U.S. House Rep. Harriet Hageman won the Republican nomination for one of Wyoming's U.S. Senate seats on Tuesday, defeating Sam Mead, nephew of former Gov. Matt Mead, and three other GOP challengers.
Those were Jimmy Skovgard, John Holtz and Jill Edwards.
“Wyoming has always been a pioneer for the rights of individuals, and I am grateful to the people of our great state for entrusting me with the responsibility of promoting and defending our ideals in Congress at this moment in history,” said Hageman “It comes at a turning point, as we are engaged in a struggle for the existence of the United States of America as we know them, with patriots on one side and a rising tide of Marxists on the other. It will take all of us to fight them off, and I will be proud to serve as a vigilant lookout and champion for Wyoming in the Senate.”
Hageman’s name was already associated with a strong win heading into this race, as the Trump favorite more-than doubled former Rep. Liz Cheney’s vote count and demolished three other Republicans in the 2022 primary election.
In office she has pushed for stronger trucking laws, including English-language proficiency requirements, and was an aye-vote on the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
She gave a recent no on the $1.5 trillion National Defense Authorization Act, which she cast as a disappointing level of runaway spending.
In a unique move, Hageman branched out from her own campaign to help Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, her endorsee, campaign in the Republican race for governor this year.
Mead
Sam Mead campaigned this year on a strong pro-public lands stance, a reaction to what many people called Hageman’s inadequate reaction to a controversial plan by Sen. Mike Lee to sell off swaths of public lands for housing builds.
Hageman had pointed out that she’s not in the Senate, which fielded the failed measure, and she also cast the explosive reactions to it as overblown.
Mead served prior as the mayor of Kirby, Wyoming. He’s been a rancher and a whiskey-maker. His great-grandfather Cliff Hansen served as both governor and U.S. Senator for Wyoming.
He told the public during his campaign that Congress has not taken a firm enough stance against the excesses of the executive branch, and urged the legislative branch to reclaim autonomy on behalf of its constituents.
Skovgard cast himself as a big-tent Republican, disgruntled with Wyoming’s current delegation and what he also called the excesses of the executive branch.
Holtz, a former judge, campaigned on a tough-on-Iran stance, saying the nation is in a holy war.
Edwards, a small business owner, urged health care reform.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
