Mark Gordon
Gordon in 2025
33rdGovernor of Wyoming
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2019
Preceded by	Matt Mead
29thTreasurer ofWyoming
In office November 1, 2012 – January 7, 2019
Governor	Matt Mead
Preceded by	Joseph Meyer
Succeeded by	Curt Meier
Personal details
Born	(1957-03-14)March 14, 1957 (age 68) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Sarah Hildreth Gilmore ​ ​ (m. 1981; died 1993)​ Jennie Muir ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	4
Relatives	Jean Gordon (aunt) George S. Patton (great-uncle) George Patton IV (first cousin once removed)
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Education	Middlebury College (BA)
Mark Gordon's voice Mark Gordon signs proclamations honoring health care professionals during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Recorded December 14, 2020

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

Gordon was born inNew York City, the son of Catherine (née Andrews) and Crawford Gordon. Gordon’s father grew up on Drumlin Farm, inLincoln, 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.^[1]

Gordon’s paternal grandmother was the philanthropistLouise Ayer Hatheway. His paternal great-grandfather was the industrialist and mill magnateFrederick Ayer, founder of theAmerican Woolen Company, and younger brother of the patent medicine tycoonJames Cook Ayer, both ofLowell, Massachusetts.

He is a nephew of the socialiteJean Gordon. Gordon is also a great-nephew by marriage ofGeneralGeorge S. Patton, and a first cousin once removed of GeneralGeorge Patton IV.^[2][3] He was raised on his family's ranch inJohnson County, Wyoming. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history fromMiddlebury College in 1979.^[4]

In 2008, Gordon was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republicanprimary for theUnited States House of Representatives forWyoming's at-large congressional district seat held byBarbara Cubin, who was retiring. His main opponent wasCynthia Lummis, also a former state treasurer and the wife of a Democratic former state representative,Alvin Wiederspahn.^[5] FormerU.S. senatorAlan K. Simpson ofCody, considered a moderate Republican, defended Gordon's candidacy but stopped short of an outright endorsement because he was also friendly with Lummis. FormerU.S. senatorMalcolm Wallop endorsed Gordon, as did the lateJoseph B. Meyer, who was serving as state treasurer at the time.^[6]

In the primary, Gordon garnered the endorsements of Wyoming's two most prominent statewide newspapers,The Casper Star-Tribune^[7] and theWyoming Tribune Eagle.^[8] Though polls and the financial advantage rested with Gordon in the primary campaign, he lost the nomination to Lummis.^[9]

Gordon was Treasurer of Wyoming from 2012 to 2019. He was sworn in as treasurer on November 1, 2012, byWyoming Supreme Court Justice William Hill,^[10][11] after being selected by Governor Matt Mead.^[5][10]

Gordon was elected to a full term as treasurer in 2014.^[10]

Gordon declined to run forCynthia Lummis's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, the one he ran for in 2008, and instead ran forgovernor of Wyoming in 2018. He won the Republican primary on August 21 and the general election on November 6, defeatingDemocratic state representativeMary Throne.^[12] Gordon was inaugurated on January 7, 2019.

Gordon was reelected to a second term against Democratic nominee Theresa Livingston in the general election.^[13]

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.^[14] Gordon and his wife, Jennie Gordon, contractedCOVID-19 later in the month.^[15] In December 2020, Gordon imposed a statewide mask mandate.^[16] In February 2021, he extended that order until the end of the month.^[17] On March 8, 2021, he announced that he would lift the mask mandate on March 16.^[18] On March 16, the mask mandate was lifted.^[19] As of March 30, Gordon has no plans to reinstate the mask mandate.^[20]

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.^[21] On April 2, 2021, he signed a budget passed by the Wyoming legislature that cut $430 million instead of the $500 million Gordon proposed,^[22] due to improved budget forecasts for the year of 2021 and supplemental money from theAmerican Rescue Plan Act^[23] signed byPresident Biden. The budget Gordon signed decreases the amount cut to theUniversity of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Health.

In 2021, aNew York Times investigation revealed that Gordon had been targeted by hard-right conservatives, such as Susan Gore, the heiress to theGore-Tex fortune. Gore funded secret operatives who targeted Gordon.^[24] 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.^[25] Gordon has embraced wind energy as a part of Wyoming's economic exports, such as the developingChokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project.^[26]

As of 2022, Gordon often polls as one of the nation's most popular governors.^[27][28]

On March 7, 2024, Gordon bannedDelta 8 hemp in Wyoming.^[29]

On March 18, 2023, Gordon signed SF0109 into law, which banned abortion pills in Wyoming.^[30]

Gordon has not taken a formal stance on HB0063,^[31] saying he prefers "local districts to address issues individually".^[32]

Gordon advocates balancing federalcarbon capture investments with traditional energy sectors, calling it a "pragmatic transition".^[33]

Gordon met his first wife, the former Sarah Hildreth Gilmore, at Middlebury College. They married on March 7, 1981, in the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, Massachusetts, where her parents resided. In 1993, she died in an automobile accident.^[34] 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.^[35]

On November 25, 2020, during theCOVID-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.^[36]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMark Gordon (politician).

• Wyoming State Treasurer's Office
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1957 births
• 21st-century Wyoming politicians
• Living people
• Middlebury College alumni
• People from Buffalo, Wyoming
• People from Kaycee, Wyoming
• Politicians from Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Ranchers from Wyoming
• Republican Party governors of Wyoming
• School board members in Wyoming
• St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni
• State treasurers of Wyoming
• Wyoming Republicans
• Candidates in the 2008 United States elections

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from February 2019
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• People appearing on C-SPAN