Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis will not run for reelection in 2026

Daniela Altimari and Jackie Wang, CQ-Roll Call on Dec 19, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis is retiring from the Senate after a single term, leaving behind an open seat in a reliably red state.

She’s the fifth Republican senator to decide against running for reelection to the chamber in 2026.

Lummis, 71, a strong ally of the crypto industry, said the decision represented “a change of heart.” In March, she had earned an endorsement from President Donald Trump for her reelection campaign.

But “in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,’’ she said in a Friday statement. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up.”

Lummis said she was honored for the chance to work with Trump over her remaining term.

“I look forward to continuing this partnership and throwing all my energy into bringing important legislation to his desk in 2026 and into commonsense Republican control of the U.S. Senate,’’ she said.

Lummis’ decision brings to a close a political career that began in 1978 with her election to the state House. After stints in the state Senate and as Wyoming treasurer, she was elected to the state’s at-large House seat in 2008 and served for four terms. In 2020, she became the first woman elected senator from Wyoming.

While a reliable conservative in Congress — she was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus — Lummis has a libertarian streak when it comes to public lands. She’s also been a fervent advocate for reducing regulations on domestic energy producers, an important industry in Wyoming.

Known as the “crypto queen,” she bought her first Bitcoin in 2013. As chair of the Senate Banking subcommittee on digital assets, she has been a key negotiator in the industry’s quest for a regulatory structure.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who leads the Senate Republicans’ campaign operation, said Lummis “leaves big shoes to fill” but expressed confidence that “Wyoming will send a conservative Trump ally to the U.S. Senate in November.” The Cowboy State hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since Gale McGee won a third term in 1970.

Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming’s senior senator, called Lummis a “straight shooter and a trailblazer.”

Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman, a potential contender for the open Senate seat, praised Lummis’ 46-year-career in public life. “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 nation through her service,’’ the congresswoman said on social media.

Other Republican senators retiring next year include Joni Ernst of Iowa, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is vacating his seat to run for governor. Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is also running for governor, but her seat isn’t up for reelection until 2030.

Lummis has deep Wyoming roots. Her family arrived in Cheyenne one year after the railroad in the 1860s. Her great-grandfather opened a hardware store, then acquired ranch land when he bought out his partner.

At 24, she became the youngest woman elected to the Wyoming legislature, where an early assignment to the Judiciary Committee convinced her to attend law school. In total, she spent 14 years in the state legislature, serving in both chambers. She was elected state Treasurer in 1998 and reelected four years later.

Lummis was under consideration for a Senate appointment in 2007 following the death of Republican Sen. Craig Thomas, but the state’s Democratic governor at the time picked Barrasso. The following year, she ran for Wyoming’s open House seat and defeated rancher Mark Gordon — the current Wyoming governor — in the Republican primary. She won the general election over Democrat Gary Trauner by less than 10 points.

As a departing House member, Lummis was part of Trump’s presidential transition team in 2017 and was considered for the top post at the Interior Department. She passed on the 2018 gubernatorial race in Wyoming and instead established herself early on as the big-name candidate in the 2020 race to succeed Republican Sen. Michael B. Enzi.

She faced no significant opposition in the Republican primary and easily won the general election with 73% of the vote.

(Andrew Menezes contributed to this report.)

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