Mark Gordon

Mark Gordon (born March 14, 1957) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Wyoming since January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as state treasurer; then-governor Matt Mead appointed him to that position on October 26, 2012, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Joseph Meyer.

Early life and education Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Catherine and Crawford Gordon. Gordon's father grew up on Drumlin Farm, in Lincoln, Massachusetts. His parents married on October 27, 1945, at the First Unitarian Church of Kennebunk, Maine, before settling at their ranch in Kaycee, Wyoming, in 1947.

Gordon's paternal grandmother was the philanthropist Louise Ayer Hatheway. His paternal great-grandfather was the industrialist and mill magnate Frederick Ayer, founder of the American Woolen Company, and younger brother of the patent medicine tycoon James Cook Ayer, both of Lowell, Massachusetts.

He is a nephew of the socialite Jean Gordon. Gordon is also a great-nephew by marriage of General George S. Patton, and a first cousin once removed of General George Patton IV. He was raised on his family's ranch in Johnson County, Wyoming. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Middlebury College in 1979.

Career

2008 congressional run

In 2008, Gordon was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary for the United States House of Representatives for Wyoming's at-large congressional district seat held by Barbara Cubin, who was retiring. His main opponent was Cynthia Lummis, also a former state treasurer and the wife of a Democratic former state representative, Alvin Wiederspahn. Former U.S. senator Alan K. Simpson of Cody, considered a moderate Republican, defended Gordon's candidacy but stopped short of an outright endorsement because he was also friendly with Lummis. Former U.S. senator Malcolm Wallop endorsed Gordon, as did Joseph B. Meyer, who was serving as state treasurer at the time.

In the primary, Gordon garnered the endorsements of Wyoming's two most prominent statewide newspapers, The Casper Star-Tribune and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Though polls and the financial advantage rested with Gordon in the primary campaign, he lost the nomination to Lummis.

Treasurer of Wyoming Gordon was Treasurer of Wyoming from 2012 to 2019. He was sworn in as treasurer on November 1, 2012, by Wyoming Supreme Court Justice William Hill, after being selected by Governor Matt Mead. Gordon was inaugurated on January 7, 2019.

2022 election

Gordon was reelected to a second term against Democratic nominee Theresa Livingston in the general election.

Tenure Gordon was sworn in on January 7, 2019.

Amid a November 2020 spike in coronavirus cases, Gordon imposed some restrictions on indoor and outdoor public gatherings. He did not implement curfews, temporarily close any businesses or initially impose a statewide mask mandate. Gordon and his wife, Jennie Gordon, contracted COVID-19 later in the month. In December 2020, Gordon imposed a statewide mask mandate. In February 2021, he extended that order until the end of the month. On March 8, 2021, he announced that he would lift the mask mandate on March 16. On March 16, the mask mandate was lifted. As of March 30, Gordon has no plans to reinstate the mask mandate.

In November 2020, Gordon proposed $500 million in cuts to the Wyoming budget to account for declining revenue from the fossil fuel industry (particularly coal mining), which is crucial to Wyoming's economy. On April 2, 2021, he signed a budget passed by the Wyoming legislature that cut $430 million instead of the $500 million Gordon proposed, due to improved budget forecasts for the year of 2021 and supplemental money from the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden. The budget Gordon signed decreases the amount cut to the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Health.

In 2021, a New York Times investigation revealed that Gordon had been targeted by hard-right conservatives, such as Susan Gore, the heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune. Gore funded secret operatives who targeted Gordon. Part of this is due to Gordon's investment in renewable energy and policy on climate change, which led to a vote of no confidence by the state party. Gordon has embraced wind energy as a part of Wyoming's economic exports, such as the developing Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project.

As of 2022, Gordon often polls as one of the nation's most popular governors.

On March 7, 2024, Gordon banned Delta 8 hemp in Wyoming.

Relations with the Wyoming Legislature

Freedom Caucus and the 2025 session Gordon's relationship with the Wyoming Legislature became increasingly contentious after the Wyoming Freedom Caucus gained control of the Wyoming House of Representatives following the 2024 elections. WyoFile has described the caucus and its allies as far-right Republican lawmakers and described its national sponsor, the State Freedom Caucus Network, as a national right-wing political organization seeking to establish hard-line majorities in state legislatures.

Before the 2025 session, Gordon said that he would work with the Legislature's new leadership but described Freedom Caucus lawmakers as politically aggressive and focused on finding faults in his administration. During the session, he questioned whether caucus members were voting according to their constituents' interests or according to instructions from outside the chamber. He said that their legislative record would give Wyoming voters an opportunity to determine whether the caucus had represented them.

