Cynthia Lummis

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Cynthia Lummis
CynthiaLummis.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wyoming's At-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2009
Preceded by Barbara Cubin
Wyoming State Treasurer
In office
1999–2007
Preceded by Stan Smith
Succeeded by Joseph B. Meyer
Wyoming State Senator
In office
1993–1994
Member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives
In office
1979–1982
In office
1985–1992
Personal details
Born (1954-09-10) September 10, 1954 (age 58)
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Alvin Wiederspahn

Father-in-law, J. Arling Wiederspahn
Children Annaliese Wiederspahn
Residence Cheyenne, Wyoming
Alma mater University of Wyoming
Profession Attorney, Rancher
Religion Lutheran - LCMS
Website http://lummis.house.gov/

Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn (born September 10, 1954) is the U.S. Representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district, serving since 2009. She is a member of the Republican Party. She previously served as a state Representative (1979–83, 1985–93), state Senator (1993–95), and state Treasurer (1999–2007).[citation needed]

Contents

Early life [edit]

Lummis was born on September 10, 1954 in Cheyenne. She was educated at Trinity Lutheran School and public schools in Cheyenne. She was active in the 4-H Club and raised Hereford calves every year for showing at the annual county fair in August.[citation needed]

After high school, Lummis enrolled in the University of Wyoming in Laramie, the state's only four-year institution of higher learning.[citation needed] She obtained two bachelor of science degrees in animal science in 1976 and in biology in 1978.[citation needed] While she was a legislator, she received her Juris Doctor degree in 1985 and also clerked for the Wyoming Supreme Court.[citation needed]

State politics [edit]

Legislature [edit]

Lummis was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983 and 1985 to 1993, and then the Wyoming Senate from 1993 to 1995. At twenty-four, she was the youngest woman to have been elected to the Wyoming House. Lummis concentrated on issues of taxation and natural resources.[citation needed]

On leaving the Wyoming Senate, she served as transition director for Republican Governor Jim Geringer and then worked for two years in Geringer's office. In that capacity she spearheaded the Governor’s Open Spaces Initiative and edited Wyoming’s Open Lands Guidebook.[citation needed] She also served on the Board of the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.[citation needed] She is a former interim director of the Office of State Lands and Investments.[citation needed] State revenues increased sharply during her tenure, and investment income increased.[citation needed]

State Treasurer [edit]

Lummis was elected State Treasurer in 1998 and reelected in 2002 (unopposed).[citation needed] She managed over $8 billion in annual funds and was elected President of the Western State Treasurer's Association.[citation needed] As State Treasurer, she was cited by the Small Business Administration as the "Women in Business Advocate of the Year 2005."[citation needed] The award is given to a public official who promotes women's business ownership.[citation needed] That same year, Lummis was honored by the University of Wyoming (UW) College of Agriculture as one of two "Outstanding Alumni."[citation needed] She was ineligible to seek reelection in 2006 because of Wyoming's term limits law, and was succeeded by fellow Republican Joseph B. Meyer, previously the Wyoming Secretary of State.[citation needed]

On June 14, 2007, Lummis was among thirty-one Wyoming Republicans to file their names with the Republican State Central Committee in Cheyenne for consideration as the successor to U.S. Senator Craig Thomas,[citation needed] who died earlier in the month.[citation needed] She was chosen as one of the three nominees by the committee submitted to Governor Dave Freudenthal for final selection[citation needed] who, under Wyoming law, made the final selection on June 22, 2007, to appoint John Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon and State Senator from Casper.[citation needed] Lummis had considered challenging Barrasso in the 2008 special election to complete the remaining four years of Thomas's term, but instead announced her candidacy for the open seat that was vacated by Barbara Cubin in the U.S. House of Representatives.[citation needed]

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

Taxes

Lummis is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.[1]

Elections [edit]

2008
See also: United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2008

Lummis, who carried the support of pro-life and economic conservative voters in Wyoming, won the November 4, 2008, general election to succeed Barbara Cubin of Casper. In the August primary election, Lummis defeated businessman and rancher Mark Gordon of Buffaloin Johnson County, who outspent her four-to-one, along with other candidates Bill Winney and Michael S. Holland.[citation needed]

