Bien brings ‘Return Wyoming to the people’ message to Frannie

On Monday night, Republican candidate for Wyoming governor Brent Bien spoke to a small gathering of about 15 people at the Frannie Town Hall.

Bien, a retired Marine Corps colonel, aviator and combat veteran, flew 275 helicopter missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Wyoming and now lives in Cody.

He told the group how much he loves Wyoming, praising “the beauty, the resources and the hard-working people who make this state what it is.” The 2026 election is still a year away, but Bien has already declared his candidacy. He previously ran in the 2022 Republican primary, finishing second to Governor Mark Gordon with 30 percent of the vote.

Bien said his decision to run came after the governor’s decision to shut down the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I couldn’t believe that our state was shut down — that the governor shut the state down — and I took that extremely personally,” he said. “My whole platform is returning Wyoming to the people, because the state’s a mess. It’s a problem.”

He said his campaign centers on restoring liberty and accountability, arguing that Wyoming’s government has grown too large and unresponsive.

“We have no idea how much money it really takes to run this state,” Bien said. “But what we’ve done is grow government in this state. We’ve got the largest state government per capita of any state in the nation. One out of every four people in this state works for government.”

A key piece of his plan is cutting property taxes. He told the audience, “We’ve already filed another ballot issue … to cut residential property tax by 50 percent of the assessed value of the primary residence of Wyoming residents.” Bien added, “We’re the wealthiest state per capita in the nation. We’ve got over $30 billion in the bank.”

He also raised repeated concerns about election integrity and the use of electronic voting systems. Bien argued that the state’s voting machines are unreliable and said he would not certify future elections if they remain in use. He favors hand-counted ballots and runoff elections so, as he put it, “every winning candidate secures at least 51 percent of the vote.”

Bien also described what he sees as the broader threats facing the country.

“When I look at the biggest threats to this nation,” he said, “they’re Marxism and Islamism. If I get down there, we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Bien’s remarks reflected his ongoing theme of reducing government, protecting personal freedom and, in his words, “returning Wyoming to the people.”