CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Rep. Cynthia Lummis announced her bid to seek a fourth two-year term to Wyoming’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Republican was first elected to the House in 2008 and easily won re-election in 2010 and 2012.
In remarks Wednesday, Lummis said she believes the federal government shouldn’t impede “our pursuit of happiness - to earn success, to raise a family the way we choose to, to have a state that is different from other states and then support the goals and ideals of the people who live here.”
“The federal government cannot do better for Wyoming than Wyoming can do for itself,” she said.
Lummis listed issues important to the state, such as energy, that she is working on as well as national issues, such as the investigations into the Internal Revenue Service handling of tax-exempt status applications by conservative groups and the 2012 attacks on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
She noted the stark differences between the Democratic and Republican parties, saying she’s not happy with the status quo in Washington, D.C.
She criticized Democrats as supporters of big unions, big government and big business, while describing Republicans as supporters of small unions, small government and small business.
However, she also said the GOP leadership in the House could do a better job of managing the chamber to ensure a fairer and more open legislative process.
“Still, we see legislation coming out of the leadership offices, going straight to the floor of the House, bypassing the committees of jurisdiction and being voted on,” she said.
Lummis said she would work to see that Congress operated more like the Wyoming Legislature in how it goes about handling proposed legislation.
Lummis said there are better alternatives to the federal health care law enacted by President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
Jason Senteney, a state corrections officer from Yoder, has announced plans to challenge Lummis in the August GOP primary.
Robin Van Ausdall, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, said she wasn’t aware of any Democrats having announced plans to run for the seat.
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