Dan Laursen

After more than a decade of service, state Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, is leaving the Wyoming Legislature. Laursen announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in Senate District 19.

“I’ve put my time in,” he told the Tribune.

The former Heart Mountain Irrigation District manager and state hydrographer was first elected to the Wyoming House in 2014, when he defeated then-Rep. Dave Blevins, R-Powell.

Laursen went on to serve four terms in House District 25 before jumping to the body’s upper chamber in 2022, ousting then-Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell.

He was a founding member in 2020 of what’s now known as the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and was widely seen as one of the most conservative members of the Senate. In a statement, Laursen said he worked hard to control government growth and spending.

“I think I represented the area pretty good,” he told the Tribune. “If they [the voters] didn’t like me, I think they would have threw me out.”

Given his background in agriculture and water, Laursen has spent much of his time on legislative committees devoted to those issues. 

Then-Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, kept Laursen off any committees during the 2023 Legislative Session — intending it as a punishment for critical comments that the Powell lawmaker had made about colleagues — but later reversed course.

In 2024, Laursen was named to the Joint Appropriations Committee, which drafts the state’s budget and makes funding recommendations. Alongside Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, and other more conservative members, Laursen helped craft a biennial budget this year that called for significant cuts to the University of Wyoming and the defunding of the Wyoming Business Council.

Laursen actually made the motion to eliminate the business council, telling the Tribune in January that he believes the agency picks “winners and losers.”

“And then, you know, sometimes you look at who they pick, they don't last too long sometimes,” he said, adding that people he talked to were OK with cutting the agency.

However, Laursen’s colleagues in the Senate were ultimately not OK with the Joint Appropriations Committee’s recommendations. The final version of the budget largely matched the original version put forward by Gov. Mark Gordon.

Laursen said he left the Budget Session frustrated. 

“You wonder if you’re ever making headway,” he said, but “I think we are.”

Voting records show he and about a half-dozen other senators, including French, were at times on the losing end of votes.

“We had seven good ones, and it’s hard to get another eight or nine [senators] that would be consistent,” Laursen said. “That’s the tough part: Some of them wobble.”

As he prepares to wrap up his time in the Legislature — his term runs through January — Laursen already knows who he wants to succeed him. He’s endorsing state Rep. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell, who confirmed on Monday that he’s seeking to move into Laursen’s seat in Senate District 19. Hoeft will face some competition, as former Sen. Kost has already announced he’s running to reclaim the seat. 

Meanwhile, Laursen is backing Navy veteran and current Navy contractor Matt Legler to replace Hoeft in House District 25; Powell Mayor John Wetzel has also announced his intent to seek the seat.

In his statement, Laursen said both Hoeft and Legler will serve the area “with the same conservative values that I have, by following both our Federal and State Constitutions and the State GOP [Republican Party] platform in determining their vote on issues.”

Laursen added that it has been “an honor and privilege” to serve the Powell area and northern Big Horn County in Cheyenne.