Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 03:55, 3 November 2022

Harriet Hageman
Born	Harriet Maxine Hageman (1962-10-18) October 18, 1962 (age 62) Fort Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.
Education	Casper College University of Wyoming (BS, JD)
Political party	Republican
Spouse	John Sundahl
Relatives	James Hageman (father)
Website	Campaign website

Harriet Maxine Hageman (born October 18, 1962) is an American attorney and Republican politician who won the Republican primary for the 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming. Hageman defeated incumbent Liz Cheney, a critic of former President Donald Trump, by a landslide and garnered over twice as many votes as Cheney while spending less than a quarter of Cheney's campaign expenditures. She was previously a candidate for the 2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election, placing third in the Republican primary.

Early life and education

Hageman was born and raised on a ranch outside Fort Laramie, Wyoming, near the Nebraska border. Her father, James Hageman, served as a longtime member of the Wyoming House of Representatives. She is a fourth-generation Wyomingite; her great-grandfather moved to the then-Wyoming Territory from Texas in 1878.

After graduating from Fort Laramie High School, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Wyoming and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wyoming College of Law.

Career

Hageman served as a law clerk for Judge James E. Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She has since worked as a trial attorney. In 1997, Hageman represented Wyoming in Nebraska v. Wyoming, a dispute over management of the North Platte River. During the case, Hageman advocated against the United States Forest Service's roadless rule. During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Hageman supported U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and criticized Donald Trump.

Hageman was a candidate in the 2018 Wyoming gubernatorial election, placing third after investment manager Foster Friess and the eventual winner, state Treasurer Mark Gordon. Hageman was the Republican National Committeewoman for Wyoming in 2020 and 2021.

2022 U.S. House election

On September 9, 2021, Hageman announced her candidacy for Wyoming's at-large congressional district, challenging three-term incumbent Liz Cheney for the Republican nomination in the 2022 election. In her campaign announcement, Hageman claimed that Cheney no longer represented the people of Wyoming due to her opposition to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. 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." She formally launched her campaign at a hotel in Cheyenne 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. She was quickly endorsed by former President Trump, who had personally interviewed several prospective primary challengers to Cheney.

Hageman and Cheney had been close political allies for several years. Hageman had been an adviser to Cheney's brief 2014 Senate campaign, and had introduced Cheney at a rally during Cheney's first congressional bid in 2016. However, according to Hageman, the relationship cooled when Cheney criticized Trump for not acting on claims that Russia put bounties on American troops in Afghanistan and chilled even further when Cheney called for Trump to acknowledge that he had lost the 2020 election. 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. Hageman later claimed that Cheney and others had deceived her into opposing Trump but dismissed her previous opposition to Trump as "ancient history." In a statement to The New York Times, she hailed Trump as "the greatest president of my lifetime."

Besides Trump, Hageman was endorsed by many other prominent Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Hageman has also received campaign support from several Trump administration staffers, including Bill Stepien, Justin R. Clark, Tim Murtaugh, and others. In January 2022, it was reported that Hageman's campaign had raised one million dollars, to Cheney's $4.5 million.

Hageman raced out to a large lead in opinion polling. A University of Wyoming poll taken a week before the election showed Hageman with a 29-point lead over Cheney. She defeated Cheney in the Republican primary in a landslide, winning 66.3 percent of the vote to Cheney's 28.9 percent. Hageman carried all but one county in the state, Cheney's home county of Teton County.

In the general election, Hageman faces Democratic nominee and Native American activist Lynnette Grey Bull, who was Cheney's opponent in 2020. However, Hageman is overwhelmingly favored in November. Republicans have a nearly 7-to-1 advantage in registration over Democrats, and Trump carried the state in 2020 with 70 percent of the vote, his strongest state-level performance in the nation.

If Hageman wins election, she will be the fourth consecutive Republican woman to represent Wyoming in the House. Barbara Cubin won the seat in 1994 and handed it to Cynthia Lummis in 2008, who handed it to Cheney in 2016.

Political positions

Hageman bills herself as an unyielding conservative. 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." Along similar lines, during her congressional campaign, she highlighted her past work in "defending our great state against the excess of government." 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, and focus on what is in the best interest of the United States, and, specifically, what is in the best interest of Wyoming." Hageman is a vocal supporter of the fossil fuel industry, stating at a campaign event in August 2022 that coal was an "affordable, clean, acceptable resource that we all should be using".

Personal life

Hageman is married to Cheyenne-based malpractice attorney John Sundahl. She is a transwoman.

