WHEATLAND — Democrat Gary Trauner campaigned in Platte County last week for a U.S. Senate seat and gave an interview May 1 at the Record-Times.
Trauner, of Wilson, is campaigning for incumbent Sen. John Barrasso’s seat.
“To me, it’s not about party,” Trauner said. “George Washington, in his farewell address, warned us about how loyalty to a party over loyalty to the country could screw up the government.”  
Trauner said he lost by a half percentage point when he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives 12 years ago. He said he campaigned door to door for Wyoming’s one seat in the House.
“I got a lot of Republicans to vote for me because I’m an honest guy,” he said.
Trauner said regular people are not getting ahead, and leaders with integrity are needed in Washington, D.C. He said he’s doing a listening tour around the state, and health care still appears to be the public’s number one concern.
“We’re the only country in the world where people can go bankrupt on medical bills — even with insurance,” Trauner said.
Trauner served as the chief operating officer of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Jackson. He was co-founder and chief financial officer of a regional internet service provider. He has served on many private boards, as well as on the Teton County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, and has volunteered extensively in his community.

Trauner said another concern frequently brought to his attention during listening tours is the unwillingness of elected representatives to talk to each other across party lines. He said as a businessman, he understands the importance of listening to people with differing points of view.
“If you’re not willing to listen to people who have different opinions than you do, you’ll go out of business lickety split,” he said.
Trauner said another popular subject broached at his listening tours is inequality. He said that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, during the last presidential election, both tapped into the same voter frustrations: Politicians who favor the elite.
“I think we voted for the president in 2016 because we knew D.C. was dysfunctional,” Trauner said. “Voters showed they’re willing to take a risk on someone who was an outsider for president — why stop there?”
Trauner complained the latest tax bill was another example of the “D.C. playbook on how to fool people.” He said taxes were cut permanently in the bill for large corporations and wealthy heirs, while the tax cuts for regular people were temporary.
“They blew another $1.9 trillion hole in the debt to do that,” he said.
Trauner compared the tax bill to a child’s allowance, noting he can give his children instant gratification by increasing their allowance. However, if he borrows against the child’s college fund to pay for the increase, the child may not be happy about it later.
“So politicians can give real breaks to people who keep them in power and hope no one notices,” he said.
Trauner obtained his master’s in business administration degree from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He and his wife, Terry, moved to Wyoming almost 30 years ago. He was born and raised in New York, and remarked that 50-60 percent of Wyoming residents are not native to the state.
“As I tell people, I had to be with Mom on the day I was born,” Trauner said, “but I got here as soon as I could.”
Trauner noted he had visited the Casper Housing Authority during his listening tour, and the authority’s executive director had remarked that Trauner was the only candidate running for national office who had ever stopped  by.
“How can you know the issues if you don’t talk to the community?” Trauner said.
Trauner criticized the “D.C. playbook” numerous times, noting politicians in Washington have learned well how to fool their constituents back home.
“Who in Wyoming wants New York hedge fund managers to pay lower taxes than the teachers, farmers and ranchers in our state?” Trauner said. “Businesses can’t vote. If you can’t vote, then you shouldn’t be able to influence elections. Both parties have their hands in the D.C. playbook.”