Posted: Wednesday, Mar 26th, 2008
Jerry Abbott [Torrington Telegram]
In recent weeks attention has been focused on November’s presidential election. However, all three of Wyoming’s U.S. congressional seats - two senators and a House member - will also be up for reelection at that time.
According to Amy Larimer, executive director for the Wyoming Republican Party, both Sen. Mike Enzi (R) and Sen. John Barrasso (R) are raising money to campaign for re-election. She said that although neither senator has formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, it is assumed both will do so.
Larimer said the filing period for U.S. congressional seats does not begin until mid-May, but several residents have already announced their candidacy. At this early date, Larimer said a formal announcement of candidacy for U.S. congressional seats serves to inform the Wyoming public who will run in each contest.
The senior senator from Wyoming is Enzi. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in November 1996 and last elected in November 2002. Prior to becoming a U.S. senator, Enzi served in the Wyoming state Senate from 1991-1996 and in the Wyoming state House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991. Enzi was the mayor of Gillette from 1975-1983. His Senate seat is in Senate Class II and runs for a six-year term from January 2009 to January 2015.
Opposing Enzi for his Senate seat are Torrington Democrat Al Hamburg and Chris Rothfuss, a Democrat and instructor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Both men have said they are seeking major changes in Washington, D.C.
Hamburg said that at one time he was going to oppose Barrasso in the November election but has decided to run against Sen. Enzi since Keith Goodenough, a friend of his, is running against Barrasso.
“That stupid war in Iraq is a big waste and it is not going to stop,” Hamburg said. “It has been going on for five years now. You have to support the troops. I was in the Army three times. This (war) is getting people killed over lies and is wrong. Price of oil is up. Price of food it up and it is all due to the stupid war. Everyone is paying the price.”
Hamburg said he also wants to make changes to social security.
“People who make so much money could pay more (social security),” Hamburg said. “Other people need jobs, educational benefits and other things. People who make lots of money need to donate more.”
Enzi’s other declared opponent, Rothfuss, announced his candidacy from his parents’ home in Casper last Saturday, March 22. He proposes solutions through “bi-partisan collaboration and support rather than through the simple tyranny of the majority party.”
Barrasso was appointed to his Senate seat by Gov. Dave Freudenthal to succeed the late Craig Thomas. He took office on June 25, 2007. In 1996, Barrasso lost the Republican nomination to Enzi. Barrasso was elected to the Wyoming state senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. He is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Casper. Barrasso’s Senate seat is in Senate Class I. The remainder of the six-year senate term will run until January 2013.
Opposing Barrasso in the next election are Democrats Goodenough, and Nick Carter. Goodenough is a Casper city councilman who has vowed to “give honest opinions with regard to the root causes of the economic and social problems that face our country.” Carter is a Gillette attorney who believes “government should be small and personal liberties should be first and foremost the business of government.”
The third U.S. congressional seat to be filled in November is Wyoming’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Congresswoman Barbara Cubin (R), who announced her retirement in November 2007, currently holds the seat. One Democrat and five Republicans have announced their candidacy for this House seat.
Gary Trauner is the Democratic candidate for Cubin’s House seat. He is a Teton County businessman who lost to Cubin in the 2006 House race by 1,000 votes.
The five Republicans who have announced they will run for the House seat are former state treasurer and Cheyenne lawyer and rancher Cynthia Lummis, former Navy officer Bill Winney from Sublette County, Johnson County rancher and businessman Mark Gordon, state representative Dan Zwonitzer from Cheyenne and Swede Nelson, a Cheyenne substitute teacher and motivational speaker.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives serve two-year terms.
Lori Klassen, elections officer in the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office, said the filing period for Wyoming candidates for the U.S. congressional seats is May 15-30, 2008.
“Beginning May 15, we will post each night those candidates who have filed on our Web site,” she said. |