Longtime Wyoming politician Cynthia Lummis will not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2026, she announced Friday.
The prominent Laramie County Republican has worked in Wyoming politics for more than four decades. She will finish her first term in the U.S. Senate in 2026 and isn’t up for another go-around, she said in the announcement.
“In the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,” Lummis, 71, said. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up.”
The move opens a coveted slot in Wyoming politics and could impact which Republicans run for downballot races. Another seat without an incumbent in 2026 is governor, as Mark Gordon has already served two terms.
State Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, announced his bid for governor in August. Several other notable Wyoming politicians have either expressed an interest in running for governor or are rumored to be mulling the possibility. They include U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, who sought the job in 2018, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Senate President Bo Biteman and Speaker of the House Chip Neiman. Brent Bien and Joseph Kibler are also candidates. All are Republicans.
With the Senate seat newly open, it’s not clear if any of them will now consider a congressional bid.
Pioneering pol
When Lummis won a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1979, she became the youngest woman to be elected to the Legislature. She served 14 years in the body as both representative and senator.
Along with managing gubernatorial campaigns, Lummis also worked in executive branch roles, including director of State Lands and Investments and state treasurer.
She moved to the U.S. Congress in 2009 when she was elected as Wyoming’s lone representative, succeeding Republican Barbara Cubin. In that role, she co-founded the House Freedom Caucus. When she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020, she became the first woman to represent Wyoming in the body.
As a lawmaker, Lummis championed cryptocurrency, limited government and American energy dominance, strongly advocating for Wyoming’s extraction industries. She has consistently sided with President Donald Trump on policy matters.
Lummis has “served Wyoming with integrity, independence and unwavering dedication,” Rep. Hageman posted Friday on X. “From the ranch to the halls of Congress, she built one of the most distinguished careers in our state’s history, strengthening both Wyoming and [the] nation through her service.”
Wyoming’s other U.S. Sen., John Barrasso, also praised Lummis as a “straight shooter and a trailblazer.
“From Miss Frontier Days to the Wyoming Legislature to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate – Cynthia has never stopped fighting for the people of Wyoming,” Barrasso said in a statement.
In a Facebook post, Gov. Mark Gordon thanked Lummis, whom he said would remain “forever Wyoming.”
“Cynthia Lummis embodies all that defines Wyoming and the West. Hard work, perseverance, loyalty, and a strong sense of duty,” the governor said. “From her early years in the Wyoming Legislature, to the hallowed halls of Congress, Cynthia has worked to make Wyoming a better place for everyone.
Notable names in the cryptocurrency universe also lauded the senator, including David Sacks, a prominent venture capitalist who now serves as a Trump technology adviser.
“Senator Lummis has been a great ally on crypto — very sorry to see her go!” he wrote Friday afternoon on X.
Change of heart
In March, Trump endorsed Lummis for reelection, which suggested she would run again.
In her Friday statement, Lummis confirmed that deciding to retire represents a change of heart. She thanked colleagues like Hageman along with Wyoming and Trump.
“I am honored to have earned the support of President Trump and to have the opportunity to work side by side with him to fight for the people of Wyoming,” Lummis said. “I look forward to continuing this partnership and throwing all my energy into bringing important legislation to his desk in 2026 and into retaining commonsense Republican control of the U.S. Senate.
I don’t blame her for not wanting to run again. Standing up for President Putrid is bound to wear on anyone especially a woman legislator. Who needs the aggravation? Happy trails Cynthia Lummis.
Democrats, this is your opportunity !🇺🇸🗽🇺🇸
It sure is, but all I hear from Wy D party is crickets. I would love to see someone that cares about the people of Wy. That would require a Democrat.
Her entire goal as a Senator appears to have been to pump the value of her hoard of corruptocurrency, not to support the residents of Wyoming. I guess she feels she’s done a good enough job of that and can now retire!
I think the commentors here having so much passion and wisdom should run for the seat!
We are going to see some big Wyoming names throw their names out there to get a “feel” for if they could win. We have not seen a good multi candidate “race” in Wyoming since 2010 when Mead, C. Simpson, R. Meyer and Micheli all ran in the primary for Governor. Hopefully, we see something like that for this Senate seat.
If Senator Lummis has learned anything from her decades in politics it is how to always keep one ear attuned to the sounds of the pitter pattering of tiny rodent claws quickly ascending stairwells from the steerage deck. The good old USS of A is taking on water and Wyoming’s CryptoQueen is making sure she secures the first floatation seat available on the first life boat to be lowered down from the 1st class cabins. The Honorable Senator from Wyoming is currently on track to exit Congress ranked in 84th place with a generous taxpayer funded pension and an estimated personal wealth of $15,000,000. Not to shabby for a simple cowgirl from the stix…
She was not a “devout legislator.” She was a devout enabler of the Executive Branch grabbing power the Constitution did not give it. Time for her to retire and to put someone in that has the backbone to do the job a Senator should do.
