A
Republican, Buchanan represented House
District 4 from 2003 until 2013, first in
Goshen County and then from
Platte and
Converse counties. Buchanan was Majority Leader of the
Wyoming House of Representatives from 2009 until 2011, and was elected
Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives in 2011. He served until his retirement in 2013, and was succeeded as Speaker by
Tom Lubnau of
Gillette in
Campbell County. Buchanan ran for Wyoming Secretary of State in the
2014 elections, narrowly losing the contest in a four-way race. After Secretary of State
Ed Murray resigned,
Governor Matt Mead appointed Buchanan to serve the remaining 10 months of Murray's term. He was subsequently elected to a full term in the
2018 election defeating
James W. Byrd. In 2021, Buchanan was considered by early polling to be the leading potential candidate to take on Rep.
Liz Cheney in 2022. Ultimately, Buchanan chose to remain in his role as Secretary of State. He initially ran for re-election in
2022, but withdrew to become a district court judge. On July 30,
Governor Mark Gordon appointed Buchanan to be District Judge of the
Eighth Judicial District. Buchanan announced he would resign early from the secretary of state position, and did so on September 17. Karl Allred was subsequently appointed acting secretary and sworn in on October 3, 2022. ==Personal life==