Harriet Hageman | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWyoming'sat-large district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Liz Cheney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Harriet Maxine Hageman (1962-10-18)October 18, 1962 (age 63) Douglas, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | John Sundahl |
| Parent |
|
| Education | University of Wyoming (BS,JD) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Hageman supporting thegrizzly bear's removal from theEndangered and Threatened Wildlife List. Recorded March 23, 2023 | |
Harriet Maxine Hageman (born October 18, 1962) is an American politician and attorney serving as theU.S. representative forWyoming's at-large congressional district since 2023. She is a member of theRepublican Party.
A Wyoming native, Hageman holds degrees from theUniversity of Wyoming and has spent her career as a trial attorney. She unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for governor of Wyoming in2018 and later served as a member of theRepublican National Committee. With the endorsement of PresidentDonald Trump, Hageman later defeated incumbent representativeLiz Cheney, a Trump critic and vice chair of theHouse January 6 Committee, by a landslide in the2022 Republican primary election, garnering over twice as many votes as Cheney while spending less than a quarter of Cheney's campaign expenditures. She placed third out of six candidates in a prior, less-politicized campaign for Governor.
Hageman was sworn into Congress on January 3, 2023. She won re-election in2024.[1]
Harriet Maxine Hageman was born inDouglas, Wyoming, on October 18, 1962, and grew up on a ranch outside ofFort Laramie, Wyoming, near theNebraska border.[2][3][4] Her father,James Hageman, served as a longtime member of theWyoming House of Representatives until his death in 2006.[5] She is a fourth-generation Wyomingite; her great-grandfather, James Clay Shaw,[6] moved to the then-Wyoming Territory fromTexas in 1878.[7]
After graduating from Lingle/Fort Laramie High School, Hageman earned aBachelor of Science degree inbusiness administration from theUniversity of Wyoming and aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of Wyoming College of Law.[8][9]
Hageman served as alaw clerk for JudgeJames E. Barrett of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She has since worked as a trial attorney. In 1997, Hageman represented Wyoming inNebraska v. Wyoming, a dispute over management of theNorth Platte River.[10][11] In the case, she advocated against theUnited States Forest Service'sroadless rule and lost.[12][13][14] In the2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Hageman supportedU.S. senatorTed Cruz and criticizedDonald Trump.[15][16]
Hageman was a candidate in the2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election, placing third after investment managerFoster Friess and the eventual winner,state treasurerMark Gordon. Hageman was theRepublican National committeewoman for Wyoming in 2020 and 2021.[17]
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On September 9, 2021, Hageman announced her candidacy forWyoming's at-large congressional district, challenging three-term incumbentLiz Cheney for the Republican nomination in the2022 election. In her campaign announcement, Hageman claimed that Cheney no longer represented the people of Wyoming due to her opposition to Trump'sefforts to overturn the 2020 election and her vote toimpeach him during Trump's second impeachment. Noting that Trump had carried Wyoming by landslide majorities in both of his campaigns, Hageman said that by opposing Trump, Cheney "betrayed Wyoming, she betrayed this country, and she betrayed me".[18][19] She formally launched her campaign at a Cheyenne hotel later that day, saying that Wyoming needed someone in Congress "who represents Wyoming's conservative values" and had "Wyoming's best interests at heart". She also claimed that Cheney's drive to "destroy President Trump" made her ineffective in Washington. Two other primary challengers dropped out and endorsed Hageman.[20] She was quickly endorsed by Trump, who had personally interviewed several prospective primary challengers to Cheney.[21]
Hageman and Cheney had been close political allies for several years. Hageman was an adviser to Cheney's brief 2014 Senate campaign,[22] and introduced Cheney at a rally during Cheney's first congressional bid in 2016.[15] According to Hageman, the relationship cooled when Cheney criticized Trump for not acting on claims that Russia putbounties on American troops in Afghanistan and chilled even further when Cheney called for Trump to acknowledge that he had lost the 2020 election.[23][20] Hageman claimed that when Cheney called her to say that any claims about irregularities in the 2020 election were untrue, "that was probably the end of our relationship". She added that had she known that Cheney would have voted to impeach Trump, she "never would have answered [Cheney's] first phone call" in 2016.[20] Hageman later claimed that Cheney and others had deceived her into opposing Trump but dismissed her previous opposition to Trump as "ancient history".[16] In a statement toThe New York Times, she called Trump "the greatest president of my lifetime."[11]
Besides Trump, Hageman was endorsed by many other prominent Republicans, including House Minority LeaderKevin McCarthy.[24][25][26] She also received campaign support from severalTrump administration staffers, includingBill Stepien,Justin R. Clark, andTim Murtaugh.[27] In January 2022, it was reported that Hageman's campaign had raised $1 million, to Cheney's $4.5 million.[28]
Hageman raced out to a large lead in opinion polling. AUniversity of Wyoming poll taken a week before the election showed Hageman with a 29-point lead over Cheney.[29] She defeated Cheney in the Republican primary in a landslide, winning 66.3% of the vote to Cheney's 28.9%. Hageman carried all but two counties in the state, Cheney's home county ofTeton County, andAlbany County, home to theUniversity of Wyoming.[30]
