GILLETTE — At a gubernatorial debate hosted by the Campbell County Republican Party Monday night, two candidates flexed their conservative values to potential voters.

More than 100 people showed up to the American Legion Monday evening to listen to Megan Degenfelder and Brent Bien make their cases to be the most effective conservative voice in the Cowboy State’s highest elected office. The two debated over issues such as election integrity, abortion, public education and energy.

But two candidates were not in the room: Eric Barlow and Curt Blake. 

Barlow's campaign team posted a statement to Facebook and in an email to the News Record that said his campaign had a scheduling conflict that was made months in advance.

“The invitation came after our campaign calendar had already been committed across Wyoming for months, so I will not be able to attend this event,” the email read. “Campbell County is home, and it has been a privilege to serve Gillette, Campbell County and Wyoming for so many years…I look forward to continuing the conversation with Campbell County voters in the weeks and months ahead.”

Barlow was previously scheduled to be in Johnson County at the time of the debate, and he will be in Cheyenne for an event with the other gubernatorial candidates on Friday, his team wrote in an email to the News Record.

And Tyler Viles, Blake’s spokesperson, said Blake was busy meeting with campaign advisors and that debates were made for "grandstanding" instead of focusing on issues for Wyoming voters.

Moderator Laura Cox asked both candidates participating in the debate to pledge that they would uphold at least 80% of the Wyoming Republican Party platform.

Bien suggested so-called Republicans should be expelled from the party if they don't uphold the party platform since the Wyoming GOP has been “co-opted," but both said they supported enforcing an 80% platform rule.

“It’s crazy that we even have to ask that,” Degenfelder said. “If someone calls themself a Republican and can not support 80% of the party platform, we got a problem–and we got a problem in the state of Wyoming.”

Barlow’s Facebook account posted a statement as the debate carried on.

“My record demonstrates a consistent commitment to Wyoming conservative principles,” the statement read. “I have voted in alignment with the Republican Party platform more than 80% of the time, supporting policies that promote individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, economic growth and accountable government.”

When asked how Degenfelder and Bien would differentiate themselves to voters as the more conservative Republican candidate, Degenfelder pointed to her experience as state superintendent and said she was the only “true conservative” on the ballot.

“I am a true conservative with the experience and knowledge to get things done,” Degenfelder said. “And I think that resonates with people. They want someone they can trust to fight for them, yes, but also deliver.”

Both Degenfelder and Barlow represent the establishment, Bien said, and as an outsider, his message resonates with all Wyomingites.

“Shoot, even Democrats have come up to me and I have a pretty good batting average,” Bien said. “In the end, it comes down to we have common interests, it just matters how we get there.”

Election integrity

Both candidates were asked how they would promote election integrity in Wyoming while in office.

Bien advocated for all hand count ballots and auditing Wyoming elections more often.

He told the audience to look at the election misconduct lawsuit in Weston County against County Clerk Becky Hadlock and the now-dropped lawsuit against Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee alleging she did not properly test voting machines.

“Folks, as long as we’re doing elections the way we’re doing them in this state, I guarantee I will never vote to certify an election, nor will I allocate any money to it,” Bien said. “The people deserve to know — this is the absolute basis of our constitutional republic — it’s one thing for every vote to count, it's something entirely different for a vote to count for the intended recipient…I want to make sure your vote counts for the individual that you want.”

He said that he’s in favor of hand tabulation, and he was a co-author of a ballot initiative to require it.

Degenfelder said without free and fair elections, the country is at stake. Then she laid out some policies for elections.

She said elections should be regularly audited and hand tabulated, every ballot should be paper and the state should ban drop boxes.

“It is incredibly important to make sure we maintain a secure and fair election in the state of Wyoming,” she said.

Energy issues

The first question candidates were asked was what processes of the nuclear industry they would support.

Degenfelder said that Wyoming has tremendous opportunity with all the energy supply on top of the state’s uranium reserves. Her priority would be extraction first.

“If it works for us to have nuclear as the portfolio, then it has to be right for Wyoming,” Degenfelder said. “That is ensuring we do not accept anyone else’s waste. Period.”

She pointed out that a lot of nuclear deals around the state are happening behind closed doors, when discussions should be in public.

“Let’s be real. There’s a lot of conversations on development happening behind closed doors. That is not okay with me,” Degenfelder said. “It has to be a public process. It has to have the buy-in of our communities to move forward.”

Bien talked about his background as an engineer and being deployed on nuclear aircrafts and submarines in the Navy. He said no country does nuclear energy better than the United States. His position is similar to Degenfelder’s.

“I do not want Wyoming to be the repository for spent nuclear fuel. I will not let that happen on my watch,” Bien said. “I want the people of Wyoming to benefit off the tax revenue from this.”

