Wyoming Republican John Barrasso wins third full term as US senator
FILE - Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., offers remarks following the Senate Republican policy luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Rod Lamkey]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming has won reelection, beating a little-known Democrat to secure a third full term.
Heavily favored to win in deep-red Wyoming, Barrasso defeated Scott Morrow, a retired postal union official from Laramie.
“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 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.
U.S. Senator John Barrasso gives a thumbs up to a crowd of supporters at the Rib and Chop House in Casper, Wyo., at an election watch party on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Andrew Towne/The Casper Star-Tribune via AP)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Andrew Towne
“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.
Former President Donald Trump won Wyoming and its three electoral votes. Trump won Wyoming by his widest margins in any state in 2020 and 2016.
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