Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, February 5th. I'm Mac Watson.

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Wyoming Senate President Bo Biteman tells Cowboy State Daily he is considering a run for Wyoming's U.S. House. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Biteman has formed an exploratory committee to look into a campaign.

"So the senate president of Wyoming, Senate President Bo Biteman, is looking seriously at a U.S. House run. If he does run that would pit him against Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Casper businessman Reid Reisner, former public instruction superintendent Jillian Balow, so it would become a four way race for that Republican nomination, Biteman actually dropped that 'seriously looking' tagline during a broader interview."

Two of Wyoming's three seats in Congress face a shakeup this year, as incumbent U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis announced in December that she's not running for reelection to the upper chamber.

Read the full story HERE.

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And speaking of Wyoming politics, Tom Kelly, a freshman lawmaker from Sheridan who is also a college professor, announced Wednesday he is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Kelly arrived in Wyoming in 2019.

"Tom Kelly's a longtime educator. He worked in public school. He's been a college professor. He's been in university administration. And so he ran for this seat in a couple different ways back in 2022. He made the Republican nomination when Jillian Balow left early, and then Governor Gordon did not appoint him, choosing Brian Schroeder instead. And so Tom Kelly actually ran that year for the Republican nomination, withdrawing early as it was shaped into a two-way race between Schroeder and Degenfelder. And so he told me on Wednesday, like, 'Yeah, I just want to continue some of Degenfelder's work. I want to favor school choice, but stay within the confines of the Constitution.'"

Rep. Kelly, who has a master's degree in education and a PhD in political science, is a college professor and administrator who chairs the American Military University's department of political science, public administration and public policy.

Read the full story HERE.

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The newly unveiled USDA portal that tracks foreign-owned ag land in the U.S. has been hailed by GOP lawmakers and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins as a good step in the right direction. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that real estate agents, however, don't seem as concerned with the issue.

"A new USDA online portal for reporting foreign owned agricultural land is sparking some debate in Wyoming between politicians and real estate brokers and land experts and landowners, the politicians are saying, you know, no matter how much foreign land is owned in Wyoming, even if it's a small little bit, we should be concerned, and we should know who owns it and why. Real estate agents say they very rarely deal with foreign entities trying to buy land. The USDA has been collecting information regarding foreign ownership of agricultural lands since the late 1970s but this online portal is relatively new."

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