Jillian Balow

Jillian Balow is a fifth-generation Wyomingite born in Laramie in 1970 and raised in Gillette, where she graduated from Campbell County High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from the University of Wyoming and later a Master of Education from Regis University in Denver. Before entering public service, Balow spent approximately a decade teaching in Wyoming classrooms, including eight years in the small ranching community of Hulett in Crook County, where she taught English in grades K-12.

Balow was elected Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2014, winning 61 percent of the general election vote. She was reelected unopposed in 2018 and served in that role for seven years, overseeing Wyoming’s transition from No Child Left Behind to the Every Student Succeeds Act, launching a statewide K-12 computer science initiative, championing civics education, and guiding the state’s schools through the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to her election, she served as a human services policy advisor to Governor Matt Mead and worked as an administrator in the Wyoming Departments of Education and Family Services.

In January 2022, Balow departed Wyoming to serve as the 26th Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Commonwealth of Virginia, appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin. Her approximately fourteen-month tenure focused on accountability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility in Virginia’s schools. She resigned in March 2023 and returned to Wyoming.

In January 2026, Balow announced her candidacy for Wyoming’s at-large U.S. House seat, entering the Republican primary to replace Rep. Harriet Hageman, who announced a Senate bid. Balow’s platform centers on fossil fuel production and energy independence, parental rights in education and school choice, opposition to federal overreach, and alignment with President Trump’s agenda.