Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn ( ; born September 10, 1954) is an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Wyoming since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Lummis served as the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district from 2009 to 2017. She served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1993, in the Wyoming Senate from 1993 to 1995, and as the Wyoming State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007.
Lummis was elected treasurer of Wyoming in 1998 and reelected without opposition in 2002. She managed the gubernatorial campaigns of Mary Mead in 1990 and Ray Hunkins in 2006. She also served on Bob Dole's presidential steering committee in Wyoming and chaired Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign in Wyoming.
Lummis unsuccessfully sought to be appointed to replace Senator Craig L. Thomas in 2007. She was elected to succeed Barbara Cubin in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2008 election, defeating Democratic nominee Gary Trauner. During her tenure in the House, she was the first Wyoming representative to serve on the Agriculture Committee since 1941, chaired the Science Subcommittee on Energy, co-chaired the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, and was active in the Congressional Western Caucus and Freedom Caucus. She served until her retirement in 2017, and was succeeded by Liz Cheney.
After Lummis's tenure in the House, she sought a position in President Donald Trump's cabinet as secretary of the interior, but was not appointed. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2020 election, becoming the first woman to represent Wyoming in the Senate. In the U.S. Senate, she supported efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and promoted cryptocurrency.
Early life and education
Cynthia Marie Lummis was born on September 10, 1954, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Doran Lummis and Enid Bennett. She is descended from German immigrants; her family first came to Wyoming in 1868. Her father chaired the Laramie County Republican Party and served on the county board of commissioners. Her brother Del Lummis also chaired the Laramie County Republican Party.
Lummis attended Cheyenne East High School, and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science in 1976 and a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1978. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Juris Doctor in 1985, and was on the dean's list. She worked as a student teacher at Rock River School in 1977.
Career State legislature Elections
In 1978, Lummis was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives at age 24, the youngest woman to serve in the state legislature. She was reelected in 1980, but chose to not seek reelection in 1982. Lummis returned to the state house after winning the 1984 election. She filed to run for reelection on June 19, 1986, and was reelected after placing third out of 18 candidates. She was reelected in the 1988 and 1990 elections. She was reapportioned to the 8th district in 1992.
In 1990, when Republican Senator Dan Sullivan resigned from the Wyoming Senate, Senate Majority Leader Diemer True stated that Lummis was qualified to replace Sullivan in the state senate. But she could not take the position, as she was busy serving as a campaign manager in the gubernatorial election. In 1992, Lummis ran for a seat in the Wyoming Senate from the 5th district, defeating Norman P. Feagler for the Republican nomination, and incumbent Democratic Senator Harriet Elizabeth Byrd in the general election. During the campaign Lummis spent $11,661, making her the fifth-highest spending elected candidate in the 1992 election. On June 8, 1994, she announced that she would not run for reelection, saying she had other commitments to her family. Republican nominee Don Lawler was elected to succeed her, defeating Democratic nominee Steve Freudenthal.
Tenure
During Lummis's tenure in the state house, she chaired the Revenue committee and served on the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees. During her tenure in the state senate she served on the Judiciary Committee. After leaving the state legislature, she was appointed to Jim Geringer's gubernatorial transition team, and served as his general counsel until 1997. Geringer appointed Lummis to serve as interim director of the Office of State Lands and Investments in 1997, after he fired Jim Magagna.
On February 28, 1982, Lummis was injured in a car accident while her husband was driving. She attended the National Conference of State Legislatures national conference in 1982, alongside Senate President Donald Cundall and Representatives Wiederspahn, Peg Shreve, Scott Ratliff, William A. Cross, and George Salisbury. In a 1982 roll-call vote in favor of legislation about the treatment of non-resident traffic offenders, a man cast Lummis's vote while she was outside the room. Lummis changed the vote to a nay after coming back in. Representative Ken Burns said the incident showed why electronic voting was needed.
During the 1988 Republican presidential primaries, Lummis served on Bob Dole's steering committee in Wyoming. A 1989 survey of the financial contributors of the Wyoming Republican Party showed that Lummis was suggested as a candidate for Secretary of State of Wyoming. She served as Republican candidate Mary Mead's campaign manager during the 1990 gubernatorial election.
Treasurer Elections
On November 17, 1996, incumbent Treasurer Stan Smith announced that he would not seek reelection to a fifth term in 1998. It was speculated that Lummis would replace him. At the Laramie County Republican convention on March 28, 1998, she announced that she would run for treasurer, and formally announced her campaign on April 20, at a press conference alongside Smith.
