Gary Trauner

Infobox Congressional Candidate
honorific-prefix =
name = Gary Trauner
honorific-suffix =


state = Wyoming
nominee = U.S. Representative for Wyoming, At-large District
incumbent = Barbara Cubin
opponent =
election_date = November 4, 2008
date of birth=birth year and age|1958|00|00
place of birth =
date of death=
place of death=
spouse = Terry
party = Democratic
residence = Wilson, Wyoming
alma_mater = Colgate University, New York University
occupation = businessman
religion =
website = [http://www.traunerforcongress.com www.traunerforcongress.com]

Gary S. Trauner (born 1958) is a Wyoming businessman and the Democratic nominee for ushr|Wyoming|1| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/wy01_109.gifmap] ), his state's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2008 elections.

In the 2006 general election, Trauner narrowly lost to the now-retiring Republican incumbent Barbara Cubin of Casper. Cubin's margin of victory over Trauner came in at just over one thousand votes, though Trauner did not seek a recount (since a machine recount would be useless, according to him). Trauner announced on October 13, 2007, that he would again challenge Cubin, but she thereafter announced her retirement. Instead, former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne will be Trauner's main competitor for the open seat in November 2008. [ [http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/08Results/R-SWCand.pdf Wyoming Sec. of State primary election results] ]

Biography

Trauner holds a bachelor's degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University in New York City. After moving to Wyoming about 1990, he worked in business, co-founding OneWest.net, a regional Internet Service Provider.

A resident of Wilson in southern Teton County, Trauner has served as chairman of the Teton County School District #1 Board of Trustees and the board of the Aspens Water & Sewer District. He is a member of the Open Range Committee of the Jackson Hole Land Trust. He and his wife, Terry, have two children.

2006 U.S. House campaign

Although Wyoming's Congressional seat is conventionally considered "safe" for Republicans, Trauner ran a strong campaign, raising nearly as much money in the first quarter of 2006 as incumbent Representative Cubin. [http://www.kgwn.tv/home/headlines/2621381.html] [http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/04/wy_atlarge_wellfunded_trauner.html] In the second quarter he has raised more money then Cubin and had more cash on hand at the time. [http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/07/16/news/wyoming/7ad96712ffa7ed8c872571ac00005f73.txt] Additionally, a May 2006 poll put Trauner within the margin of error. [http://rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/April%202006/Wyoming%20April.htm] In mid-August, "Congressional Quarterly" changed their rating of this race from "Republican Favored" to the more competitive "Leans Republican," reflecting Trauner's impressive fundraising and polling numbers. [http://www.cqpolitics.com//2006/08/big_batch_of_rating_changes_re.html]

Although critical of Cubin, Trauner ran a grassroots campaign as a libertarian Democrat, bucking some prevailaing trends in the Democratic policy by speaking against trade protectionism and single-payer universal health care, in addition to supporting Second Amendment gun ownership rights, immigration law enforcement, and what he refers to as "common-sense capitalism." [http://www.traunerforcongress.com/issues.asp] One of Trauner's major issues has been congressional ethics and lobbying reform.

2008 U.S. House campaign

*seealso|United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming, 2008Trauner will be the Democratic candidate again in the general election on November 4, 2008. He will face Republican Lummis and Libertarian candidate W. David Herbert. Cubin said that her decision to retire was motivated by her husband's health problems, rather than her declining electoral performance.

ee also

*Wyoming's At-large congressional district

References

External links

* [http://www.traunerforcongress.com Gary Trauner for Congress] "official campaign website"
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=district-WY-AL Race ranking and details] from CQ Politics
* [http://opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?ID=WY01&Cycle=2008 Campaign contributions] at OpenSecrets.org
*dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Wyoming/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Candidates_and_Campaigns/US_House/Gary_Trauner_%5bD%5d/
*Gary Trauner, [http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/how_free_is_free_trade_for_the_west/C37/L37/ How 'Free' Is Free Trade in the West?] "New West Network", May 9, 2007.
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/04/wy_atlarge_wellfunded_trauner.html Well-Funded Trauner Poses Threat to Cubin] "Congressional Quarterly", April 22, 2006
* [http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/04/wy-at_large_con.php?comments=1 50 State Strategy: Yes, Wyoming is in Play] "Democrats.org", April 24, 2006