Sam Mead, a Jackson rancher and fifth-generation member of a prominent Wyoming political family, has announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate, becoming the latest Republican to enter the open-seat race.
Mead is the fourth candidate overall and the third Republican seeking the seat after Cynthia Lummis announced in December that she would not seek reelection.
The race already includes Harriet Hageman, who quickly launched a Senate bid and secured an endorsement from Donald Trump, along with Republican Jimmy Skovgard and Democrat Jim Byrd.
Mead formally launched his campaign in Thermopolis. He said his campaign will focus on putting Wyoming first in Washington and offering voters another conservative option in the Republican primary.
The 36-year-old was raised in Jackson, graduated from Jackson Hole High School, and attended University of Denver. He now works as a software engineer and helps operate the family’s Mead Ranch.
Mead previously served on the town council and later as mayor of Kirby while helping run the family’s Wyoming Whiskey business.
His family has longstanding ties to Wyoming politics. Mead is the great-grandson of Cliff Hansen and the nephew of former Gov. Matt Mead.
Mead said concerns over federal spending, energy policy, and public lands helped drive his decision to run. He has made protecting public lands a central early theme of his campaign, arguing they should remain under public ownership.
Wyoming’s Republican primary is expected to determine the next senator in one of the nation’s most reliably Republican states.
By: DNU staff