In the general election, Lummis faced Democratc Teton County School Board Trustee Gary Trauner of Wilson, who had run against Cubin in 2006 and nearly won. Trauner criticized Lummis because she has supported privatization of Social Security and has also suggested raising the retirement age for receiving such benefits; Trauner has called instead for consideration of imposing the FICA tax on income over $100,000, which is currently exempt.[2] Lummis defeated Trauner by 10 percentage points.[citation needed]

Trauner had nearly toppled Cubin in the 2006 election.[3]

2010
See also: United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2010

Lummis won re-election with 71% against Democratic challenger David Wendt.[4]

2012
See also: United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2012

Tenure [edit]

Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner has called Lummis one of Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake's "posse of anti-appropriators" on the Approrpriations Committee.[5] According to Carney, Lummis "is the league leader in bucking the committee leadership."[5] She is a member of the Republican Study Committee.[citation needed]

Committee assignments [edit]

Current

United States House Committee on Natural Resources (2009-2011; 2013–present)

Past

Caucus memberships [edit]

Electoral history [edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Wyoming state treasurer, 1998 – general election:[6][7]

  • Cynthia Lummis, Republican – 105,322 (62.69%)
  • Charyl "Butch" Loveridge, Democrat – 52,655 (31.34%)
  • James Blomquist, Libertarian – 10,024 (5.97%)

Wyoming state treasurer, 2002 – Republican primary:[8]

  • Cynthia Lummis – 79,557 (100.00%)

Wyoming state treasurer, 2002 – general election:[9]

  • Cynthia Lummis – 152,583 (100.00%)

Wyoming's At-large congressional district, 2008 – Republican primary:[10]

  • Cynthia Lummis – 33,149 (73.90%)
  • Bill Winney – 8,537 (19.03%)
  • Michael S. Holland – 3,171 (7.07%)

Wyoming's at-large congressional district, 2008 – general election:[11]

  • Cynthia Lummis, Republican – 131,244 (52.62%)
  • Gary Trauner, Democrat – 106,758 (42.81%)
  • W. David Herbert, Libertarian – 11,030 (4.42%)
  • Write-in candidates – 363 (0.15%)

Wyoming's at-large congressional district, 2010 – Republican primary:[12]

  • Cynthia Lummis – 84,063 (82.82%)
  • Evan Liam Slafter – 17,148 (16.89%)
  • Write-in candidates – 289 (0.28%)

Wyoming's at-large congressional district, 2010 – general election:[13]

  • Cynthia Lummis, Republican – 131,661 (70.42%)
  • David Wendt, Democrat – 45,768 (24.48%)
  • John V. Love, Libertarian – 9,253 (4.95%)
  • Write-in candidates – 287 (0.15%)

Wyoming's At-Large Congressional District, 2012 - General Election:[14]

  • Cynthia M. Lummis, Republican - 166,452 (68.89%)
  • Chris Henrichsen, Democrat - 57,573 (23.83%)
  • Richard P. Brubaker, Libertarian - 8,442 (3.49%)
  • Don Wills, Country Party - 3,775 (1.56%)
  • Daniel Clyde Cummings, Constitution - 4,963 (2.05%)
  • Write-in Candidates - 416 (0.17%)

Personal life [edit]

Lummis is a lawyer and rancher in Cheyenne.[citation needed] She manages Lummis Livestock, located outside Cheyenne, which began in 1919 when her great-grandfather, the owner of a hardware store, bought the property from a business partner.[citation needed] The ranch has a stone barn built in the latter 19th century.[citation needed] Lummis and Wiederspahn also own ranches in Wheatland and in Lincoln County.[citation needed]

Although she uses her maiden name, she has been married since 1983 to Cheyenne attorney and businessman Alvin Laramie "Al" Wiederspahn (born 1949)[citation needed] , himself a former Democratic member of both houses of the Wyoming legislature.[citation needed] The two were House colleagues from 1979 to 1983, when they married.[citation needed] The Wiederspahns have a daughter, Annaliese Wiederspahn.[citation needed] They are members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cheyenne.[citation needed] Lummis's father-in-law was former Laramie County Coroner Arling Wiederspahn (1916–2007), a Democrat, a funeral home owner, and a leading civic builder of Cheyenne.[citation needed]

