U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and former state Representative James Byrd (D) will compete in the November general election to fill the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). Decision Desk HQ projected the matchup following primary elections held on Tuesday. The winner will represent Wyoming in the upper chamber of Congress starting in 2027.
The vacancy follows the December announcement by Lummis that she would retire from the Senate at the end of her term. Hageman, who currently serves as Wyoming’s at-large representative in the House, entered the race shortly after Lummis's announcement. Byrd, who served in the Wyoming state legislature from 2009 to 2019, entered the race in February.
Hageman received endorsements from former President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY). During her time in the House, she has served on the Judiciary and Natural Resources committees and supported the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. Byrd previously served as the Democratic nominee for Wyoming Secretary of State in 2018 and has focused his current campaign on expanding healthcare access and supporting renewable energy development.
The transition from Lummis to either Hageman or Byrd will affect how Wyoming’s federal interests are managed in Washington D.C. Hageman has aligned her platform with Trump administration priorities, such as immigration enforcement and voter eligibility legislation. Byrd, by contrast, has stated he would focus on preserving public lands and expanding healthcare benefits. Voters will see the direct impact of this choice in how the state’s federal delegation votes on national budgets and social programs starting in January 2027.
The matchup marks a definitive end to the primary phase for this seat. The next major step is the general election scheduled for November 2026. Following that vote, the winner is expected to be sworn into the Senate when the new Congress convenes. While Hageman currently holds the state’s only House seat, a win in November would move her to the Senate, creating a separate vacancy for her current at-large House position. Byrd is seeking to become the first Democrat to hold this Senate seat in decades.