Cynthia Lummis U.S. Representative: Republican
Since preceding Barbara Cubin of Casper, Cynthia Lummis has held a position on the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 2008 election, Lummis ran in support of pro-life and economic conservative voters in Wyoming. On Jan. 3, 2009, Lummis was inducted into the 111th Congress.
Lummis has held a number of other governmental positions including membership in the Wyoming House of Representatives, two terms as Wyoming State Treasurer and a year as Wyoming State Senator. Lummis also graduated from the University of Wyoming with degrees in both animal science and biology in the late 1970s.
Since taking office, Lummis has voted for a number of amendments to audit the Federal Reserve System, Repeal the Affordable Care Act, House the GOP Budget Plan, and reject the Senate payroll tax bill. All of the listed amendments did indeed pass and were voted for mostly by republican representatives and few democrats.
So far in her two terms of office, Lummis has taken a strong stance against deficit spending and overabundant government regulation in private business. She is also opposed to Labor Department proposals confining the presence of youth in farming and ranching activities.
Lummis supports eliminating the nation’s debt and deficit without raising taxes. She believes the tax code could be reformed in a more fair and just manner, opening up future generations to reformed social programs. Lummis also favors repeal of the 2010 healthcare reform law.
The American Conservative Union has given Lummis a 92 percent rating over her career in the House of Representatives.
Chris Henrichsen: Democrat
Chris Henrichsen, a political science professor at Casper College, opposes Lummis as the democratic primary. Henrichsen’s main focus in the election is on big impacts such as education and national debt.
“The job of Congress, according to James Madison, was to be able to work through a lot of the special interests and the different sort of loud voices and to be able to represent all the people. I don’t see that actually happening, in either party really. So I figured, rather than just complaining about it, to really dive in and to take a shot at it myself,” Henrichsen said.
While Henrichsen does believe that the government should focus more on debt reduction, he also thinks they should protect the public good. He favors the idea of government involvement in business and education.
“I think we need to be willing to put everything on the table. If we’re serious about the budget, we actually need to talk about the things that cost money rather than little gimmicks like talking about Sesame Street,” he said.
Henrichsen also supports the Affordable Care Act. He believes the act to be an efficient way for the average Wyoming family to be able to pay for insurance. This is an alternative to having to make the choice between working for a major corporation or going bankrupt.
Henrichsen also advocates a strong importance of the Postal Service to small towns, businesses, and rural communities.
One of Henrichsen’s main concerns about Wyoming is making sure that the energy industry stays strong and that our economy is looked over.
“Too often we push for one solution over the other, but we need to be pushing both fossil fuels and renewables. Wyoming is in the unique position of having all of those things at our disposal. We need to be focusing on these things and how they benefit Wyoming,” Henrichsen said.
If elected, Henrichsen’s first step in office would be to address the Abandoned Mine Land Funds Issue. It is his first step because the loss of $770 million had a direct impact on Wyoming’s budget which, in turn, impacts public education, basic land management, state parks and more. Henrichsen plans to first look at getting that money back and then finding a way to ensure those funds.
Richard Brubaker: Libertarian
Richard Brubaker’s Libertarian campaign for Congress is a statewide race because Wyoming has just one congressional district. In 2010 Litbertarian John V. Love won just under five percent of the vote for the same seat in a two-way race.
Like other candidates, Richard Brubaker, the Libertarian who was able to retain ballot access, believes in decreasing the size of government and getting rid of the national deficit. In fact, Brubaker has signed a pledge stating he will not support any federal budget exceeding 45 percent of anticipated revenues.
What makes Brubaker stand out among the other candidates, though, is his personal example. If elected, Brubaker plans to only accept one third of the Representative’s pay. He also will refuse to accept the job’s health care and retirement benefits.
A self-proclaimed conservative, Brubaker believes the government has no place in banning same-sex marriage.
In the past three elections, Richard Brubaker ran for state representative in House District 34. Brubaker’s daughter, Bethany Baldes, is also running for state representative for Wyoming House District 55 as a Libertarian.
Daniel Clyde Cummings: Constitution
A Family Medicine Physician for the past 34 years, Daniel Clyde Cummings has a surprising amount of experience in politics.
He has served on the House of Delegates, the policymaking governing bodies of three different state medical associations. Cummings has also served on the Board of Trustees, the executive council, and presently serves on a Casper local charity’s Board of Directors.
Cummings favors traditional marriage, English as the national language, and fiscal responsibility. He believes in the unity of a man and a woman in a nuclear family and supports the prohibition of same-sex marriage.
Some of his other beliefs include the second amendment’s right to bear arms, fiat currency, and national sovereignty and independence.
He disproves of abortion, the District of Columbia joining the United States, and the funding of major current governmental involvements in the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, Commerce, Agriculture, Housing And Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security.
Cummings has lived all across the country, in the East, West, North, and South. According to his website, www.cummings4congress.com, this puts him at an advantage:
“I have learned by experience that local problems and political challenges vary greatly around the country, but my experience in living in many varied locations has also taught me that our national problems are nearly uniformly the same throughout our country. I understand those problems and their solutions,” Cummings states under his Principles of Freedom home page.
Don Wills: Country
Don Wills, former chairman of the Libertarian Party of Wyoming, was a strong leader in the creation of the new Wyoming Country Party.
Wills’ and other individuals started the Wyoming Country Party because of their belief that Republican incumbent candidates have shown support of more government rather than less.
Getting rid of the tax and big-government-supporting progressives that infest the Wyoming GOP is one of the Country parties’ main goals. Giving Wyoming local government the responsibility that the ninth and tenth amendments in the Constitution ensure is another key idea the party holds.
“The dollar is being destroyed by the federal government and the Federal Reserve. The federal government spent $1.3 trillion more than it took in this year. Such overspending, which has been happening for the last fifty years under both Republicans and Democrats, is growing ever faster. The federal debt is now $16 trillion,” Wills said in an essay on why he is running for the house.
Wills’ main concerns include ending the fed, balancing the budget, bringing home the troops, and restoring the constitution.
A founder and owner of a small business with more than fifty employees, Wills’ profession is in the computer industry.
He understands tax law, business creation and technical details about computers which Congress has shown to have had a need for.
“The chances are overwhelming that Rep. Lummis will be re-elected. I’d like to just focus on getting my message out and maybe helping make people aware of the true danger that our country is not going to be the United States of America, all powerful, 10 years from now,” Wills said.
