Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn ( LUMM-iss; born September 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Wyoming. Before her tenure in the Senate, she served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from Laramie County, Wyoming Senate from the 5th district, as treasurer of Wyoming, and in the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming's at-large congressional district.
Lummis was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and educated at Cheyenne East High School and the University of Wyoming. She was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1978 and reelected in 1980, becoming the youngest woman to serve in the state legislature. Despite choosing not to seek another term in 1982, Lummis returned to the state House and served there until being elected to the state Senate in 1992, defeating incumbent Senator Harriet Elizabeth Byrd. After serving one term in the state senate, she served on Governor Jim Geringer's transition team and as his general counsel.
In 1998, Lummis was elected treasurer of Wyoming, and she was reelected in 2002 without opposition. She served as the chair of Mary Mead's gubernatorial campaign in 1990 and Ray Hunkins's gubernatorial campaign in 2006. She also served on Bob Dole's presidential steering committee in Wyoming and chaired Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign in Wyoming.
Lummis was elected to succeed Barbara Cubin in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2008 election after defeating Democratic nominee Gary Trauner. During her tenure in the House she was the first Wyoming representative to serve on the Agriculture committee since 1941, chair of the Science Subcommittee on Energy, served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, and was active in the Congressional Western Caucus and Freedom Caucus. She served until her retirement in 2017, and was succeeded by Liz Cheney. Following her tenure in the House she sought a position in President Donald Trump's cabinet as the United States Secretary of the Interior, but was not appointed. Lummis unsuccessfully sought to be appointed to replace Senator Craig L. Thomas in 2007. She was elected to the United States Senate in the 2020 election, becoming the first woman to represent Wyoming in the U.S. Senate. She voted to reject the certification of Pennsylvania's electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, which were narrowly won by Joe Biden, amid Trump's false claims of fraud.


== Early life and education ==
Cynthia Marie Lummis was born on September 10, 1954, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Doran Lummis and Enid Bennett. She is descended from German immigrants and her family first came to Wyoming in 1868. Her father chaired the Laramie County Republican Party and served on the county board of commissioners. Her brother Del Lummis also chaired the Laramie County Republican Party. Lummis attended Cheyenne East High School, and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science in 1976 and a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1978. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Juris Doctor in 1985, and was on the dean's list. She worked as a student teacher at Rock River School in 1977.


== Career ==


=== State legislature ===


==== Elections ====
In 1978, Lummis was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives at age 24, the youngest woman to serve in the state legislature. She was reelected in 1980, but chose to not seek reelection in 1982. Lummis returned to the state house after winning the 1984 election. She filed to run for reelection on June 19, 1986, and was reelected after placing third out of 18 candidates. She was reelected in the 1988 and 1990 elections. She was reapportioned to the 8th district in 1992.In 1990, when Republican Senator Dan Sullivan resigned from the Wyoming Senate, Senate Majority Leader Diemer True stated that Lummis was qualified to replace Sullivan in the state senate. But she could not take the position, as she was busy serving as a campaign manager in the gubernatorial election. In 1992, Lummis ran for a seat in the Wyoming Senate from the 5th district, defeating Norman P. Feagler for the Republican nomination, and incumbent Democratic Senator Harriet Elizabeth Byrd in the general election. During the campaign Lummis spent $11,661, making her the fifth-highest spending elected candidate in the 1992 election. On June 8, 1994, she announced that she would not run for reelection, saying she had other commitments to her family. Republican nominee Don Lawler was elected to succeed her after defeating Democratic nominee Steve Freudenthal.


==== Tenure ====
During Lummis's tenure in the state house, she chaired the Revenue committee and served on the Judiciary and Agriculture committees. During her tenure in the state senate she served on the Judiciary committee. After leaving the state legislature, she was appointed to Jim Geringer's gubernatorial transition team, and served as his general c