James Byrd Advances in Wyoming Senate Primary for Seat Republicans Have Held Since 1962
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
James Byrd Advances in Wyoming Senate Primary for Seat Republicans Have Held Since 1962
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
Summary
James Byrd advanced Tuesday from Wyoming’s Democratic Senate primary, defeating former golf club greenskeeper Billy Benavidez for a shot at the open seat.
Cynthia Lummis’s December decision to forgo another six-year term created the rare opening in a state where Republicans have held the seat continuously since 1962.
Byrd, a former state representative and energy-industry geophysicist, ran as a moderate Wyoming-first Democrat focused on public lands, energy jobs, rural healthcare costs and economic diversification through data centers.
He also criticized Donald Trump’s tariffs as harmful to Wyoming beef and farm exports, while taking a tougher border-security stance than many Democrats.
The result sends Byrd into a general election in deep-red Wyoming, where no Democrat has won the seat since Joseph O’Mahoney in 1954.