Wyoming Republican John Barrasso wins third full term as US senator

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman won reelection in Wyoming after the Republican incumbents beat little-known Democrats in the GOP-leaning state.

Heavily favored to win in deep-red Wyoming, Barrasso defeated Scott Morrow, a retired postal union official from Laramie, to secure a third full term in office.

“The people of Wyoming have been just absolutely tremendous to me in the past year, not just in the election but personally as well as I lost my wife, Bobbi,” Barrasso said after the AP called the race.

Bobbi Barrasso died in January at age 70 after a two-year struggle with brain cancer.

John Barrasso has been an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s policies on immigration, fossil fuel development and air pollution regulations.

“Prices are too high, the border — we need to secure the border — and we need to unleash American energy,” Barrasso said of his next-term priorities.

He has risen to prominence over 17 years in the Senate. Barrasso is chair of the Senate Republican Conference, the third-ranking GOP position in the chamber, and is ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

An orthopedic surgeon and former state lawmaker from Casper, Barrasso was first appointed to the Senate in 2007 after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas. He was elected to finish Thomas’ term the following year and won the next two elections by wide margins.

Morrow lost after campaigning as an advocate of labor unions and abortion rights.

Hageman defeated Kyle Cameron in a low-key race compared to two years ago, when she beat Liz Cheney in the Republican primary and won the general election by a wide margin.

Hageman listed curbing illegal immigration and the power of federal regulatory agencies as priorities in her next term.

“We’re going to have to start cutting spending. We’re going to have to start right-sizing government,” Hageman said.

Trump won Wyoming and its three electoral votes. Trump won Wyoming by his widest margins in any state in 2020 and 2016.

Mead Gruver, The Associated Press