During the campaign, the Attorney General ruled that public funds could not be used to send state treasurer candidates to an investment seminar. Lummis won the Republican nomination without opposition and defeated Democratic nominee Charyl Loveridge and Libertarian nominee James Blomquist.
Lummis was considered as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2002 gubernatorial election, but declined to run. She announced on April 30 that she would seek reelection as treasurer, and was reelected without opposition in 2002. Lummis was the only statewide candidate to face no opposition in the 2002 election, as nobody had filed to run in the Democratic primary and no other candidate received the 25 write-in votes required to qualify for the nomination. During the campaign she had raised $9,275 and spent $12,151.
She was limited to two terms as treasurer and did not challenge the constitutionality of the legislation, despite the Wyoming Supreme Court having invalidated term limits on state legislators. She endorsed former Speaker Fred Parady to succeed her as treasurer in the 2006 election, but Joseph Meyer won the Republican primary and the general election.
Tenure
Lummis conducted an accounting change by raising the interest rate on the $100 million in Wyoming banks, which reduced Wyoming's expected budget deficit in 1999 by over $5 million. She also planned a 1% increase on the interest yield of Wyoming's $2.6 billion permanent fund, which would raise $26 million per year. She served on the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners alongside Governor Geringer, Secretary of State Meyer, Auditor Max Maxfield, and superintendent of public instruction Judy Catchpole. During her tenure, the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund rose to over $2 billion for the first time.
In April 2001, Lummis announced a conflict of interest involving her role as treasurer of the Arp and Hammond Hardware Company, which she claimed had existed since December 2000. A different document indicated that it had actually existed since April 2000, but Lummis insisted that the second form was in error. She and other Republican statewide officials were accused of trying to expand their powers at the expense of Governor Dave Freudenthal, but denied the claims. Lummis claimed that she was the person responsible for the increase in Wyoming's investments during her tenure as treasurer, but Freudenthal said that no one person could take credit for the increase.
As a member of the Wyoming Canvassing Board, Lummis voted unanimously alongside the three other members against a recall of the ballots cast in Natrona County during the 2002 United States House of Representatives election. Even though the results in Natrona County could not overturn the statewide results, they would determine which county was placed first on the ballot. Lummis initially supported a recount, but changed her mind after Mary Ann Collins, the Natrona County Clerk, told her that all of the ballots had been counted.
Lummis and all other statewide officials in Wyoming attended the first inauguration of George W. Bush. During the 2004 presidential election, she served as one of Wyoming's 28 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Lummis was the only statewide official from Wyoming to attend Bush's second inauguration. She served as the chair of Ray Hunkins's campaign during the 2006 gubernatorial election.
United States House of Representatives Elections
Representative Barbara Cubin, whom Lummis had supported during the 1994 election, announced that she would not run for reelection in the 2008 election. On January 2, 2008, Lummis announced that she would run for Cubin's seat, winning the Republican nomination against Mark Gordon, Bill Winney, and Michael Holland, having challenged them to debates held in all 23 Wyoming counties during the primaries. A poll conducted from January 18 to 21 showed that Lummis had a favorability rating of 29%, an unfavorability rating of 17%, and a neutral rating of 24%; 30% did not recognize her. Tucker Fagan, who later served as her chief of staff, served as Lummis's campaign manager. During the campaign Rachael Seidenschnur, her press secretary, resigned after using a fake name to ask Lummis's opponent a question. She defeated Democratic nominee Gary Trauner in the general election. During the campaign Lummis raised $1,557,313 and spent $1,543,875 while Trauner raised $1,672,707 and spent $1,716,013.
Lummis was reelected in 2010 against Democratic nominee David Wendt and Libertarian nominee John V. Love, after having raised $780,426 and spending $754,270 compared to Wendt, who had raised $65,709 and spent $68,523 On May 12, 2012, Lummis announced that she would run for reelection. She was reelected in the 2012 election over Democratic nominee Chris Henrichsen after having raised $715,314 and spent $631,026. She was reelected in the 2014 election against Democratic nominee Richard Grayson, after having raised $432,666 and spent $300,949.
On November 12, 2015, Lummis announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2016 election. Liz Cheney was elected to succeed her. Lummis's daughter, Annaliese Wiederspahn, served as Leland Christensen's campaign manager during the Republican primary. Lummis considered running for the Republican nomination in the 2018 gubernatorial election, but declined to run, instead endorsing Sam Galeotos. She sought a position in President Donald Trump's cabinet by attempting to replace Ryan Zinke as United States Secretary of the Interior, but David Bernhardt was appointed instead.
Tenure