Electoral history

References

1. "Home | Harriet Hageman for Wyoming". Harriet Hageman. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
2. Seddiq, Omar (July 10, 2022). "This Trump-Backed Candidate Is Vying to Defeat Liz Cheney in a Heated Republican Primary for Wyoming's Sole Congressional Seat". Business Insider. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
3. Wolfson, Leo (August 10, 2022). "Harriet Hageman Profile: More To Hageman Than Just Anti-Cheney, Pro-Trump". Cowboy State Daily. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
4. Hansen, Sandra (March 10, 2019). "Hageman family preserving ranch life". Star-Herald. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
5. ^ "An Introduction to Harriet Hageman". Hageman for Wyoming. March 25, 2018.
6. Hansen, Sandra (January 23, 2018). "Hageman looking to serve Wyoming people". Platte County Record-Times. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
7. "Harriet Hageman -". Archives of Women's Political Communication. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
8. Ring, Ray (2009-11-06). "The Wicked Witch of the West". www.hcn.org. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
9. ^ Epstein, Reid J. (2021-09-27). "How an Anti-Trump Plotter in 2016 Became His Champion Against Liz Cheney". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
10. Turner, Tom (2010-04-14). Roadless Rules: The Struggle for the Last Wild Forests. Island Press. ISBN 978-1-59726-797-7.
11. Cama, Timothy (2022-01-19). "Meet the anti-conservation Republican vying to unseat Cheney". E&E News. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
12. Gabriel, Trip (2022-08-16). "Lawyer Who Defeated Cheney Spent Career Fighting Environmental Rules". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
13. ^ Andrew Kaczynski; Em Steck. "Harriet Hageman once rebuked Trump and endorsed Liz Cheney. She's now challenging her with his support". CNN. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
14. "Potential Cheney challenger steps down from RNC post". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
15. Archie, Ayana (2022-08-17). "Who is Harriet Hageman, the woman who beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming House race?". NPR. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
16. ^ Hageman for Wyoming (September 9, 2021). "Conservative Republican Harriet Hageman to announce challenge to Rep. Liz Cheney".
17. ^ Hannah Black (September 9, 2021). "Trump endorses Hageman as she announces run against Cheney". Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
18. Bob Beck (September 9, 2021). "Harriet Hageman Is Trump's Pick To Face Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney". Wyoming Public Radio.
19. ^ Arit John (August 16, 2022). "Rep. Liz Cheney loses Wyoming GOP primary to Trump-backed challenger". Los Angeles Times.
20. Schmitt, Eric; Goldman, Adam; Fandos, Nicholas (July 29, 2020). "Spies and Commandos Warned Months Ago of Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
21. "Hageman Says She Was Fooled Into Opposing Trump In 2016". Cowboy State Daily. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
22. Goldmacher, Shane (2021-09-09). "Trump endorses a Cheney challenger, aiming to unseat a chief detractor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
23. "Trump endorses Wyoming lawyer to unseat Liz Cheney in biggest test of his ability to purge his critics from the party". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
24. Beavers, Olivia. "McCarthy picks his path on Cheney: Try to boot her from Congress". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
25. "Trump aides flock to Cheney challenger's campaign". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
26. Steinhauser, Paul (2022-01-30). "Trump-backed Cheney primary challenger Hageman hauls in $1 million since launching congressional bid". Fox News. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
27. Victoria Eavis (August 11, 2022). "Hageman leads Cheney by 29 points days before primary, UW poll finds". Casper Star-Tribune.
28. Seddiq, Oma (August 16, 2022). "Liz Cheney's loss in Wyoming is Trump's biggest primary victory as he tries to purge the Republican Party of his critics". Business Insider. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
29. Secretary of State of Wyoming (1 December 2021). "December 2021 Statewide Summary of Wyoming Voter Registration" (PDF). Retrieved 17 August 2022.
30. Richard Luscombe (17 August 2022). "Harriet Hageman: who is the Republican who beat Liz Cheney?". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
31. Murray, Isabella (August 16, 2022). "Who is Harriet Hageman, the Trump-backed candidate running against Liz Cheney?". ABC News. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
32. Statewide Election Results
33. "Primary Election Candidate Roster". Wyoming Secretary of State. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• Wyoming Republicans
• American women lawyers
• 1962 births
• Living people
• People from Goshen County, Wyoming
• Wyoming lawyers
• University of Wyoming alumni
• University of Wyoming College of Law alumni
• Women in Wyoming politics
• 21st-century American women politicians