Primary election campaign reports that were due Tuesday night show Sen. Eric Barlow out-earned Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder in campaign donations this primary election season, while Degenfelder gathered more money altogether, counting loans from her father and herself.
Degenfelder’s total receipts finished at $1,278,174 - $756,174 in donations and $522,000 in loans - as of her Tuesday Wyoming campaign finance primary election report.
Barlow’s contributions, which include no loans, finished at $1,155,814 in contributions. He also carried $391,710 into this race from fundraising for this campaign in 2025 - making the total about $1.54 million. His total donations tally is a "historic" amount, Barlow's campaign spokeswoman Rebekah Fitzgerald noted in a Wednesday interview.
Recent history bears that claim: Gov. Mark Gordon posted $541,577 in contributions in his 2022 primary election report and $155,846 in 2018. Former Gov. Matt Mead posted $100,052 in contributions in the 2014 primary election.
A third Republican governor candidate this year, retired Marine Corps Col. Brent Bien, finished at $191,819.26 in contributions.
The fourth GOP candidate Curt Blake’s report was not available as of publication.
That makes this Republican primary contest for governor a roughly $2.6 million haul, and just over that in expense.
Of her nearly $1.3 million war chest, Degenfelder spent just over $1.1 million. Barlow spent about $1.36 million. Bien spent $154,424.
The primary election is Tuesday.
Loans, PACs
Degenfelder’s is the only one of the three campaigns that reported receiving loans. Those comprised $497,000 in loans from her father, Steve Degenfelder, and a $25,000 self-loan.
Steve Degenfelder’s portion of her total intake is roughly 39%.
Both Barlow and Degenfelder report receiving political action committee (PAC) money.
Degenfelder posted by far the most in PAC money, at $392,500.
Of that, she reported $385,500 from Wyoming-based PACs: Fight Wyoming Fight, the Wyoming Rural Electric Association, and Wyoming Conservative Women.
Fight Wyoming Fight, which lists its chair as Casper man Mark Petrie, raised $290,000 for Degenfelder. Wyoming Conservative Women, chaired by Tiffany Gamble, gave Degenfelder $95,000.
The Wyoming Rural Electric Association PAC gave $500.
Degenfelder’s federal/out-of-state PAC money came from groups out of the traditional energy sector, HF Sinclair ($5,000) and OneOK Employee PAC ($1,000), and from a construction industry-related group, Tremco CPG PAC ($1,000).
Barlow’s reports show much less from PACs, at $6,500.
Those comprise the Washington, D.C.-based Union Pacific Corporation Fund for Effective Government ($1,000), the Bayer employee PAC ($500) and Rocky Mountain Power PAC ($5,000).
"I think, as he said from the beginning, this is going to have to be a campaign engaging the people of Wyoming, and he was going to have to go out and do the work," said Fitzgerald of Barlow's lower PAC and loan haul, higher donation total. "That’s reflective there. He said from the beginning he didn’t have a deep pockets to be able to loan himself money and he was going to have to go prove to the people of Wyoming he can do the good work of being governor."
Fitzgerald continued: "And the donations that he has received from PACs is also transparent; folks can see (the nature of) those PACs."
Barlow logged $15,000 in donations from his mother, and $5,000 from his late father’s trust.
Bien’s report has the highest tally of anonymous donations, at $19,657, compared to Degenfelder’s $350 and Barlow’s $2,317.
"We put out a jar on the table and people would put cash in it," said Bien's outreach coordinator Cheryl Aguiar, referencing Bien's numerous events around the state. She said a lot of the campaign's support came from hours people never logged, and a groundswell of effort around the state.
Bien posted the least in PAC money: $6,000 from the fundraiser group Friends of Brent Bien and $500 from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus-aligned Liberty’s Place 4 U, helmed by Michael Eathorne and John Gudger.
Aguiar said the campaign refused money from some PACs, and asked some not to send out negative mailers on Biens' behalf.
"Brent was just super cautious on any negative campaigning and accepting money from PACs that were - well, we didn't know really who was behind them," said Aguiar.
Degenfelder Donors
Noteworthy donors surface in all three reports. For Degenfelder, those include former Wyoming Republican Party Chair Matt Micheli; Lynne Friess, the mother of U.S. House candidate Steve Friess; current and former lawmakers Affie Ellis, Harlan Edmonds, Russ Donley, Timothy Hallinan; and current Sens. Charlie Scott and Jared Olsen.
Rebecca Bextel, the Constitution Party nominee in this race and political activist at the center of the CheckGate controversy, gave the Degenfelder campaign $1,000. Bextel made headlines for weeks during the legislative session after handing out campaign donation checks on behalf of a Teton County donor to at least four lawmakers on the House of Representatives floor, just after the session had closed its first day of business.
Degenfelder's campaign spokeswoman Charlotte Jones said in a Wednesday email, "Megan’s campaign has earned support from grassroots donors, conservative Wyomingites, and energy workers from across Wyoming."
"Six state Senators, Senator Barlow’s own peers, have joined President Trump and Harriet Hageman in endorsing Megan Degenfelder for governor," Jones continued. "Megan has captured all the momentum in this race and will spend her last six days continuing to share her positive message for our future with voters.”
Jones did not directly address Bextel's donation.
Barlow Donors
Barlow's donations also show multiple current and former lawmakers.
He inherited some money from the candidate campaign of former Rep. Ember Oakley, as well as a donation from Oakley herself.
Some of the current and former lawmakers in his donors roster include Rep. Ken Clousten, Sen. Tara Nethercott, and former legislators Joe Macguire, Jeff Wasserburger and Michael Madden. He also received donations from former House Speaker and current Cowboy State Daily columnist Tom Lubnau (columnists do not give on behalf of CSD), from former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Bill Hill, and from the late Sen. Al Simpson’s son Colin Simpson.
Ryan Semerad, the attorney who won the famous corner-crossing public lands case, also donated to Barlow.
Barlow received more than $1,000 from Rene Hinkle, one of the recurring plaintiffs waging pro-choice litigation against the state’s abortion bans.
Barlow campaign spokeswoman Rebekah Fitzgerald said that donation and others reflect “what he stands for. Which is respectful leadership. And he has a record on that.”
Regarding Hinkle’s donation, Fitzgerald pointed to Barlow’s record of voting in favor of pro-life bills.
“Eric’s record on life in particular, pro-life legislation, is long,” she said. “So I don’t think that a donation reflects anything about his policy. It more reflects his leadership style. Which is a respectful leadership style.”
Barlow has voted in favor of every abortion ban Wyoming has passed in his tenure; and multiple other pro-life bills.
Bien’s contributors include Republican Reps. Joe Webb, Gary Brown and Marlene Brady, as well as Crook County Republican Party Chair Mark Koep and Lander-based House candidate Jeff Martin, who’s challenging incumbent Rep. Lloyd Larsen.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
