Cynthia Lummis

Cynthia Lummis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming's at-large district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Barbara Cubin
Succeeded by	Liz Cheney
Treasurer of Wyoming
In office January 1999 – January 2007
Governor	Jim Geringer Dave Freudenthal
Preceded by	Stan Smith
Succeeded by	Joe Meyer
Member of the Wyoming Senate from the 5th district
In office January 14, 1993 – January 10, 1995
Preceded by	Gary Yordy
Succeeded by	Donald Lawler
Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from the Laramie County district
In office January 7, 1985 – January 14, 1993
In office January 8, 1979 – January 3, 1983 Multi-member district
Personal details
Born	Cynthia Marie Lummis (1954-09-10) September 10, 1954 Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Alvin Wiederspahn (1983–2014)
Children	1
Education	University of Wyoming (BS, JD)

Cynthia Marie Lummis Wiederspahn (born September 10, 1954) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district, serving from 2009 to 2017. She is a member of the Republican Party. She previously served as a State Representative (1979–1983, 1985–1993), State Senator (1993–1995), and State Treasurer (1999–2007).

She did not seek re-election in 2016.^[1]

Early life

Lummis is one of four children born in Cheyenne to Doran Lummis and the former Enid Bennett (1928–2013), a native of Denver, Colorado, who was reared in Cheyenne and was highly active in Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Republican Party. Lummis' maternal grandparents were Clarence "Buck" Bennett, the head mechanic at the Greyhound Bus Lines in Cheyenne, and Eda Erickson Bennett. In a statement upon her mother's death, Lummis said, "I carry with me so many lessons my mother taught me; chief among them is the quiet grit she displayed in the face of pain and adversity."^[2]

After high school, Lummis enrolled in the University of Wyoming in Laramie, obtaining two Bachelor of Science degrees in animal science in 1976 and in biology in 1978.^[3] While she was a legislator, she received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wyoming in 1985 and also clerked for the Wyoming Supreme Court.^[3]

Legislature

Lummis was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983, and from 1985 to 1993, and then the Wyoming Senate from 1993 to 1995.

U.S. House of Representatives

Cynthia Lummis was one of three female U.S. Representatives in Congress who identifies as a "congressman"; the others are Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black of Tennessee.^[4]

Elections

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 Buffalo in Johnson County.

In the general election, Lummis faced Democratic Teton County School Board Trustee Gary Trauner of Wilson, who had run against Cubin in 2006 and nearly won.^[5] 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.^[6]

2010

Lummis won re-election, with 71% against Democratic challenger David Wendt.^[7]

2012

Lummis again won re-election, with 69% of the vote against Democratic challenger Chris Henrichsen.

2014

In October 2013, corrections officer Jason Adam Senteney announced that he would challenge Lummis in the 2014 Republican primary. Senteney opposed the 2013 government shutdown: "You should never shut down essential programs for people. ... Whether it's a negotiation tactic or not, you shouldn't punish the American people for your own failure to work together in Washington."^[8]

Tenure

Lummis was a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.^[9]

Timothy P. Carney of the Washington Examiner has called Lummis one of Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake's "posse of anti-appropriators" on the Appropriations Committee.^[10] According to Carney, Lummis "is the league leader in bucking the committee leadership".^[10]

Legislation supported

Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis with colleagues Eric Cantor and Mary Fallin

• Ranch A Consolidation and Management Improvement Act (H.R. 1684; 113th Congress) – a bill that would transfer 10 acres of federal lands to the state of Wyoming for use at the historic Ranch A.^[11] Lummis introduced the bill.^[12]
• Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728; 113th Congress) – a bill that would require the federal government to defer to individual states about regulations governing hydraulic fracturing.^[13] If a state has laws or regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing, those regulations would be the rules that applied in that state, not any regulations created by the federal government. Lummis supported this bill.^[11]
• Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526) – a bill that would direct the United States Department of Agriculture to establish at least one Forest Reserve Revenue Area within each unit of the National Forest System designated for sustainable forest management for the production of national forest materials (the sale of trees, portions of trees, or forest products from System lands) and forest reserve revenues (to be derived from the sale of such materials in such an Area).^[14] Lummis supported this bill.^[11]
• Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act (H.R. 2919; 113th Congress) – a bill that would require the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) to prepare a report each year on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded by federal courts to nonfederal entities when they prevail in a case against the United States.^[15] Lummis introduced this bill on August 1, 2013. Lummis said that "requiring agencies to keep track of what they pay attorneys will help Congress determine if EAJA is working well or not."^[16] According to Lummis, the EAJA was meant to the help the "little guy" but "was later co-opted by large environmental groups so their litigation shops could get reimbursed for filing expansive litigation on environmental issues."^[17]

Committee assignments

Current

United States House Committee on Natural Resources (2009–2011; 2013–2017)

• • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (2013–2017)
  • Subcommittee on National Security
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs
• Committee on Science, Space and Technology (2013–2017)
  • Subcommittee on Energy (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Research

Past

• Committee on Appropriations (2011–2013)

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Western Caucus (Vice-Chairman)
• International Conservation Caucus
• Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus
• Women's Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Freedom Caucus^[18]
• Veterinary Medicine Caucus

Electoral history

Wyoming state treasurer, 1998 – general election:^[19][20]

• 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:^[21]

• Cynthia Lummis – 79,557 (100.00%)

Wyoming state treasurer, 2002 – general election:^[22]

• Cynthia Lummis – 152,583 (100.00%)

Wyoming's At-large congressional district, 2008 – Republican primary:^[23]

• Cynthia Lummis – 33,149 (46.18%)
• Mark Gordon – 26,827 (37.37%)
• Bill Winney – 8,537 (11.89%)
• Michael S. Holland – 3,171 (4.56%)

Wyoming's at-large congressional district, 2008 – general election:^[24]

• 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:^[25]

• 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:^[26]

• 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:^[27]

• 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

In 2008, Lummis reported her wealth as ranging from $20 million to $75 million. She ranked in 2010 as the twenty-ninth wealthiest member of Congress. Most of Lummis' wealth is derived from her family-owned Arp and Hammond Company, Lummis Livestock Company, and Old Horse Pasture, Inc.^[28]

See also

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cynthia Lummis.

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Members of the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming
Territorial (1869–1890)	Nuckolls Jones Steele Corlett Downey Post Carey
One At-large seat (1890-present)	Clark Coffeen Mondell Osborne Mondell Winter Carter Greever Horton McIntyre Barrett Harrison Thomson Harrison Roncalio Harrison Wold Roncalio D. Cheney Thomas Cubin Lummis L. Cheney