Freedom Caucus voting coordination The Freedom Caucus received legislative research and voting recommendations from Jessie Rubino, the Wyoming state director of the Washington, D.C.-based State Freedom Caucus Network. The national network paid Rubino's salary as part of its partnership with the Wyoming caucus. Rubino, a graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law and founder of the university's Turning Point USA chapter, researched bills and supplied voting recommendations to caucus members and allied lawmakers, sometimes by text message while votes were taking place.

2026 primary results In the August 2026 Republican primaries, the Freedom Caucus lost the House majority it had gained two years earlier. Thirteen incumbent caucus members lost their House seats, six caucus-aligned lawmakers lost campaigns for Senate seats, and the organization gained no new House seats. WyoFile called the result a "stunning upset" and projected that the caucus would be reduced from a House majority to about 10 reliable votes. The losses also deprived the caucus of enough votes to obstruct the two-thirds introductory threshold used during legislative budget sessions.

Responding to the results, Gordon said that Wyoming voters had rejected national political talking points and had instead considered the state's future. He also criticized the Wyoming Republican Party for endorsing candidates aligned with Freedom Caucus priorities and said the party should allow Republican voters to choose candidates for themselves. Rubino directed reporters to a Freedom Caucus statement declaring that the organization was "not going anywhere" and defending its record on taxes, school policy, voting restrictions and legislation about transgender people.

Although Gordon supported expanded firearm-carrying rights, he called the measure a "legislative power grab". He wrote that gun-free zones had not actually been eliminated but were instead "determined exclusively by the legislature". Gordon called the legislation a "political bomb" produced by the election that put the Freedom Caucus and its allies in the House majority.

Although Gordon described himself as opposed to abortion, he said that requiring the procedure constituted excessive government intrusion into a private medical decision. He called the mandated examination an "intimate, personally invasive, and often medically unnecessary procedure" and said that imposing it on victims of rape could be cruel and could discourage victims from reporting sexual assaults. The Legislature overrode his veto, with the House voting 45 to 16 and the Senate voting 22 to 9.

Freedom Caucus member Bill Allemand was a leading legislative opponent of the proposed facility. Allemand supported manufacturing the reactors but opposed allowing the company to store spent nuclear fuel at the site. After Radiant withdrew its Wyoming proposal, Allemand said he was "elated". Radiant's senior director of operations said the company selected Tennessee because of the greater regulatory certainty available there.

The committee proposed reductions affecting the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming departments of Health and Family Services, state employee compensation, and the Wyoming Business Council. Freedom Caucus member Ken Pendergraft successfully proposed reducing the university's block grant by $40 million. The committee also voted to eliminate funding for Wyoming Public Media, reduce funding for university athletics and other programs, and dismantle the Wyoming Business Council. Freedom Caucus member Ann Lucas defended the reductions as requiring government to tighten its belt, while Pendergraft questioned whether the Business Council was compatible with free-market principles.

Gordon attributed the proposal to "Freedom Caucus, aka Club No, members" on the committee and called it a "demolition budget". He accused its supporters of importing "cut everything" rhetoric for political theater and said Wyoming did not have structural debt or runaway spending. Gordon urged the full legislature to restore funding for core institutions and warned that the reductions could cause lasting damage to education, healthcare, economic development and rural communities.

The Freedom Caucus ultimately agreed to restore most of the funding to the levels Gordon recommended. At the conclusion of the budget session, Gordon thanked lawmakers for their work and acknowledged that the relationship had been difficult at times. He said that the executive and legislative branches did not always agree but needed to continue working together for Wyoming.

Political positions

Abortion On March 18, 2023, Gordon signed SF0109 into law, which banned abortion pills in Wyoming.

Transgender students in sports Gordon has not taken a formal stance on HB0063, saying he prefers "local districts to address issues individually".

Energy policy Gordon advocates balancing federal carbon capture investments with traditional energy sectors, calling it a "pragmatic transition".

Personal life Gordon met his first wife, the former Sarah Hildreth Gilmore, at Middlebury College. They married on March 7, 1981. In 1993, she died in an automobile accident. They had two daughters.

In 1998 Gordon met his current wife, the former Jennie Muir Young, and they married in 2000. Together they own the Merlin Ranch east of Buffalo in Johnson County, Wyoming. In 2009, their ranch received the Society for Range Management Wyoming Section "Excellence in Rangeland Stewardship" award.

On November 25, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gordon tested positive for the virus on the same day his office was to be reopened, after an employee of his had tested positive earlier. Gordon's office remained closed temporarily for deep-cleaning after his diagnosis.

Electoral history