Gerald Gay

Gerald S. Gay^[2] (born July 22, 1956 in Casper, Wyoming) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives representing District 36 since January 11, 2011. Gay previously served non-consecutively from 2001 until 2003 and from 2005 until 2007. Based on an interview given to the organization Better Wyoming, Gay doesn't believe the gender wage gap exists.^[3]

Education

Gay earned his AS in physical science from Casper College and his BS in chemical engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Elections

• 2012 Gay was unopposed for both the August 21, 2012 Republican Primary, winning with 734 votes,^[4] and the November 6, 2012 General election, winning with 2,802 votes.^[5]
• 2000 When Democratic Representative Deborah Fleming left the Legislature and left the District 36 seat open, Gay was unopposed for the August 22, 2000 Republican Primary, winning with 845 votes,^[6] and won the November 7, 2000 General election with 1,798 votes (51.8%) against Democratic nominee Liz Gentile.^[7]
• 2002 Gay was challenged in the August 20, 2002 Republican Primary and lost to former Representative Bob Tanner;^[8] Tanner lost the November 5, 2002 General election to Democratic nominee Liz Gentile by a single vote, following a recount.^[9]
• 2004 Gay and Representative Gentile were both unopposed for their August 17, 2004 primaries,^[10] setting up the rematch which had been averted by Gay's 2002 primary loss; Gay won the November 2, 2004 General election with 1,992 votes (52.2%) against Representative Gentile.^[11]
• 2006 Gay and Gentile were both unopposed for the August 22, 2006 primaries,^[12] setting up their third contest; Gay lost the November 7, 2006 General election to Gentile,^[13] who left the Legislature after the term.
• 2010 To challenge incumbent Democratic Representative Mary Hales, Gay won the August 17, 2010 Republican Primary with 742 votes (58.8%),^[14] and won the November 2, 2010 General election with 1,500 votes (56.8%) against Representative Hales.^[15]

Questioning Governor Mead

In July 2014, Gay and another Republican lawmaker, Steven Watt of Rock Springs, claimed that Governor Matt Mead abused the powers of his office and used funds prior to legal authorization to discredit his gubernatorial primary opponent Cindy Hill, the state superintendent of public instruction who was elected in 2010, suspended in 2013, and remained out of office until May 2014.^[16]

According to Gay, "I am in possession of information and internal email correspondence that gives rise to the concern that the governor has used state monies to manufacture allegations against a political opponent. ... The public knows an abuse of power when they see it, and this (is) one of the most egregious examples of abuse of power in Wyoming history. ... I believe there were political motivations because of the timeline that was involved. ... The things I have found are egregious enough that they have to be stopped immediately and to make sure they never happen again."^[16]

Gay claimed that a special prosecutor is needed because he does not trust Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael, a Mead supporter, to conduct a fair probe. Michael said that his office does not prosecute crimes except in rare situations which would not apply in this particular matter.^[16]

References

External links

• Official page at the Wyoming Legislature
• Profile at Project Vote Smart