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Wyoming Senate elects Beau Biteman president, Tim Salazar vice president and certifies newly sworn senators
Summary
On Jan. 14, 2025, the Wyoming Senate convened its organizational session in Cheyenne, appointed a temporary chief clerk, appointed and received a credentials committee report certifying elected members, and unanimously elected Beau Biteman as Senate president and Tim Salazar as vice president. Newly elected senators were sworn in.
The Wyoming Senate on Jan. 14, 2025, convened its organizational session in Cheyenne, appointed a temporary chief clerk, received a credentials report certifying elected members, and elected its permanent leadership for the 68th Legislature.
Senator John Driscoll moved that Ellen Thompson be appointed temporary chief clerk of the Senate; the motion carried by voice vote, and the chief clerk then called the roll. "Senator Driscoll, I move Ellen Thompson be appointed temporary Chief Clerk of the Senate," Driscoll said during the morning session.
The credentials committee — a four-member panel appointed earlier — reported that names on the certificate from the Secretary of State were duly elected to the Senate for four-year terms beginning the first Monday of January 2025. "Your committee on credentials respectfully reports back the following named persons shown on the certificate from the Secretary of State are duly elected members to the Senate of the 68th Legislature of the State of Wyoming for a 4 year term beginning the 1st Monday of January ... 2025," Senator Barlow said when presenting the committee's report. The Senate adopted the committee's report by voice vote.
Following the certification and swearing-in of newly elected senators by Chief Justice Kate Fox, the body moved to fill leadership posts. The Senate unanimously elected Beau Biteman as president of the Senate after a nomination and a motion to dispense with a roll-call vote. Biteman took the oath of office and addressed the chamber, thanking family members and saying, "And let's get to work."
The body also unanimously elected Senator Tim Salazar as vice president of the Senate; his oath was administered on the floor. Several nominations and a second were heard for both leadership posts, and the Senate dispensed with roll-call voting in each election, recording the results by voice as unanimous.
Other formal actions during the organizational meeting included appointing a four-member credentials committee (Senators Barlow, Larson, Brandon and Bridal) and a separate two-member committee to escort the chief justice to the chamber to administer oaths. The Senate recorded 31 members present at the roll call for day one.
The Senate recessed at the conclusion of the organizational business until 1:30 p.m.
Details of formal actions, committee appointments, and the adoption of the credentials report were recorded on the Senate floor during the Jan. 14 session; the oaths of office included the constitutional language referencing the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wyoming.
