This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Wyoming’s junior U.S. Senator, Cynthia Lummis, will retire at the end of her current term in 2027.
The Hill is reporting Lummis made the announcement after the Senate adjourned for the holiday break.
In a statement to The Hill, she said she didn’t have it in her to fill out another six-year term after an intense session that got particularly exhausting in the past several weeks.
Lummis has served a single term in the U.S. Senate and four in U.S. House. Prior to that, she was Wyoming’s Treasurer and held offices in both chambers of the state Legislature.
Her retirement will reverberate in Washington circles, particularly in the crypto space, according to The Hill.
Wyoming’s top electeds shared their congratulations and honored Lummis’ decades of service on Friday.
“Senator Lummis has been a trailblazer for Wyoming and has been key in educating other members of Congress, including other Republicans, about what life is like in our Western states,” U.S. Rep. Hariet Hageman said in a lengthy press release detailing Lummis’ upbringing and career. “She knew that to do what’s right for our people, she had to first make sure folks in D.C. knew how their actions would affect us out west. There can be no question that the people of Wyoming are better off for having had Cynthia Lummis on their side.”
“I first met Senator Lummis when I was in high school and just beginning to get involved in our great Republican Party,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in a release. “I looked up to her instantly. When I was in college, I jumped at the opportunity to work on her first campaign for Congress and later served as an intern in her Washington, D.C. office.”
Degenfelder continued, “Senator Lummis has been a committed public servant to this great state for over four decades. She was the youngest woman ever elected to the Wyoming Legislature, served as Wyoming’s State Treasurer for eight years, and proudly represented our state in the U.S. House of Representatives. She ultimately made history as the first woman ever elected to the United States Senate from Wyoming. Throughout her career, she has championed Wyoming’s interests with tenacity and principle. But more than her record, Senator Lummis has been a trailblazer, a lifelong mentor to many, and a dear friend to our beloved state.”
