Randall Luthi

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Randall Luthi, in a official portrait

Randall Luthi is director of the Minerals Management Service.

Luthi is a 1979 Bachelor of Science graduate of the University of Wyoming and 1982 Juris Doctor graduate from the University of Wyoming School of Law. Luthi served as an aide to former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson and then U.S. Representative Dick Cheney. In 1986, he was hired as an attorney for the U.S. Department of the Interior. He held that post until 1990, when he became Senior Counselor to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In 1993, he returned to his native Wyoming and the following year, was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives as a Republican and became Speaker for the 58th Legislature in January 2005. In 2006, following the longstanding tradition in Wyoming that Speakers only serve one term and then leave the House, Luthi did not seek re-election. Luthi has been a partner in the law firm of Luthi & Voyles, LLC in Thayne, Wyoming since January 2000.

Since 1993, he has also been the managing partner of the JE Luthi Ranch, a beef cattle operation in Freedom, Lincoln County, Wyoming. In February 2007, Luthi returned to public life when President George W. Bush appointed him to be Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In July 2007, Luthi was elevated to the position of Director of the Minerals Management Service.^[1]

Luthi applied in June 2007 for appointment to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created by the death of the late Senator Craig Thomas. He was not chosen by the GOP Central Committee as one of the three candidates to be considered for appointment to the Senate by Wyoming's Governor. Luthi tied for fifth place out of 30 candidates on the second ballot and lost a tie breaking vote. Luthi has been mentioned as a potential candidate in 2008.