John Barrasso

Biography

Overview

John Barrasso is a Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming, serving since 2007. He is a physician who practiced orthopedic surgery in Casper before entering politics. Born in Pennsylvania in 1952, he graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in biology and earned his M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1978. Before his appointment to the U.S. Senate in 2007 following Senator Craig L. Thomas's death, Barrasso served in the Wyoming State Senate from 2003 to 2007. In 2025, he became Senate Majority Whip, the second-ranking Senate Republican.

Career

Barrasso was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2007 and has been elected three times with substantial margins (73% in 2008, 76% in 2012, 67% in 2018, and 75.1% in 2024). In the Wyoming State Senate, he served unopposed in both 2002 and 2006 elections and chaired the Transportation and Highways Committee. At the federal level, he was part of a group of 13 senators that drafted the Senate version of the American Health Care Act of 2017, though that bill failed to pass. He co-sponsored the "Thin Blue Line Act" and has been a leading opponent of expanded gun control measures.

Prior political experience

Barrasso lost his first U.S. Senate bid in the 1996 Republican primary to Mike Enzi with 30% of the vote in a nine-candidate field. He was elected unopposed to the Wyoming State Senate in 2002 and reelected unopposed in 2006. Appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2007, he won the special election to finish Craig L. Thomas's term with 73% of the vote, defeating Democrat Nick Carter. In 2012, he won his first full Senate term with 76% of the general election vote after winning the Republican primary with 90%. In 2018, he won the Republican primary with 65% and the general election with 67%. Most recently in 2024, he defeated challenger Reid Rasner in the primary with 67.9% and won the general election against Scott Morrow with 75.1% of the vote.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal

Conservative

119th Congress+0.540

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1

+1

+0.193

Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 672 scored votes

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Officeholding history

Term	Seat	Term dates	Termination	Predecessor	Successor
4th	U.S. Senate WY Class 1	2025–present	In progress	John Barrasso	—
3rd	U.S. Senate WY Class 1	2019–2025	Term ended	John Barrasso	John Barrasso
2nd	U.S. Senate WY Class 1	2013–2019	Term ended	John Barrasso	John Barrasso
1st	U.S. Senate WY Class 1	2007–2013	Term ended	—	John Barrasso

Committee assignments

Taxation and IRS Oversight
SenateChairman· 2025–present
Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
SenateChairman· 2025–present
National Parks
Senate· 2025–present
Energy
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Senate· 2025–present
Europe and Regional Security Cooperation
Senate· 2025–present
State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
Senate· 2025–present
Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy
Senate· 2025–present
Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
Senate· 2025–present
Africa and Global Health Policy
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Senate· 2025–present
Health Care
Senate· 2025–present
Senate Committee on Finance
Senate· 2025–present

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

Year	Seat	Result	Vote share	Field
—	—	Pending	—	—