WYOMING — A third candidate has announced a bid for the U.S. Senate seat that will be left open by Cynthia Lummis.
Laramie County Democrat James Byrd served as state representative in Cheyenne from 2009 to 2018, and now he will be squaring off against republicans Harriet Hageman and Jimmy Skovgard. Byrd is the son of Liz Byrd, the first Black woman to serve in the Wyoming state legislature. According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Byrd made his campaign announcement on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
“Together, we can move our community forward and have true Wyoming representation in Washington, D.C.,” reads a statement on Byrd’s campaign donation website.
Byrd told the Cheyenne newspaper that Wyoming’s current Senate delegation represents the values of Washington, D.C., more than the values of Wyoming. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that Byrd believes U.S. Senator John Barrasso has gone against Wyoming by supporting the selloff of public lands and by not supporting rural health care or the state’s agricultural industry.
“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 is quoted as saying.
In 2022, Byrd was defeated in the Democratic primary for a Wyoming House of Representatives seat, according to BallotPedia, and in 2020 he lost a Wyoming Senate race to Republican Affie Ellis. Check out the Wyoming Tribune Eagle to learn where Byrd stands on the issues.
Last month, Wyoming Army National Guard veteran and Mills republican Skovgard announced he was entering the Senate race to challenge Hageman.
