Wyoming Republicans REJECT family values man after Daily Mail's exposé of his racy social media follows

Your social media follows can catch up at the ballot box. 

That's a lesson out of Wyoming, where Republican gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien lost his gubernatorial primary after The Daily Mail revealed his campaign account was following a handful of sexually suggestive social-media profiles of young girls.

Eric Barlow secured the GOP nomination, defeating both Donald Trump-backed Megan Degenfelder and Bien on Tuesday night. 

Bien looked set to finish in third place behind the pair, with just 23.8 percent of the vote, behind Barlow's 44.8 percent and Degenfelder's 29.7 percent with 74 percent of the ballots counted. 

While Bien received the formal endorsement of the Wyoming Republican Party, last month's Daily Mail investigation put his campaign's social-media activity under intense scrutiny.

The investigation found that Bien's official campaign accounts had followed a number of profiles featuring sexually suggestive material, including accounts that appeared to feature young women and minors.

One Instagram account reportedly featured a teenager in provocative photos and videos, with an October 2025 post marking what appeared to be her 16th birthday. Another account featured videos and photographs of very young girls.

This wasn’t Bien's first attempt at the governor's mansion. He previously ran in the 2022 Republican primary, taking about 30 percent of the vote against incumbent Mark Gordon, who won nearly 62 percent.

The retired US Marine Corps colonel and combat veteran had built his campaign around Christian faith, traditional family values and hardline conservatism, frequently highlighting his 30-year marriage to his wife Susan and their three daughters. 

Bien's campaign disputed the findings, with a spokesperson telling the Daily Mail: 'Brent is not following the accounts you referenced.' But screenshots obtained by the Daily Mail before it reached out to his campaign showed otherwise.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Bien claimed the controversy was politically motivated because of his opposition to data centers.

'I believe it's because I am the only candidate against data centers running for Governor of Wyoming,' he wrote.

Bien also said he had contacted local law enforcement to report his account had been hacked. The Daily Mail verified the report was made. 

However, police declined to release it, citing an ongoing active investigation.

Bien added that he had also filed a complaint with Meta, the parent company of Facebook.

The Daily Mail later on shared shared unblurred screenshots of the accounts previously followed by Bien's campaign to Park County GOP Chairman Vince Vanata, who dismissed the evidence.

Vanata had told the Cody Enterprise that the county would continue to support Bien unless evidence was presented. Once presented with such proof, he doubled down.

'The pictures you sent as 'proof' say Follow, not Following, and mean nothing to me,' Vanata said. 'I've known Brent Bien for 23 years, most likely longer than you've been on planet Earth, and know him to be a man of the highest integrity.'

However, the Daily Mail's screenshots clearly show his campaign was previously 'following' the social media accounts.

Park County Republican Committeewoman Nicole Forsberg also said she would continue to endorse Bien despite the screenshots.

'I absolutely will because that article was complete bulls**t,' Forsberg said. 'Nice try.'

Neither Bien's campaign nor the Wyoming Republican Party responded to the Daily Mail's requests for additional comment.

Winning the Republican primary was effectively the crucial hurdle in Wyoming, where Republicans dominate statewide politics. 

All statewide offices are currently held by Republicans, and political analysts expected the Republican nominee to be heavily favored in November.