discussions with residents around the state, Bien said property taxes and election integrity arise as top priorities.

“If the people send me down to Cheyenne in 2026, I can assure you I will call a special session to have these guys [legislators] rewrite Title 39, rewrite our entire tax code, to make it more favorable for the people,” he said.

Bien also said he would forgo the governor’s salary, which is currently set at $105,000.

He left a safety director position at a Sheridan-based air service company to launch his 2022 campaign, opposing Gordon and what he saw as the governor’s “complete breach on our constitutional liberties” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Gordon took the primary by a two-to-one margin, Bien did win four counties — including Campbell County — while proving competitive in others. He finished less than 5% behind Gordon in Park County. The campaign also built up a supportive network of people around the state, and Bien said he continues to be asked to run again.

“But … it’s never been about me,” he said. “It’s always been about the people here, and it’s always been about our liberty.”

Bien hasn’t made a formal decision, but has plenty of time to do so: The official filing period doesn’t open until May 2026.