SHERIDAN—About four years after Tom Kelly ran as a “dark horse” candidate in the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction race, the Sheridan Republican announced Wednesday his campaign to be the state’s next head of education.
Kelly is serving his first term in the Wyoming House of Representatives.
He applied to fill Superintendent Jillian Balow’s seat after she was appointed to serve as Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction in January 2022, but was ultimately not selected by Gov. Mark Gordon to serve the remainder of Balow’s term. Still, Kelly decided to run for Wyoming superintendent of public instruction the same year.
“Because the party was asking me to run, I figured that I would have widespread support at that point, and I announced that I would be running for superintendent,” Kelly told The Sheridan Press. He announced before current Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and Brian Schroeder, the superintendent appointed in 2022.
Their announcements, Kelly said, put him “in a bad position,” as a lot of conservative donors flocked to Schroeder, and Degenfelder had a lot of support.
“I became like the dark horse in the race, and I just basically became a spoiler candidate,” Kelly said. “So, when it became evident that I wasn’t going to win, I decided to drop out.”
After a couple of years saying he wouldn’t run for office again, Kelly was asked to run for Wyoming’s House District 30 and obliged after former Sheridan Republican Rep. Mark Jennings ran for a seat in the Wyoming Senate. Jennings spoke highly of Kelly in an interview with The Sheridan Press.
“He has a lot to offer, especially in the realm of education,” Jennings said, adding he endorsed Kelly for his old House seat and will endorse him in the race for superintendent of public instruction.
Kelly won the Republican primary for the House District 30 seat and was elected in the 2024 general election.
The freshman lawmaker was appointed to three of the Legislature’s most influential committees — the House Education and Judiciary committees, as well as the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration.
“A problem we’ve seen in Wyoming is that a lot of money gets spent on education, and a lot of it never makes it into the classroom.”
Rep. Tom Kelly
After Degenfelder announced she would run for governor in January, Kelly said he received emails, phone calls and text messages asking whether he would run for Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction again. Kelly was encouraged to announce his intentions early so as to not split votes between “multiple good conservative candidates.”
Kelly said he feels much more prepared this year than he did in 2022, in part because his committee appointments allowed him to work closely with the Wyoming Department of Education, gaining a better idea of how the department works and building relationships with department employees.
Should Kelly be elected and after he finds his footing, he said he would like to “loosen top-down state regulation” on school districts.
“A problem we’ve seen in Wyoming is that a lot of money gets spent on education, and a lot of it never makes it into the classroom,” Kelly said.
He acknowledged many Wyomingites may blame school districts for having large administrative staffs, though some blame could be placed on state mandates, regulations, and required supports, which often require administrative staff to complete.
Kelly emphasized multiple times in a conversation with The Sheridan Press he is focused on the Wyoming Legislature’s upcoming budget session, as lawmakers are tasked with crafting the state’s next biennial budget and recalibrating the state’s school finances.
“I’m not even setting up a website. I’m not talking to any campaign managers, nothing. And my announcement is basically: Yes, I’m running. Now, let me do my job and we’ll talk about it in March.”
Kelly moved to Sheridan from Colorado in 2019. After driving across the state, visiting Cheyenne, Douglas and Casper, the Kellys landed in Sheridan and found it had everything the family of eight needed. They bought a house and have called the city near the foot of the Bighorn Mountains their home for about seven years.
Kelly currently heads the political science department at American Military University. In that role, he is in charge of the department’s curriculum and supervises professors, among other responsibilities. Ten to 12 years ago, he worked at six different colleges and universities to earn enough money to support his family.
Oh good. Another carpetbagger to represent the Sheridan area.. Ready to guide state education, having lived here for a couple of years and gotten to know us natives. We also have carpetbaggers Bratton and Biteman, and the county GOP chair. They’ve come to clean up and run this one horse town. I think Mr. Kelly ignored the Wyoming constitution and voted to give state money to religious schools, as did the other ‘baggers. Now that’s showing respect for your adopted state, eh? But when you know best and have g*d on your side, hard not to be a crusader and fall in line.
Appears to be similar to Brian Schroeder. Did anybody learn anything from that disaster of an appointment? Is it asking too much to have a moderate candidate who’s for what’s best for the kids instead of carrying an agenda for some political group or PAC?
Go. Home. You are not welcome here carpet bagger. In 10 years, you’ll move anyways because ‘it’s too liberal here’. So start packing.
I’m taking a wait n see stance. Currently is employed by a for profit, private on line university, as head of the political science department. Moved from Illinois to Colorado, then to Sheridan in 2019. Took a pretty aggressive position in 2022, both in the filing of the vacant position and in the Primary. Wonder if his 6 children attended public schools, private or home schooled. This is his 2nd legislative session, we’ll see more about him as the month progresses. For someone who said he is not a politician, but a long haired biker, he sure has racked up alot of political moves in the past 6 years. I tend to be alittle sceptical about individuals that leave their home state, relocate a couple times seeking what, who knows, and then immediately jumps into the political arena.
Great. Another State Superintendent of PRIVATE instruction. Just what we need.
Maybe. As long as he’s not a crazy fake christian out to destroy the education system.