Short announces bid for US Senate

DOUGLAS (WNE) — Converse County Commissioner Robert Short has formally announced his run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mike Enzi.

The two-term Republican commissioner held a kick-off rally Monday at Glenrock’s Hotel Higgins, which he and his wife Janella own. The businessman grew up in Glenrock and lives in Douglas, even though the couple’s six companies are based in Glenrock, employ more than 150 people and have operations around the country.

The  other Republican candidates to announce so far are former U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, Mark Armstrong, Joshua Wheeler and Patrick Dotson, although Jackson billionaire Foster Friess is holding “listening tours” around the state to gauge support should he make a bid for the Senate seat. Friess, a staunch conservative who backed President Donald Trump, used his wealth to run for Wyoming governor in 2018, barely losing to current Gov. Mark Gordon in the Republican primary. Enzi is not running for re-election.

Conceding he may be facing an uphill battle against Lummis’ statewide name recognition and Friess’ wealth, the 57-year-old Short insisted that his is a true Wyomingite story that will resonate with voters, especially workers in the state.

He grew up poor in the small Converse County community, attended Glenrock High School and worked on the Duncan Ranch for $1 an hour to “buy my own shoes, because my parents couldn’t afford to do that,” he said during an interview prior to the announcement.

Since returning to Wyoming after working in Colorado and around the world, Short has since built a group of diverse companies in the energy, technology, drone, electrical, construction and hospitality industries.

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Lummis has support of Wyoming senators

JACKSON (WNE) — Wyoming’s two U.S. senators, both Republicans, endorsed longtime politician and Cheyenne native Cynthia Lummis, who will run for Senate this fall after a three-year sabbatical.

Lummis, a Republican, served from 2009 to 2017 as Wyoming’s sole U.S. representative and will now seek Sen. Mike Enzi’s seat as he prepares to retire in 2020 after two decades of service.

“She is a uniter we need,” Enzi said in a news release Tuesday. “Cynthia will put Wyoming first and be a force to be reckoned with in Washington.”

Sen. John Barrasso, who served with Lummis in Washington, D.C., for all four of her terms, described her as a “gritty champion for our conservative values.”

“Filling Mike’s shoes is no small task, and taking on Washington’s big spenders and bigger government will require someone that has proven they can do it and win,” said Barrasso. Lummis “is all these things,” he said.

Lummis said in the news release that she would be “humbled and proud” to work with Barrasso, who “has been absolutely critical in beating back liberal venom in Washington.”

Barrasso is the third-highest-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership.

Lummis also said in her statement that should she be elected, she looks forward to working with Rep. Liz Cheney, who since 2017 has held Lummis’ former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. With Cheney as the third-highest-ranking member of House Republican leadership, Lummis would be joining a powerhouse political team.

“Wyoming’s congressional delegation is truly the gold standard,” she said.

Before serving in Congress, Lummis served for eight years as Wyoming’s treasurer and spent another 14 in the state House and Senate.