Jillian Balow, former superintendent of public instruction, announced Tuesday she will run for Wyoming’s sole U.S. House seat.
Balow, a Republican, led the state’s education department from 2015 to 2022.
“Wyoming has a history of sending warriors to Washington, and we need one now,” Balow wrote in a press release. “I am a relentless fighter and fierce champion for Wyoming. I am running to defend Wyoming’s energy economy, protect our constitutional freedoms, and make sure the voices of every Wyoming community are heard loud and clear in Washington.”
Balow is the third Republican to declare a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives. Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Reid Rasner, who previously ran for U.S. Senate, have both made announcements in the last few weeks. A Democratic candidate has yet to enter the race.
The seat is currently held by Rep. Harriet Hageman, who announced she would run for U.S. Senate after Sen. Cynthia Lummis abandoned reelection plans in December, choosing instead to retire after the term.
While President Donald Trump has already made endorsements in Wyoming’s senatorial and gubernatorial races, backing Hageman and Megan Degenfelder, respectively, he has not weighed in on the state’s race for U.S. House.
Who’s Balow?
Born in Laramie and raised in Gillette, Balow attended the University of Wyoming, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in education. She also has a master’s degree in education from Regis University.
Before taking public office, Balow served under Gov. Matt Mead as a policy advisor and spent time working as an administrator in both the state’s education agency and the Department of Family Services. She taught in elementary and secondary classrooms for about a decade.
Balow has also worked in the private sector, including a recent position with MetaMetrics, a North Carolina-based education technology firm.
“Throughout her career, Balow has advocated for education reform rooted in accountability, parental empowerment, and choice,” her press release states. “She pairs that work with a firm belief in lower taxes, reduced government spending, small government, and personal responsibility.”
As Wyoming’s education leader, Balow guided the department through the COVID-19 pandemic. Under an Obama-era federal policy that enabled states to set their own education priorities, Balow focused on civics education. In 2018, she ushered in a statewide K-12 computer science education initiative.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Balow in 2022 as that state’s superintendent of public instruction, “where she focused on parents’ rights, accountability, and returning decision-making to families and local communities,” Balow’s announcement states.
About 14 months into the job, Balow announced that she would resign but remain a consultant for Youngkin’s administration. Her resignation letter did not provide an explanation, according to Virginia Mercury, but followed a $201 million shortfall due to a budgeting error in the education department.
Her tenure in both Virginia and Wyoming was in part characterized by her opposition to critical race theory, an academic study of systemic racism and inequality rooted in the nation’s history that its scholars say helps explain continuing biases and disparities in modern American life.
Balow’s Tuesday announcement touted her stances on issues beyond education.
“Balow runs on a platform that emphasizes reliable domestic energy production, strong support for agriculture and Wyoming’s outdoor heritage, and policies that strengthen families, veterans, and small businesses,” the press release states. “She is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and an avid hunter and fisherman, and another with deep ties to agriculture and FFA.”
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
I worked with Jillian at WDE and also at DFS. She is someone who knows Wyoming, its people and politics. Her priorities will be based on collaboration with Wyoming communities and not with the federal agenda. Strong Wyoming focused leadership is going to be needed to address the chaos of federal intrusion on our traditional values.
She knows wyoming? She used her position here to advance her political career into Virginia to only end up resigning. Your choice of candidates is far from quality.
Critical race theory is interesting but not helpful.
CRT is Cathode Ray Tube. The other reference is just more performative hand-waving by so-called Conservatives, who are really reactionaries. Amazing that we now have three regressive idealogues running for a seat already occupied by one. Can’t Wyoming do better?
GOP – failing up the ladder. She loves Virginia, yes she does and wants the Wyoming GOP to make her dream of never returning a reality. Liz Cheney never came back and neither will Harriet. Trust me I get the allure of DC as I have spent some time in the place, but the people of Wyoming might want to send someone that cares about Public Lands and knows how to work for Wyoming, instead of voting for a candidate that wants the Wyoming taxpayer to fund her Virginia mortgage.
I do have to applaud her run as it points out that being elected the State Superintendent of Public Instruction does not prepare one for a job that has actual oversight and the Wyoming voter might want to take that lesson to heart when casting your vote for Governor.
Anyone else in Wyoming getting tired, election after election, of holding their nose and voting for the best of the worst in an attempt to keep a particular candidate out of office? I sure am. So far this house race is shaping up to be that way again unless someone who’s actually qualified decides to get involved.
a 3 way primary will be benefit jillian balow’s campaign.
Oh great and maybe Ember Oakley can come out of her political exile and run for the U.S. Senate
The only positive that I see is that she’s not touting her strong MAGA credentials like the others……….yet
But the strong endorsement by President Trump speaks to MAGA involvement
You’re absolutely right Bonnie. The only difference between her, Hageman, Gray and Rasner so far ( notice that I said “so far”) is that she hasn’t claimed total obedience to Trump. I’m sure it will come if she sees an advantage in doing so because she’s definitely not a moderate Republican.
The Princess of Commitment. Dumped her Wyoming elected position to go to Virginia. Then resigned the Superintendent position in Virginia after “math errors” in VDOE shorted schools over $200 million.
Sure, let’s add another candidate to this clown car of a race