CHEYENNE—Former state Rep. James Byrd of Cheyenne announced Tuesday a bid for one of Wyoming’s two seats in the U.S. Senate.
This makes Byrd the third entrant in the race and the first Democrat to announce a campaign for the seat being vacated by Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
Byrd said the primary reason he is running is that he doesn’t believe Wyoming’s current Senate delegation represents the values of the state in the nation’s capital. Instead, he says Wyoming’s senators try to represent Washington values in the Cowboy State.
“Wyoming people need some representation in D.C. They’re not getting it. The people that are there are representing D.C., and not Wyoming,” he said.
Last week, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso spoke to state lawmakers in the Wyoming Legislature. A key focus of his speech was that he works to represent Wyoming in the nation’s capital, contradicting what Byrd believes.
Byrd supported his claim by saying Barrasso and others have gone against Wyoming by voting to sell public lands, not supporting rural health care and not supporting Wyoming’s agricultural businesses.
“How could you call yourself ‘supporting Wyoming agriculture’ when you’re for getting rid of public lands, when you support the tariffs that caused the Chinese to stop buying grain and beef from the United States and they went to Argentina, and then further slapped the ag business in the face by going and making a deal to buy beef from Argentina?” Byrd asked. “How the hell can that be America first?”
He said his campaign is less about Democrat versus Republican and more about electing someone who represents Wyoming values.
“Gas up the car and get the for-sale sign in the yard,” Byrd said of voters who elect politicians who uphold the status quo.
Byrd represented Wyoming House District 44 from 2009 to 2019 before failed bids for secretary of state and House District 11 representative in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
He served as minority whip from 2013 to 2015 and was elected to serve as minority caucus leader in 2015. His mother, Harriet Elizabeth Byrd, previously held the same seat from 1980 to 1988 and was the first Black person to serve in the Wyoming Legislature.
Energy
While in the state House, Byrd said he was very supportive of renewable energy projects like nuclear, solar and wind. However, he said he also supports the existing fossil fuel industry for the stability it provides as the energy industry advances.
He said he saw technologies like carbon capture, utilization and sequestration as a distraction from what he sees as an inevitable necessity to transition to new energy sources.
If Wyoming invested everything in energy technology, “not only would we be the leader in the country for new, innovative energy resources, we would probably be the leader in the world. The whole world would be coming to license and buy our technologies,” Byrd said.
In particular, Byrd expressed admiration for nuclear energy innovations, suggesting that he believes the United States should take a more uniform approach to nuclear energy development, akin to that of France.
Education
Byrd expressed distaste for the current direction of the United States’ education systems, criticizing efforts to dismantle the federal Department of Education.
In Wyoming, he criticized the growing support for homeschooling and charter schools, saying it will become increasingly difficult for Wyomingites to compete on the global stage.
“[Homeschooling and charter schools] only give you substandard graduates who can’t even get into highly qualified and highly competitive colleges where these [energy] technologies [come from],” he said.
Economy and agriculture
Byrd also was highly critical of Barrasso, Lummis and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman’s support of an effort to sell public lands, largely in the name of housing development.
He said this would deteriorate Wyoming’s tourism industry, agriculture industry and character as a state.
“No real ag person looking at longevity and keeping family farms in the family and that legacy is going to sign off on this,” he said.
As a Wyomingite whose family homesteaded here in the 1860s, Byrd said grazing leases with the federal government are one tool that helps ranchers stay afloat, and that many businesses would likely close their doors if that land were sold and those agreements dissolved. Even if they are not dissolved, he said he is not optimistic that those deals with private companies would be as sustainable.
“The family ranch and the family farm’s days are numbered if you get rid of the public lands,” he said.
Another federal issue, he said, Wyoming feels deeply is President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.
“On the other side, they throw up tariffs against our beef, against our ag products. And then all of a sudden you don’t have a market, just like the Chinese.”
Rural health care
As the Rural Health Transformation Program rolls out across the nation, Byrd remains skeptical.
He acknowledged his current concern regarding closing and deteriorating rural hospitals, saying those impacts create a ripple effect felt on Main Street.
“The next thing you know, your high school closes because enough people left, your educational system starts to shrink because people are leaving the town, and then now you’re down to ‘We can’t even afford to have a elementary or middle school or a high school in this town anymore.’”
For the Rural Health Transformation Program, Byrd said he wants to see how the plans roll out in Wyoming. He’ll be watching to see whether the Department of Health or the Legislature ends up with more authority to administer the program.
Whoever wins the election will replace Lummis, who announced in December that she’s not seeking reelection. Hageman, who has received an endorsement from Trump, has announced a bid for the seat, and so has Casper Republican Jimmy Skovgard.
