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 elected to a full term as treasurer in 2014.
Governor of Wyoming
2018 election
Gordon declined to run for Cynthia Lummis's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, the one he ran for in 2008, and instead ran for governor of Wyoming in 2018. He won the Republican primary on August 21 and the general election on November 6, defeating Democratic state representative Mary Throne. 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.
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.
Then-caucus chairman John Bear confirmed that text messages summarized Rubino's and the caucus's positions on bills and amendments. Bear said that lawmakers were not required to follow every recommendation, although the organization maintained undisclosed voting-adherence thresholds for membership. He said the caucus was pleased with how consistently its members voted together. Other Republican legislators criticized the practice. Clark Stith said members voted in lockstep according to text-message instructions, while Steve Harshman called the practice a departure from Wyoming's citizen legislators' traditional independence.
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.
Local authority and gun-free zones Several disputes between Gordon and the Freedom Caucus concerned whether authority should remain with local governments and public institutions or be transferred to the Legislature. In February 2025, Gordon allowed House Bill 172, which repealed certain gun-free zones, to become law without his signature. The legislation permitted concealed firearms in public schools, the University of Wyoming, community colleges, state-owned facilities, and government meetings. It removed much of the authority those institutions had previously exercised over concealed firearms in their facilities.
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.
Medication-abortion ultrasound requirement Gordon also vetoed House Bill 64, which required a patient seeking a medication abortion to undergo an ultrasound at least 48 hours before receiving abortion medication. During early pregnancy, the examination would generally have required a transvaginal ultrasound, in which an ultrasound probe is inserted into the vagina. The legislation had no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
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.
Radiant nuclear project In October 2025, Gordon blamed the Freedom Caucus for contributing to Radiant Industries' decision to abandon plans for a nuclear-microreactor manufacturing facility near Bar Nunn, Wyoming, and instead locate the project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Gordon accused the caucus of employing "Club No" tactics and said that its members objected to the proposal without discussing possible solutions. He told Wyoming Public Media that the caucus was interested in "fearmongering".
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.
Gordon contrasted Wyoming's response with Tennessee's willingness to pursue nuclear manufacturing and provide regulatory certainty. He warned that Wyoming could either participate in emerging industries or "gently coast into oblivion". Gordon said Wyoming should be a state to which companies turned for regulatory clarity, infrastructure, and partnership rather than one governed by fear and automatic opposition.
2026 budget dispute