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All business in Wyoming GOP primary |
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By Aaron Blake
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Posted: 08/19/08 12:05 PM [ET] |
An insurgent businessman will find out Tuesday whether he can pull off an upset in the GOP primary for retiring Rep. Barbara Cubin’s (R-Wyo.) seat.
Political newcomer Mark Gordon has spent heavily on his campaign against reputable former two-term state Treasurer Cynthia Lummis, and the race has turned into a two-person affair.
Lummis, who was one of three finalists for Wyoming’s Senate appointment last year, was the heavy favorite early in the House primary, but Gordon has proven an effective campaigner with a real shot at winning Tuesday.
He’s fighting what has been a spotty track record for self-funding candidates, and will attempt to emulate the victory of Democratic entrepreneur Jared Polis in neighboring Colorado last week. Polis defeated former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald using a campaign funded mostly by his own extensive wealth.
Gordon spent more than $1 million of his own money through the end of July — a huge sum in Wyoming — and raised less than $100,000. Polis spent more than $5 million of his own funds and raised another $1 million.
Lummis, by comparison, raised about $365,000 and self-funded another $67,000 through the end of July.
Much of the back-and-forth between the two front-runners has been each trying to out-conservative the other.
Gordon has accused Lummis of supporting an increase in the gas tax and taxes in general as treasurer. Lummis has hit Gordon for contributing to Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s (Mass.) presidential campaign in 2004 and his past membership in the Sierra Club.
Former Navy officer Bill Winney could also figure significantly into the result Tuesday. Winney took 40 percent against Cubin in 2006 in a one-on-one primary. He has not raised as much money as Lummis and Gordon, though, and isn’t being given much of a chance when votes are counted.
The fourth candidate is physician Michael Holland, who has not filed a report with the Federal Election Commission.
Gordon released an April poll showing him ahead 39-23, while Lummis has maintained she was ahead. Gordon has been endorsed by two big state papers, the Casper Star-Tribune and the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
Whoever emerges won’t have a cakewalk into Congress, despite the state’s conservative politics. Democrat Gary Trauner, who lost to Cubin by 1,000 votes in 2006, is running again and is unopposed in his primary.
Republicans are expected to fare better with someone other than Cubin, but a Research 2000 poll conducted for the liberal blog Daily Kos in May showed Trauner ahead of Lummis 44-41. |