I would like to contribute to his campaign.
Jimmy Skovgard, James Byrd, or Trump’s pick Hageman…I think I’d go with either gentleman anyday of the week over the MAGA, turquoise worshipping Harriet.
representative byrd carries a legacy that is wyoming proud. i am grateful for his efforts and support his campaign. thank you!
Finally, someone who represents the struggles for public education when funds are channeled to private schools and charter schools! I value the transparency and thought put forward in Byrd’s comments!
Rebecca, in your other comments you have essentially admitted homeschooling, private and charter schools exceed the results of public schools.
People have their money stolen, through extortion to pay for the FAILING public education system. Like death, taxes\govt extortion are a certainty so the best people can do is get a choice on where that stolen money is spent and your view like it or not is best results private\charter\homeschool.
James Byrd is what Wyoming needs for a senator. He will truly represent Wyoming’s interests.
Imma say it before someone else does…”Let’s give DC the Byrd”
Jim Byrd would be a wonderful change from the representation Wyoming has had to suffer these last few years. I am sure he will run a well reasoned and civil campaign and I hope the others meet it with the same candor. My vote for Jim Byrd is guaranteed.
Thank you Mr. Byrd, for stepping up and giving us a choice and a chance to do better for Wyoming’s future, its land and its people.
Barrasso is like dumpy, he lies to us and YOU believe him. He doesn’t represent Wyoming, he is dumpy’s towel boy. Good luck Mr. Byrd, I will be voting for you.
“[Homeschooling and charter schools] only give you substandard graduates who can’t even get into highly qualified and highly competitive colleges where these [energy] technologies [come from],” he said.
I look forward to the upcoming investigative reporting from WyoFile showing Mr. Byrd’s comment is in fact “fake news” and is just another random NEA talking point. Before just taking the NEA playbook comments about Charter schools, Mr. Byrd might want to do some research into the actual facts. Let’s use Poder Academy in Cheyenne as an example. About 85–89% of K-6 students at or above proficiency in Math at Poder, whereas only 42% are in Cheyenne public schools based on standardized test scores. That is one of several data points that are quite the opposite of Mr. Byrd’s off hand comment.
Looking forward to that upcoming article.
Youre spot on Rob.
Any responsible parent homeschooling their children in today’s America, will see their children outperform public school students every single time.
Charter schools drain the budgets for public schools.
Of course a responsible parent homeschooling their child will outperform! At most, they probably have a class size of ten. With that small class size, most public schools would perform just as well! I would like to see their performance when they homeschool 20 – 36 students. The fact is that public school teachers cannot control the needs, backgrounds, parental expectations, values, morals, or bed times of their students. Parents homeschooling can control all of those factors.
I look forward to an article about all the lies and false statements from the narcissist felon in the white house, as well as those from the goose stepping goofballs that we call our Representatives. But, I bet you voted for all of them?
One thing about getting a good education in a public school is that it depends on the parents as much as the teacher. I don’t know if a private school can select the kids that go there, but I heard that they can. A public school has to admit every kid: poor, under nourished, handicapped, etc. That makes an honest comparison very difficult. I was educated in Wyoming schools, and I know many successful kids that did the same. Personally, I don’t care if parents send their kids to a private school, but I shouldn’t have to pay for it. We both know that dumpy is trying to destroy the public education system, he even hired a wrestling administrator to make it fail. Oh, remember Trump University?
This may be correct, but my question is, “Does Poder Academy have to take every student regardless of behavior, special needs, parent involvement level, or income?” I am truly curious, because I do not know the answer. Also, while Poder Academy may have great results, national data compiled on all charter schools does not. Kudos to Poder Academy, but I will always be an advocate for public education.
Charter schools collecting the cream off the top is nothing new as it is designed to create inequality. You do know that don’t you? Apparently not, since you made this comment. Here is an SAT/ACT riddle for you to solve. The Laken Riley Act is to immigration reform as charter schools are to: a comprehensive, equitable public education system. *
It is clear that letting the parts of the local community to splinter into their own educational curricula will result in a divided country. If you think you have a better idea about education, then bring that idea into the educational marketplace by presenting it to the local school board.
I tire of corner cases, financed by the wealthy, to act as guideposts for what is good for the General Welfare of the United States of America to be obtuse and ridiculous.
* I can write these SAT/ACT riddles because I had a world class K-12 public education – Kettering Fairmont East 1981.
If a candidate wants a guaranteed win.
Pledge to become an Independent after being sworn in.
Both Parties are poisonous and completely incapable of reform.
James Byrd offers Wyoming voters the most Wyoming based, common sense platform that I have seen in a long time. Give Byrd a look. It’s time for change.