A handful of activists protested Wyoming’s Congressional delegates as they arrived in Jackson this week for an annual conversation about Israel hosted by the Jackson Hole Jewish Community.
“Why won’t you meet with your constituents?” Craig Logan asked Rep. Harriet Hageman as she walked into downtown’s St. John’s Episcopal Church. Her last public event advertised for Jackson was a virtual town hall in December 2025, according to her office.
Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis used a church side door to avoid the small group with posters that included Chris Glenn, an independent candidate for Teton County Sheriff and Joni Gore, a Jewish organizer with Jackson Hole for Free Palestine.
Gore said she wants less money spent on foreign wars in the Middle East and more support for services like healthcare in Wyoming.
In recent years the annual Forum on Israel and the Changing World has transitioned from focusing on national security to issues of modern Jewish life, said Mary Grossman, executive director of the Jewish Community. The talks are closed to the media. Protestors demonstrated outside the event in 2024 following Hamas’ attack on Israel in 2023 and the war in Gaza. Last year’s event had noticeably fewer attendees and no protestors.
Inside the church this year, Grossman said she heard the delegates offer strong rebuttals of antisemitism and concern about more “radicalism and extremism” on the fringes of both political parties.
She said the audience of 30 to 50 was a mix of Jewish and Christian locals and visitors with a variety of views on the wars in Gaza and Iran. Grossman also clarified that the event, which was previously supported by the national American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is not a fundraiser, as some activists had suggested.
After leaving the event, Hageman joined KHOL for an interview.
A week out from an election that could see her move from the House to the Senate, the Trump-endorsed Congresswoman was confident and defiant.
“I’m probably the most accessible member of Congress that we’ve ever had,” she said.
She also defended her track record on public lands, an issue raised by Jackson opponent Sam Mead after she supported an effort to use some federal land for housing or community development.
“There’s just a lot of misinformation about what my stance is,” the former trial attorney said. “I’ve been a strong advocate for making sure that we’re protecting and properly managing these resources for years.”
During the event at St. John’s, Hageman said she tried to address big questions about the war in Iran.
“Now we’re in a very delicate situation in terms of negotiating an end to this conflict,” she said, noting tensions with the nation have simmered for nearly 50 years. “I think everybody wants it to end at the same time.”
She acknowledged the war is having a local impact on gas prices and the economy but echoed President Donald Trump in saying, “We’re going to have some short-term pain, but I think that the long-term gain is worth it.”
“When all is said and done,” she added, “I think the world is going to be a safer place.”
As for the campaign threat from Mead, a fifth-generation rancher whose relatives have served in Congress and as Wyoming’s governor, Hageman said: “I went to law school with his uncle, but I don’t really know who Sam is.”
That’s despite going toe-to-toe with the 36-year-old at forums across the state. Hageman noted later that she agrees with Mead, a one-time mayor of Kirby, Wyoming, about the need for local input in land use issues.
“A lot of people are concerned about: How do we make sure that we have access and that we manage these resources so we don’t just burn them to the ground? And that’s where I am as well,” Hageman said.
The delegates’ visit came the same day Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson held an annual GOP fundraiser in Teton Village. SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell planned to attend. Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of the now-public rocket company, has pledged another $100 million to back Republicans in the midterms.
In Wyoming’s heavily Republican electorate, the Aug. 18 primary election will effectively decide whether Hageman moves to the upper chamber of Congress.
She faces challenges from four Republicans: Mead; Jimmy Skovgard; John Holtz and Jill Edwards. Democrats Billy Benavidez and James Byrd are making bids from the left. Lummis, who also spoke at the Jackson event, plans to retire. She declined an interview request. Barrasso is not up for re-election.