Her affiliations include the American Women's Financial Education Foundation[citation needed] , the Center for the Rocky Mountain West Advisory Board[citation needed] , Cheyenne's Vision 2020[citation needed] , the Wyoming Business Alliance[citation needed] , and the Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust.[citation needed] She is the first woman to have served on the popular Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo Board.[citation needed] She won the title "Miss Frontier" in 1976.[citation needed] In 2003, Lummis was a fundraiser for the construction of Johnson Lummis Hunkins Plaza in Downtown Laramie in Albany County,[citation needed] where a statue has been erected in honor of Louisa Gardner Swain[citation needed] , the first woman ever to have voted in a general election in the United States.[citation needed]

Lummis appeared on The Colbert Report on March 9, 2009, as part of the show's recurring Better Know a District segment, which often lampoons members of the U.S. Congress. The segment dealt with cougars, or mountain lions, with Colbert asking if Wyoming had a cougar problem, while alluding to the slang use of the term "cougar". Mrs. Lummis is six years younger than her husband.[citation needed]

In 2008, Lummis reported her wealth as ranging from $20 million to $75 million.[citation needed] In 2010, she reported $5.5 million and $24 million each.[citation needed] She ranked in 2010 as the twenty-ninth wealthiest member of Congress.[citation needed] Most of Lummis’ wealth is derived from her family-owned Arp and Hammond Company, Lummis Livestock Company, and Old Horse Pasture Inc.[15]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "The Taxpayer Protection Pledge Signers 112th Congressional List". Americans for Tax Reform. Retrieved November 30, 2011. 
  2. ^ Joyce, Matt (2008-10-10). "Trauner, Lummis camps debate Social Security". Casper Star-Tribune. 
  3. ^ Wyoming Tribune-Eagle Online
  4. ^ "State Results - Election Center 2010 - Elections & Politics from CNN.com". CNN. 
  5. ^ a b Carney, Timothy (2011-04-03) GOP anti-appropriators break up the spending party, Washington Examiner
  6. ^ "Statewide Issues Abstract" (Portable Document Format). Wyoming Elections Division. p. 5. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  7. ^ Foster, Deidre (November 4, 1998). "Lummis trumps Loveridge". Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  8. ^ "Statewide Candidates' Abstract -- Official Primary Election Results -- August 20, 2002" (Portable Document Format). Wyoming Elections Division. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  9. ^ "Statewide Candidates' Abstract -- Official General Election Results -- November 5, 2002" (Portable Document Format). Wyoming Elections Division. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  10. ^ "Republican Statewide Candidates Official Summary: Wyoming Primary Election - August 19, 2008". Wyoming Elections Division. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  11. ^ Miller, Lorraine C. (July 10, 2009). "Statistics of the presidential and congressional election of November 4, 2008" (Portable Document Format). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. p. 68. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  12. ^ "Statewide Candidates Official Summary: Wyoming Primary Election - August 17, 2010" (Portable Document Format). Wyoming Elections Division. p. 1. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  13. ^ Haas, Karen L. (June 3, 2011). "Statistics of the congressional election of November 2, 2010" (Portable Document Format). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. p. 56. Retrieved May 25, 2012. 
  14. ^ "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives - Election Information". Karen Haas, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 
  15. ^ "Rep. Cynthia Lummis among Richest Members of Congress". wyofile.com. Retrieved January 3, 2012. 
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External links [edit]

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United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Barbara Cubin		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wyoming's at-large congressional district
January 3, 2009–Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Ben R. Luján
D-New Mexico		 United States Representatives by seniority
250th		 Succeeded by
Tom McClintock
R-California
Senators
Representative
  • Cynthia Lummis (R)
Other states'
delegations
At-large Delegates (1869–1890)
United States House of Representatives Seal
At-large Representatives
(1890-present)
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