This is great news for the state and the nation. I’m hoping her fellow congressional cowards, Barrasso and Hageman, follow her lead and announce their departures from Washington as well.
Good riddance. Someone who no longer believes in the First Amendment has no business being in the Senate
“Well, bye.”
I thought she had already retired as her record for protecting Wyoming issues was blank. But be carful what we wish for as these seats will be filled with new out of State republicans wearing western attire and spitting tobacco on their on self popped covered shoes praising Mr. tiny hands and destroying the very historical and proud heritage call Wyoming.
Can’t say that I’ll miss her. When the going gets tough, there are always some who run for the hills, it’s a sign of their character, or lack there of.
Best Christmas present ever
I would like to say ‘thanks for your service ‘ , but sho only serviced Trump. For the other two goofballs, get the heck out.
Maybe, just maybe we the voters can grow brains and elect someone with brains. Lummis is a spineless Trumpite and poorly, very poorly represented the Citizens of Wyoming. Good riddance and don’t let the door hit you…
I wish her all the best. She did good putting up with the slime in swamp.
She was the slime.
And how many people live in the state of Wyoming? and you still get two US Senators the same as florida Texas New York Pennsylvania and California!!!Maybe thats why the electoral college way of electing US Presidents is OBSOLETE
Spoken like a true elitist.
It would be a good idea to think about your statement before you go live. The members of the House of Representatives are elected by districts in each state. Those districts are determined by population. So Wyoming gets 1 House vote. The Senate, on the other hand, grants each state 2 seats to give every state an equal footing. Civics 101.
Sen. Loomis has had a distinguished career in Wyoming politics, and I wish her well on her homecoming. That said, voters should keep in mind that the state was best served when it was represented by a delegation of both Republicans (Sen. Hansen) and Democrats (Sen. McGee and Rep. Roncalio). With such a small delegation, Wyoming needs advocates on both sides of the isle. With a very flawed lame-duck in the Whitehouse and a shift in control of Congress in the next election, you need to hedge your bets.
Good riddance. The only people who will cry for her departure are the ones who don’t give a shit about wyoming.
Don’t let the door hit you where the good lord split ya.
She probably saw the handwriting on the wall; between Trump,s stupidity, the cabinet’s incompetence and the potential giant beat down for the Republican Party next November; the next few years don’t look like much fun.
The only question is how many groups can they alienate with their policies over the next few months.
Cheney for Wyoming!! (From a Republican who’s read her book “Oath and Honor”).
That’s a fact Gordon.
I wasn’t much of a Cheney fan until she proved to be one of the few republican members in congress that had the integrity and courage to expose Trump as the ultimate con man that he is. Lummis, Barrasso, and Hageman have proven to be dumb enough not to change course and are content to go down with this sinking MAGA ship, while this “president”, and the money that he’s pilfered from the American people, paddles away in the only life boat.
I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Lummis in public life. She’ll be running for something else because that’s all she knows what to do. My fellow Wyomingites don’t seem to be able to look at a candidate and vote for their character and qualifications. All they want is “a good conservative republican”, whatever that means. If that’s the case, it’s high time they find somebody that’s actually “good” for a change. As someone else commented..don’t let the door hit you on the way out Cynthia.
My feelings also.
Laughable, No one remotely close to being related to Richard B Cheney should be allowed hold public office. Especially his daughter who only got where she did due to who her father was.
This is Wyoming, a replacement for Lummis has probably already been decided behind closed doors, you really think the citizens of Wyoming get to choose?
We got to chose in 2010 when there were lots of candidates for Governor. I am optimistic that type of scenario plays out again.
Taylor Haynes was my choice in 2010.
Not surprising. Castigating the Cheney’s and then selecting someone far worse for Wyoming and our Constitutional rights.
I didn’t realize that sucking up to the Orange Thing could be so exhausting, but I’m not a republican so what do I know.
How exhausting it must be to be a rubber stamp!
run sharon run !
sharon fain is the perfect replacement for senator lummis !
young,well spoken,not a politician,just what is needed.
Sen. Barrasso said it right: Cynthia Lummis was one fightin’ Miss Frontier Days.
Think how exhausted she’d be if the Senate actually functioned.
One down ; two to go …
Except there are far more scary people in Wyo that will throw their hat in the ring to replace her. The current Sec of Wyo State, comes to mind.
Who will the low information voting majority saddle us with next? Is total allegiance to trump and an R behind the name falling out of vogue?