Gary Trauner

Gary Trauner is the Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the At-Large Congressional District (map) of Wyoming. He won the Democratic nomination and is vying for the seat left vacant by the retirement of incumbent Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.). He unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Republican Barbara Cubin in 2006.

Bio
Born in New York, Trauner graduated from Colgate University and received an MBA from the Stern School For Business at New York University. Trauner and his family moved to Wyoming in 1990. Trauner is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Aspens Water & Sewer Distric and "is currently a member of the Open Range Committee of the Jackson Hole Land Trust, an organization devoted to preserving land integrity in Wyoming by working with landowners and utilizing market-based tools." Trauner is also a co-founder and the Chief Financial Officer of an Internet provider company, OneWest.net.

2006 elections
Wyoming's At-Large seat is considered to be a safe Republican seat, however Trauner ran a well-funded and disciplined campaign in 2006. He ran a grassroots campaign and focused on fiscal discipline and fixing an "immoral, unacceptable and unsustainable" health care policy.

Trauner was given an assist in his bid to unseat Cubin when the congresswoman stated after a debate that she would like to slap the Libertarian candidate, Thomas Rankin, if he could get out of his chair; Rankin is disabled from MS and sits in a wheelchair. This outburst led to a boost for Trauner in the polls.

Trauner was attacked by the Cubin campaign for being born in New York State. Trauner had lived in Wyoming for 16 years. Political attacks that point out that a candidate is from "New York" in a negative manner are seen as dog whistle politics for anti-Semites. In this case the word "New York" is a stand-in for the word "Jew". Trauner is Jewish.

Trauner's race against Cubin was very close, as Cubin led by 970 votes after an initial count. Trauner indicated that he might seek a recount. Cubin was eventually declared the winner and she retained her seat.

2008 elections
Trauner won the Democratic nomination to vie for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) in the 2008 congressional elections.

{|

Campaign contributions
cid=N00027793&cycle=2008
 * }

Committees
Trauner will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress.

Contact
Official Trauner for Congress Campaign website

Trauner for Congress P.O. Box 1154 Wilson WY 83014

Phone: 307-699-3256

[mailto:Team@TraunerforCongress.com Team@TraunerforCongress.com]

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:Wyoming and the U.S. Congress

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Wyoming's at-large Congressional District
 * Gary Trauner for Congress, official campaign site.

External articles

 * Marie Horrigan, "WY At-Large: Well-Funded Trauner Poses Threat to Cubin," CQ Politics, April 22, 2006.
 * Jared Miller, "Trauner fundraising outpaces Cubin," Casper Star-Tribune, July 16, 2006.
 * Tom Kenworthy, "In West, GOP no longer a shoo-in," USA Today, September 26, 2006.
 * Mead Gruver, "Cubin 'nervous' about Trauner," Casper Star-Tribune, September 26, 2006.
 * Tom Morton, "House candidates tussle over birthplaces, labels," Casper Star-Tribune, October 16, 2006.
 * Bob Moen, "Cubin, Trauner spar on immigration," Associated Press, October 24, 2006.
 * Marie Horrigan, "Debate Comment May Further Erode Cubin’s Standing in Polls," CQ Politics, October 27, 2006.
 * "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a New Yorker?," New York Magazine, November 1, 2006.