In the general election, Hageman faced Democratic nominee and Native American activist Lynnette Grey Bull, who was Cheney's opponent in 2020. Hageman was overwhelmingly favored.[22] Republicans had a nearly 7-to-1 advantage in registration over Democrats,[31] and Trump won the state in 2020 with almost 70% of the vote, his strongest state-level performance in the nation.[citation needed]
Hageman won the 2022 election handily, defeating Grey Bull, 67% to 24%. Upon taking office in 2023, she became the fourth consecutive Republican woman to represent Wyoming in the House, afterBarbara Cubin,Cynthia Lummis, and Cheney.[citation needed]
In the contested2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, though many of Hageman's colleagues in theFreedom Caucus refused to supportKevin McCarthy, Hageman backed him on every ballot.[32]
Hageman in March 2025 attended atown hall meeting with hundreds in the audience inAlbany County, Wyoming, where she received a negative audience response when discussing multiple issues, including the downsizing of the federal government initiated byElon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.[33] Hageman told the audience: "It's so bizarre to me how obsessed you are with federal government … I’m sorry, your hysteria is just really over the top"; later amid the hostile response Hageman ended the event 15 minutes early.[33]
Source:[34]
Hageman calls herself an "unyieldingconservative". During her gubernatorial campaign, she claimed that government was too pervasive in American lives, to the point that it was replacing "community, the organizations you belong to, and family support."[7] Along similar lines, during her congressional campaign, she highlighted her past work in "defending our great state against the excess of government".[19] She argued that as part of her plan to "protect Wyoming", her priorities would be "energy independence, regulatory reform, restor[ing] power to the states, protection of our southern border and enforcement of our immigration laws." She added that while in Congress, she would "focus on what is in the best interest of the United States, and, specifically, what is in the best interest of Wyoming."[20] She believes theframers of theConstitution intended for "theLegislative Branch—and only the Legislative Branch" to make law.[35]
In 2025, Senator Mike Lee (R–Utah) introduced a provision in the Senate Republicans' budget reconciliation bill, theBig Beautiful Bill to mandate the sale of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent ofBLM andU.S. Forest Service lands in 11 Western states, including Wyoming.[36] Hageman supported the measure, describing it as narrow and community-focused, targeting small, underutilized parcels near towns[37] She emphasized local input and the need for housing and economic growth.
However, groups such as the Wilderness Society argued the bill’s language allowed up to 250 million acres to be sold, warning of privatization risks.[38] The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable and other stakeholders criticized the plan as harmful to rural economies and public access.[39]
Widespread opposition culminated in a bipartisan rally at the Wyoming State Capitol with over 500 attendees.[40] Critics argued that even "less iconic" public lands are vital for local recreation and that the bill bypassed traditional oversight.Lee withdrew the proposal on June 28, 2025, citing the inability to block foreign and corporate land purchases.[41] Critics warned the effort may return and criticized Wyoming's delegation, including Hageman, for backing the measure.
Hageman is a vocal supporter of thefossil fuel industry, saying at an August 2022 campaign event that coal is an "affordable, clean, acceptable resource that we all should be using".[42]
Speaking about presumptive Democratic presidential candidateKamala Harris in July 2024, Hageman called Harris "a DEI hire" (a reference todiversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives) who is "intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel".[43]
In 2023, Hageman was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H. Congressional Resolution 21, which directed PresidentJoe Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[44][45]
Hageman is married toCheyenne-based medicalmalpractice defense attorney John Sundahl.[46] She is aProtestant.[47]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mark Gordon | 38,951 | 33.0 | |
| Republican | Foster Friess | 29,842 | 25.3 | |
| Republican | Harriet Hageman | 25,052 | 21.2 | |
| Republican | Sam Galeotos | 14,554 | 12.3 | |
| Republican | Taylor Haynes | 6,511 | 5.5 | |
| Republican | Bill Dahlin | 1,763 | 1.5 | |
| n/a | Under votes | 1,269 | 1.1 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 113 | 0.0 | |
| n/a | Over votes | 46 | 0.0 | |
| Total votes | 118,101 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Harriet Hageman | 113,025 | 66.3 | |
| Republican | Liz Cheney (incumbent) | 49,316 | 28.9 | |
| Republican | Anthony Bouchard | 4,505 | 2.6 | |
| Republican | Denton Knapp | 2,258 | 1.3 | |
| Republican | Robyn Belinskey | 1,305 | 0.8 | |
| Total votes | 170,409 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Harriet Hageman | 132,206 | 68.18% | −0.37 | |
| Democratic | Lynnette Grey Bull | 47,250 | 24.37% | −0.22 | |
| Libertarian | Richard Brubaker | 5,420 | 2.80% | −0.95 | |
| Write-in | 4,521 | 2.33% | +1.14 | ||
| Constitution | Marissa Selvig | 4,505 | 2.32% | −0.60 | |
| Total votes | 193,902 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Harriet Hageman (incumbent) | 184,680 | 70.61% | +2.43 | |
| Democratic | Kyle Cameron | 60,778 | 23.24% | −1.13 | |
| Libertarian | Richard Brubaker | 9,223 | 3.53% | +0.73 | |
| Constitution | Jeffrey Haggit | 5,362 | 2.05% | −0.27 | |
| Write-in | 1,505 | 0.58% | -1.75 | ||
| Total votes | 261,548 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWyoming's at-large congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 320th | Succeeded by |
Statewide political officials ofWyoming | ||
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| U.S. representative |
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| Supreme Court (appointed) |
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| Territorial (1869–1890) |  | |
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| Oneat-large seat (1890–present) | ||