Wyoming 2026 Election & Infrastructure Intelligence

# Wyoming Statewide Elections and Infrastructure Overview ## Election structure Wyoming's primary is August 18, 2026, and the general election is November 3. Governor Mark Gordon is term-limited. Senator Cynthia Lummis is retiring. Representative Harriet Hageman is running for Senate, creating an open at-large House contest. Secretary of State Chuck Gray is running for House, and Superintendent Megan Degenfelder is running for governor. ## Data-center and AI infrastructure baseline Wyoming is positioning itself as an energy-rich computing hub. The state combines large electricity exports, cool temperatures, available land, fiber connectivity, state tax incentives, and utility tariffs designed for very large customers. Governor Gordon's June executive order, "Data Centers the Wyoming Way," is development-oriented but conditions growth on protection of natural resources, residents, businesses, infrastructure, and Wyoming communities. Cheyenne is the principal market. The city reported 10 operating data centers, five under construction, and nine in planning in May 2026. Microsoft announced an intent to acquire roughly 3,200 acres for expansion, while Meta and other projects are increasing load and construction demand. A proposed Tallgrass-Crusoe campus would begin around 1.8 GW and could scale much higher, making generation, transmission, water, workforce housing, and industrial-siting policy central election issues. ## Cost allocation and community protection Black Hills Energy's Large Power Contract Service tariff is designed to prevent data-center interconnection costs from being shifted to ordinary customers. Cheyenne rejected a one-year data-center moratorium by an 8-1 vote. State and local officials continue examining water use, wastewater, noise, worker housing, grid effects, tax treatment, and cumulative development capacity. ## Electoral interpretation The Republican primaries will likely determine most statewide outcomes, but the package does not treat p

Race	Status	Candidates	Impact	Key issue
Governor	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
U.S. Senate	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact

# Wyoming Race and Candidate Dossiers As of August 3, 2026. Posture labels apply only to AI/data-center infrastructure policy. ## Governor - Stage: Primary - Status: Open; Mark Gordon term-limited - Polling: Barlow internal poll: Barlow 42%, Degenfelder 19%, Bien 14%; campaign-sponsored, not independent - Infrastructure relevance: Controls implementation of Data Centers the Wyoming Way, industrial siting, water coordination, energy development, incentives, and local-state balance. ### Brent Bien (Republican) - Status: Active primary candidate - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water, incentives, or local authority was located. - Polling: Campaign internal poll: 14% - Source: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2026/2026_WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf ### Curt Blake (Republican) - Status: Active primary candidate - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water, incentives, or local authority was located. - Polling: No verified public candidate-specific poll - Source: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2026/2026_WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf ### Eric Barlow (Republican) - Status: Active primary candidate - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water, incentives, or local authority was located. - Polling: Campaign internal poll: 42% - Source: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2026/2026_WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf ### Megan Degenfelder (Republican) - Status: Active primary candidate - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water, incentives, or local authority was located. - Polling: Campaign internal poll: 19% - Source: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2026/2026_WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf ### Kenneth R. Casner (Democratic) - Status: Active primary candidate - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water, incentives, or local authority was located. - Polling: No verified public candidate-specific poll - Source: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/Docs/2026/2026_WY_Primary_Election_Candidates.pdf ### Rebecca Bextel (Constitution) - Status: Declared; pending minor-party certification - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: Minor-party candidacy remains subject to final ballot certification. - Polling: No verified public candidate-specific poll - Source: https://politics1.com/wy.htm ## U.S. Senate - Stage: Primary - Status: Open; Cynthia Lummis retiring - Polling: No verified independent public poll - Infrastructure relev

# Research Gaps and Refresh Rules ## Known gaps - The August 18 primary has not occurred, so general-election nominees are unresolved. - Minor-party filings remain open through August 17 and independent filings through August 24. - No reliable independent statewide polling was located. The captured governor survey is campaign-sponsored and must remain labeled as such. - Most candidates have not published sufficiently specific positions on data-center siting, utility-cost allocation, water consumption, incentives, or local authority. - State implementation details under "Data Centers the Wyoming Way" remain subject to agency and legislative development. ## Refresh rules - Check the Secretary of State candidate roster daily through final ballot certification. - Check withdrawals, minor-party nominations, independent petitions, and write-in filings daily. - Refresh campaign-finance and endorsement fields weekly, then daily during the final 30 days. - Monitor the governor, Public Service