I live in LaGrange, Wyoming, where my wife and I have made our home for many years. I have lived in Wyoming for all but the first few days of my life. I was born in Greeley, Colorado, and spent the worst seven days of my life there before mom brought me back to the ranch in Wyoming immediately thereafter. Wyoming is where I was raised, built my career as an ag producer and businessman, and have spent my life as a Republican - ever since I saw Ronald Reagan’s speech at the National Convention for Barry Goldwater.

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I am a lifelong Wyoming ag producer, businessman, former legislator and current State Treasurer. Before being elected Treasurer, I served more than two decades in the Wyoming Legislature, including leadership positions and service on committees responsible for budgeting, taxation, water and state finance. As Treasurer, I oversee the investment of $34 billion in trust assets, cash management, unclaimed property and serve on several statewide boards. During my tenure, Wyoming's investment earnings consistently grew and became the state's largest source of revenue for the first time in history, generating nearly $1.9 billion last year. My office also returned a record $41.3 million in unclaimed property to over 6,000 recipients in fiscal year 2025. My approach has always been straightforward: protect taxpayer resources, manage risk responsibly and focus on long-term financial strength.

Wyoming's revenue picture is stronger today than it has been in many years, thanks in part to record investment earnings. However, there have been challenges that we have not seen in the past to our economic development. I’m optimistic that if we do proceed with responsible economic development, our coal — and new opportunities in the energy industry — will move us to an even stronger position. The state must continue diversifying its revenue streams, growing investment income and maintaining disciplined fiscal management. I believe creating additional long-term investment revenue is one of the best ways to help future generations pay for government services without increasing tax burdens. We need to continue the evolution of our investment capacity by increasing efficiencies.

State trust lands constitutionally exist primarily to benefit Wyoming's schools and other designated beneficiaries, but successful management also requires early communication with local communities. Local governments, landowners, industry representatives, conservation interests and residents often have valuable information about proposed projects and potential impacts. The board should continue making decisions based on sound financial stewardship, legal obligations and transparency while ensuring stakeholders have meaningful opportunities to provide input. Good decisions are generally informed by both statewide priorities and local knowledge.

The biggest challenge is that some parts of the state are doing fine, but others need us to provide opportunities to be part of Wyoming’s economy. The biggest opportunity is Wyoming's ability to leverage its substantial financial assets to efficiently create sustainable long-term revenue. As Treasurer, I will continue pursuing disciplined investment strategies, protecting the state's strong balance sheet and identifying opportunities to generate revenue through investments rather than taxation. Last year demonstrated the potential of that approach when investment earnings became Wyoming's largest source of revenue. In the past mineral revenues were made unreliable by federal interference, but new generation opportunities for Wyoming gas and coal are on the horizon.

The objective is not to maximize returns at any cost. The objective is to provide stable, adequate revenue to the budgeting process, maximizing risk-adjusted returns while protecting the assets entrusted to us. That requires diversification, professional management, long-term thinking and a disciplined investment process. Wyoming's portfolio includes assets with different risk and return characteristics because different funds have different purposes and time horizons. Successful investing is about balancing growth, liquidity and safety, not chasing short-term market trends. For example, the Wyoming Retirement System has a long-term investment horizon, which allowed them to buy gold early and limit volatility and losses when interest rates and wars disrupted the market.

I am well aware of the importance of the Wyoming Retirement System because I served as the legislature's liaison on that board for more than a decade before becoming Treasurer. We completely overhauled and modernized the system because there was no professional management of the assets internally. We went from 59 out of 59 to #1 in returns. The retirement system exists to provide retirement security for public employees who have earned those benefits through years of service. My fiduciary responsibility is to help ensure the system remains financially sound and sustainable for current and future retirees. That means maintaining prudent investment strategies, carefully managing risk, monitoring funding levels and making decisions based on 30-year actuarial and financial realities. My focus will remain on protecting the integrity, stability and long-term health of the retirement system, while educating legislators about the loss of purchasing power for current retirees.