If U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman decides to run for governor of Wyoming in 2026, she’d be the overwhelming favorite, according to a poll conducted in late January.
The poll, administered by Washington, D.C.-based polling firm Cygnal, says Hageman has a 72% favorability rating in Wyoming and leads her next closest competitor by more than 30 points.
That popularity has resulted in an outpouring of people asked her to run, Hageman’s senior political advisor Nick Trainer told Cowboy State Daily.
"Congresswoman Hageman has received hundreds of calls encouraging her to run for governor,” Trainer said.
“With her second term in Congress just getting started, she is buckling down to help President Trump get his agenda passed through Congress," he said. "Congresswoman Hageman will make a decision about how she can best serve Wyoming on her own timeline."
Although the Cygnal poll nor Trainer didn’t specifically identify the other candidates polled, Trainer said they are statewide elected officials and those in leadership roles across Wyoming.
Intensity Of Popularity
According to the polling memo from Cygnal, Hageman enjoys a 72% approval rating among likely primary voters, which dovetails with President Trump’s 73% approval rating among those same likely voters.
The intensity of her favorability is what’s important, Trainer said, with 53% of likely primary voters giving her “very favorable” marks.
Among Trump Republicans, her favorability rating reaches 96% and 83% among Christian conservatives, the memo says.
“Elected officials across the country would kill for numbers like this,” Trainer said.
Other Candidates
According to the poll, among other potential Republican candidates for governor, their favorability rating ranges from 12% to 32%. The sentiment in the very favorable category does not exceed 12% for any candidate.
One reason for that popularity could be her accessibility. Every week, she appears on local and national radio programs, podcasts, TV shows and digital-only programming.
“All we have to do is ask and she’ll appear on my show,” said Jake Nichols, who runs Cowboy State Daily’s radio program, which airs every weekday morning from 6-10 a.m. “She’s a great guest too. Very, very accessible.”
But don’t expect any announcements soon, Trainer said. She’s 100% focused on her current job.
“She’ll make a decision on her own timeline,” he said. “That decision is several months away.”
Could Gordon Run Again?
Gov. Mark Gordon is in his second term, which makes him ineligible to run again when his term is up in 2026, according to term limits Wyoming voters instituted in 1992. Some outside of Gordon’s office have wondered whether Gordon might try to run again.
Although voters passed term limits for state public officials, the Wyoming Supreme Court overturned the law for members of the state Legislature in 2004 and again in 2013 for the positions of secretary of state, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction and auditor. The Supreme Court did not address the governor position at that time because no one challenged whether the law applied to the state’s top executive position.
Asked in July about whether Gordon would be interested in running again, a spokesman for his office said the governor was focused on his job at hand.
Gordon was re-elected in 2022 with 79% of the vote, the largest win of any gubernatorial candidate in Wyoming history.
Jimmy Orr can be reached at Jimmy@CowboyStateDaily.com
