Barrasso announces intention to seek re-election

CHEYENNE (WNE)  — U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., formally announced his intention to seek re-election to another six-year term on Wednesday.

Last month, Barrasso announced he will run for Republican Whip after Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not seek another term as the party’s Senate leader.

The Barrasso campaign released a video of his formal election announcement Wednesday, and the Republican senator took a moment to remember his wife, Bobbi, who died earlier this year from brain cancer.

“I want to thank you for the prayers and the kindness you’ve shown,” Barrasso said. “Bobbi loved this state and its people, as do I. I want to continue fighting for you, working for Wyoming and getting results.”

In his campaign video, the Republican U.S. senator criticized President Joe Biden and his handling of the border crisis, which “resulted in record-high inflation” and a flood of immigrants who trespassed illegally.

“Every state, including Wyoming, is now a border state,” Barrasso said in the video. “We need to close the border and stop the invasion now.”

He also highlighted his fight to protect Wyoming’s energy industry and condemned the incumbent Democratic president’s “out of control spending.”

“Every person in Wyoming is literally paying the price,” Barrasso said.

Before he was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2007 to fill the remainder of Craig Thomas’ term upon his death, Barrasso represented Natrona County in the Wyoming Senate for five years. In 2018, Barrasso won 67% of the vote in a special election. He has since been re-elected to full six-year terms in 2012 and 2018.

This story was published on April 18, 2024.