Cynthia Lummis

Cynthia Lummis
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	Joe Meyer
Wyoming State Senator
In office 1993–1995
Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives
In office 1979–1983
In office 1985–1993
Personal details
Born	September 10, 1954 (1954-09-10) (age 57) 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).

Early life

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.

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

State politics

Legislature

Lummis was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1979 to 1982, and the Wyoming Senate from 1982 to 1994. At 24, she was the youngest woman to have been elected to the Wyoming House. Lummis concentrated on issues of taxation and natural resources.

On leaving the Wyoming Senate, she served as transition director for 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. She also served on the Board of the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. She is a former interim director of the Office of State Lands and Investments. State revenues increased sharply during her tenure, and investment income increased.

State Treasurer

Lummis was elected State Treasurer in 1998 and reelected in 2002 (unopposed) and 2004. She managed over $8 billion in annual funds and was elected President of the Western State Treasurer's Association. As State Treasurer, she was cited by the Small Business Administration as the "Women in Business Advocate of the Year 2005." The award is given to a public official who promotes women's business ownership. That same year, Lummis was honored by the University of Wyoming (UW) College of Agriculture as one of two "Outstanding Alumni." 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 Secretary of State of Wyoming.

On June 14, 2007, Lummis was among 31 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, who died earlier in the month. She was chosen as one of the three nominees by the committee submitted to Governor Dave Freudenthal for final selection who, under Wyoming law, made the final selection on June 22, 2007, to appoint John Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon and State Senator from Casper. 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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2008 and United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2010

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 who outspent her four-to-one, along with other candidates Bill Winney and Michael S. Holland.

In the general election, Lummis faced Democrat Gary Trauner of Wilson in Teton County, who 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.^[1]

Lummis defeated Trauner by 10% points, however, she lost her home county, Laramie County. Trauner had the support of Governor Dave Freudenthal, with whom Lummis has had political and personal differences.

Trauner had nearly toppled Cubin in the 2006 election.^[2]

2010

Lummis won re-election with 71% against Democratic challenger David Wendt.^[3]

Tenure

Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner has called Lummis one of Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake's "posse of anti-appropriators" on the Approrpriations Committee.^[4] According to Carney, Lummis "is the league leader in bucking the committee leadership."^[4] She is a member of the Republican Study Committee.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Western Caucus (Vice-Chair)
• International Conservation Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Women's Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Arts Caucus

Electoral history

Wyoming At-Large Seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Election – 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Cynthia Lummis	131,244	52.62%
	Democratic	Gary Trauner	106,758	42.81%
	Libertarian	W. David Herbert	11,030	4.42%

Personal life

Lummis is a lawyer and rancher in Cheyenne. 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. The ranch has a stone barn built in the latter 19th century. Lummis and Wiederspahn also own ranches in Wheatland and in Lincoln County.

Although she uses her maiden name, she has been married since 1983 to Cheyenne attorney and businessman Alvin Laramie "Al" Wiederspahn (born 1949), himself a former Democratic member of both houses of the Wyoming legislature. The two were House colleagues from 1979 to 1983, when they married. The Wiederspahns have a daughter, Annaliese Wiederspahn, who graduated in 2007 from Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. They are members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cheyenne. 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.

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

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, also known as Mountain Lions, with Colbert asking if Wyoming had a cougar problem (while alluding to the slang use of the term cougar as it applies to Mrs. Lummis, notwithstanding that Lummis is six years younger than her husband).

Lummis' has been reported to own assets worth between $13 million and 83.6 million, made up primarily of cattle ranches valued at $5 millions and $25 millions each.

References

1. ^ Joyce, Matt (2008-10-10). "Trauner, Lummis camps debate Social Security". Casper Star-Tribune. http://casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/10/12/news/wyoming/c369526fa8922f64872574df000230ab.txt. 
2. ^ Wyoming Tribune-Eagle Online
3. ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/state/#val=WY
4. ^ ^{a b} Carney, Timothy (2011-04-03) GOP anti-appropriators break up the spending party, Washington Examiner

• http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/stroockforum/Forums/All_Speaker_Bio's/Cynthia%20Lummis%20Bio%202004%20SP.htm
• http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=cynthia+lummis&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&u=www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/wy_casper/serv_wy_06515.pdf&w=cynthia+lummis&d=VAyVI_mdOhRy&icp=1&.intl=us
• http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/uwyo/vol4/04/lummis.htm
• http://www.laramieboomerang.com/news/archivemore.asp?StoryID=1936
• http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/05Alumni.asp
• http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/08/01/news/wyoming/9f75e0f2b930f0f387256ee20075e758.txt
• http://www.trib.com/articles/2006/12/06/news/casper/e8931203d1f164178725723b0082f05a.txt
• http://www.oldwestmuseum.org/cfdhist.htm
• http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2007/06/15/local_news_updates/18local_06-15-07.txt
• http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/06/22/news/wyoming/97fa4abe13f99414872573020006d353.txt
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-06-10-house-disclosure_N.htm

External links

• Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis official U.S. House site
• Cynthia Lummis for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Barbara Cubin	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming 2009–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Ben R. Luján D-New Mexico	United States Representatives by seniority 317th	Succeeded by Tom McClintock R-California

Persondata
Name	Lummis, Cynthia
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 10, 1954
Place of birth	Cheyenne, Wyoming
Date of death
Place of death