He said that whatever Wyoming’s nuclear future may hold, it comes down to the “consent of the governed,” but first the state isn’t going to just hold spent fuel. Citizens should see the benefits from nuclear fuel extraction in the form of tax revenue.

Cox asked how each candidate would balance Wyoming’s legacy fossil fuel industries with green energy.

“I have a fundamental problem with green energy when it tries to compete with our legacy industries,” Degenfelder said.

She talked about her almost decade-long experience working in coal and gas before being elected state superintendent of public instruction in 2022.

She said that government subsidies put renewable energy on an uneven playing field compared to fossil fuels.

“No more handouts,” Degenfelder said. “We have to double down on what we’re good at. Our fossil fuel industry powers America. It powers the world. We should never ever apologize for our mineral resources we have in Wyoming.”

She then pointed to her campaign’s plan to “unleash Wyoming energy” that aspires for state control of the industry, reduce production costs, protect the workforce, export energy internationally and more, according to her campaign website.

Bien said there is no place in Wyoming for renewable energy and pointed to Degenfelder's role on the State Board of Land Commissioners.

“My opponent did vote for all these windmill projects you got going on around the state,” Bien said. “That will not happen with me, folks…the answer from me is no more of this.”

He warned the audience that there are more wind turbines coming to Wyoming because of her votes on the board.

Degenfelder responded that she has voted no many times on wind projects, but her work as governor would involve resolving Biden-era policies that created renewable energy projects such as wind farms in Wyoming.

Degenfelder reversed course on the 46,000-acre Pronghorn H2 wind project, voting against it in February after initially voting in favor of the project. She has publicly expressed remorse for initially voting in favor with three other members of the five-member SBLC.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray was the only consistent "no" vote on the controversial project.

Schools

When asked if there was a topic she wanted to discuss toward the end of the debate, Degenfelder flexed her track record as superintendent.

She touted her promotion of school choice, civics and patriotic education, “doubling down” on Career Technical Education, “getting porn out of schools and libraries” and “finally” banning boys in girl’s sports, she said.

All are issues she promoted as Wyoming Department of Education programs or lobbied for in legislation, such as the Wyoming Patriot Schools Program.

“I’m about results,” she said. “It’s not just talking about these issues, but actually delivering on them, and delivering on those that for too long have been said couldn’t be done.”

Bien said Wyomingites shouldn’t accept anything except excellence from public education.

“You look at the standards right now…how can we possibly accept a 39% proficiency in reading from our seniors?” he said. “We don’t care about the other 61%?”

WY-TOPP, the state’s assessment of K-12 students, does not test 12th graders. WY-TOPP tests third through 10th graders.

The most recent WY-TOPP data is from the 2024-25 school year which shows about 31% of Wyoming 10th graders scored “proficient” on WY-TOPP, and about 19% scored “advanced.”

“Why can’t we have 90% (proficiency) in five years?” Bien said. “I look at inefficiencies whether it’s the Department of Education or the state board of education.”

Bien said that state education has prioritized “the system” instead of students. 

He pointed to Wyoming spending more than $20,000 per student while underperforming on standardized tests, he said, and added that one of his first executive orders, if elected, would be to require students to say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of every school day.

Abortion

Both candidates attacked what they called "activist judges" during the debate. Degenfelder said that after the Wyoming Supreme Court prevented the state from a total abortion ban, Wyoming is in “crisis mode.”

“We are now one of the most openly-abortion states in the country because of that ruling,” Degenfelder said. “Life starts at conception and there are no exceptions when it comes to my beliefs that we should not have abortion. We need a strong leader in the governor’s office to appoint a strong attorney general...to appoint strong judges that believe in that and be able to partner with the legislature to find how we create laws that will withstand how we ensure that in the state of Wyoming, we are not open for abortions.”

Wyoming law allows abortions after a Natrona County judge ruled the procedure healthcare, thereby blocking the legislature’s ban on abortions performed after the presence of an infant heartbeat, as early as six weeks into the pregnancy. 

Wellspring Health Access in Casper is the only Wyoming clinic that conducts abortions.

“We are working against the devil here,” Degenfelder said.

Bien similarly said there are no exceptions for abortions.

“I’ve always been very staunch on pro-life,” he said. “I have to answer to our Creator, just like we all do, when that time comes I will do whatever I can that of the 64 million babies we slaughtered in this country, that I did everything I could to prevent it in the state of Wyoming.”

Bien asked if abortion is healthcare, then what diseases does it treat? He promoted alternative healthcare for soon-to-be mothers.

“There is no excuse for any of it,” he said. “The last thing I want are more abortions in this state.”