John Bear is an American politician and businessman serving as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of ...

from the 31st district. Elected in November 2020, he took office on January 4, 2021.

Biography

Bear was born in

Trenton, Missouri Trenton is a city in Grundy County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,609 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Grundy County. The city used to be the world's largest producer of vienna sausages (at its biggest employer, the C ...

. In 1988, he graduated from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and participated in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Upon graduation, he became an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and served in the Pacific Fleet. While in the U.S. Navy, he was an electrical and auxiliaries officer and a gunnery officer. Since 2007, he has been the owner of Bear's Dry Cleaners. In early-2020, state representative Scott Clem announced that he would be retiring from the legislature. Bear then announced his candidacy and was endorsed by Clem. He defeated Micky Shober in the Republican primary for District 31 on August 18, 2020, and won the general election on November 3, 2020. Bear took office on January 4, 2021. He serves on the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee.

References

21st-century American legislators Living people Republican Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives People from Trenton, Missouri United States Navy officers University of Colorado Boulder alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Wyoming-politician-stub