Matt Mead is the incumbent Governor of Wyoming who assumed office on January 3, 2011 as the successor of Dave Freudenthal. Mead is a former US Attorney for the District of Wyoming who held the office from October 12, 2001 to June 7, 2007 under President George W. Bush.
Early Life and Education
Matt Mead was born on March 11, 1962 in Jackson, Wyoming. Raised by father Peter Bradford and mother Mary Elisabeth with two older siblings, Mead went to a local institute for early education. Completing high school, he joined Trinity University for an undergraduate degree in radio/television. Later, Mead joined the University of Wyoming for a law degree.
Personal Life
Matt Mead is married to Carol l. Mintzer since 1991. The couple has two children and currently lives in Wyoming Governor’s residence at 124 Capitol Ave. in Cheyenne.
Mead’s mother was a Wyoming politician herself who ran in the 1990 gubernatorial election and subsequently became the Republican nominee.
Career
Law
Graduating from the University of Wyoming with a JD, Mead started to work for several private law firms and public offices as a prosecutor. In 2001, he became the US Attorney for the District of Wyoming under the presidency of George W. Bush by succeeding Dave Freudenthal. He remained in the position until 2007 when he resigned to run for a seat in the Wyoming Senate. Unfortunately, Mead couldn’t make it through the Republican State Central Committee’s choice, hence someone else received the party nomination.
Politics
Matt Mead decided to run for Governor of Wyoming in the 2010 Gubernatorial Election. As a Republican candidate, he faced seven other Republican candidates in the race to the party nomination. After a tight competition, Mead managed to gain the nomination with 28.7% votes as opposed to Rita Meyer’s 28% votes. Ron Micheli and Colin Simpson came third and fourth with 26.1% and 15.8% votes respectively. Subsequently, in the 2010 general election, Matt Mead won the Governorship with 65.68% votes against Democratic candidate Leslie Petersen’s 22.94% and Independent candidate Taylor Haynes’ 7.32% votes.
As the first term in Governor’s office came to an end, Mead decided to run for another term. In the 2014 Wyoming Gubernatorial Republican Primary Election, he won an easy nomination with 54.04% votes against Taylor Haynes. Finally, in the general election, he fought Democrat Pete Gosar and saw a landslide victory with more than a double number of votes than what Gosar received. As he assumed the second tenure in 2015, he has until 2018 to complete his aspirations as a Governor.
Under the capacity of a Governor, Mead vetoed legislation that prevented Wyoming from property confiscation on the grounds of a felony. Likewise, he employed tax reduction policies to increase investment in the state economy. In terms of economic statistics, Mead administration has been able to reduce unemployment to 4.8% and achieve a GDP of around $40 billion.
Donald Trump and Matt Mead
As President Donald Trump won the Presidential election, Governor Mead was speculated to be having a spot in administration. as per the sources, it was later revealed that Mead wasn’t interested at all in working in the new administration. However, he has always backed Trump, his presidential bid and his newly-appointed administration. Likewise, Governor Mead is hopeful that President Trump will help reverse Wyoming’s declining energy sector.
