By Bill Pan

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) is running for the Wyoming Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who is retiring after her current term.

“This fight is about making sure the next century sees the advancements of the last while protecting our culture and our way of life,” Hageman, 63, said on Dec. 23 in a video message.

“We must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the next 100 years is the next great American century,” she said. “Wyoming is critical for achieving that goal.”

Her announcement drew same-day endorsement from President Donald Trump, who also backed her in the 2022 congressional race.

“I know Harriet well, and she is a TOTAL WINNER! Harriet has ALWAYS delivered for Wyoming, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Harriet Hageman has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be your next Senator—SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Hageman also received the backing of the conservative Club for Growth PAC, which promotes candidates aligned with limited-government, free-trade economic principles. Its president, David McIntosh, said the PAC endorses her because she has “consistently supported free-market policies, opposed spending increases, and championed deregulatory efforts that have allowed small businesses to thrive.”

Lummis, 71, announced last week that she will not seek another six-year term, saying she no longer has the energy the job demands.

“Deciding not to run for reelection does represent a change of heart for me, but in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall, I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,” she said. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon.”

So far, only one other Republican has entered the race: Jimmy Skovgard, a Wyoming Army National Guard veteran and small business owner with no prior experience in elected office. He describes himself as having a “clean slate” and “zero political connections.”

“My only agenda is your voice,” Skovgard states on his campaign website.

Hageman, meanwhile, worked as a trial attorney before serving in Congress. In 2022, she defeated former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney—a critic of Trump and a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol—in the primary by a margin of 66 percent to 29 percent. She went on to capture Wyoming’s at-large House seat by defeating Democratic candidate Lynnette Grey Bull, and won reelection in 2024.

No Democrats have yet declared a bid to succeed Lummis.

Wyoming has been reliably Republican-leaning in federal elections and has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate or House since the late 1970s. Whoever wins the Republican Party’s primary for Lummis’s seat in 2026 is widely expected to prevail in the general election.