Hageman’s Senate campaign fund is eight times larger than Mead’s

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman listed $2 million in campaign committee receipts for her U.S. Senate race, eight times more than Sam Mead, her closest fundraising opponent in the Aug. 18 Republican Primary, new figures show.

Hageman, who’s backed by President Donald Trump and the Wyoming GOP, listed $2,023,907 in receipts for her Hageman For Wyoming committee in filings with the Federal Election Commission. She has spent $1.9 million, according to the federal agency.

Mead’s total receipts amount to $252,015, according to data posted Thursday and covering the 2025-2026 election cycle. He has spent $86,834, filings show.

Among other Wyoming Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, the FEC website lists information only for Jimmy Skovgard, who has received $10,379 in contributions from individuals, party committees and other committees, including political action committees.

The FEC had no posted information regarding fundraising and spending by candidates John Holtz or Jill M. Edwards.

Hageman’s receipts include $62,000 from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and $469,500 from other entities like the HF Sinclair Political Action Committee (Dino Pac) and the Devon Energy Corporation PAC, which are both associated with the oil and gas industry,   and the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers PAC.

She also received $221,365 from other committees such as Keep the Senate Red, which pitched in $52,679. The Hageman Victory Fund donated $38,939. Both of those contributions were earmarked for the primary.

Mead received no party contributions and $500 from other committees. He loaned his campaign $100,000.

Skovgard loaned $5,388 to his campaign and raised $4,991.

On the Democratic side, James Byrd raised $19,575 and has spent $18,376. The FEC had no information on fundraising or expenditures by Democrat Billy Benavediz.

It’s inflation, stupid

The filings come as a survey commissioned by the group Keep it Public Wyoming shows that inflation/cost of living is the top issue in the GOP primary. More than 21% of respondents selected that issue as their most important.

Taxes and government spending were listed by 14% of respondents, illegal immigration by 13%, jobs and the economy by 11% and public lands by 11%.

The survey by Cygnal sampled more than 400 respondents in late July and has an error factor of about 4.5%, Cygnal said in a press conference Thursday

Brunton, a Riverton company that manufactures navigational tools like compasses, is a leader of the Keep It Public Wyoming campaign, company owner Lauren Heerschap said. “We value the role that public lands play in Wyoming’s economy, our way of life, our outdoor heritage,” she said.

The poll was commissioned “to see where Wyoming voters stand on the issues and to share those insights,” she said.

When asked whether public lands should be kept public and managed for multiple uses, or sold, 91% of GOP primary voters said the property definitely or probably should be kept in public hands.

Mead touts grassroots funding

Mead on Friday criticized Hageman’s war chest, saying her fundraising relied on out-of-state donors, Beltway special interests and entrenched political forces, not Wyoming residents. 

Hageman rejected his criticism.

“More than 29,000 individual donors have expressed their emphatic support for Rep. Hageman by donating to her campaign since she announced she was running for the U.S. Senate in December, campaign advisor Tim Murtaugh said in a statement. “She is running a campaign based on her record of representing Wyoming’s values in Congress, staying connected and hearing directly from people, and being as accessible as any elected representative has ever been.” 

Twenty-seven percent of Hageman’s campaign committee’s funds came “directly from PACs” Mead said of his analysis of fundraising data. He highlighted more than $300,000 in identifiable individual contributions from Florida, Texas and California.

Wyoming accounted for less than 5% of the money donated to Hageman’s principal campaign committee, Mead said in a statement.

“It’s no surprise the Washington machine is lining up behind the incumbent,” his statement reads. “The system is designed to preserve monied interests, not to elect candidates interested in improving the lives of Wyomingites.”

In contrast, Mead said, nearly all of the contributions to his campaign listed in his July quarterly filing came from individual supporters.

Hageman’s campaign said she remains closely linked to Wyoming residents.“No one will ever ‘out grassroots’ Harriet Hageman,” Murtaugh stated.