Chris Rothfuss
Minority Leader of the Wyoming Senate
Assumed office
January 7, 2013
Preceded byJohn Hastert
Member of the Wyoming Senate
from the 9th district
Assumed office
January 11, 2011
Preceded byMike Massie
Personal details
Born (1972-10-21) October 21, 1972
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseHeather Rothfuss
EducationUniversity of Wyoming (BA, MS)
University of Washington, Seattle (MS, PhD)

Chris Rothfuss (born October 21, 1972) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Wyoming Senate, representing the 9th District, which is based in Albany County, since 2011.

Early life and education

Rothfuss was born in Ann Arbor, and moved with his family to Marquette, Michigan, in 1976, and finally settled in Casper, Wyoming, in 1985. He attended Natrona County High School, where he graduated in 1990. Rothfuss received his PhD in Chemical Engineering and MS in Applied Physics from the University of Washington; and his MS in Chemical Engineering and BA in International Studies from the University of Wyoming where he competed as a member and captain of the Cowboy debate team. Following graduation, he took a position as a Science and Technology Diplomacy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and then joined the United States Department of State, where he was the U.S. lead for nanotechnology foreign policy, and delegate to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. He worked as a chemical engineer on enhanced oil recovery projects around the world.

Since his family moved back to Wyoming, he began teaching courses in political science, international studies, and nanotechnology at the University of Wyoming. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Honors College, an Adjunct Professor of International Studies, and the Director of the UW Summer High School Institute. He now lives in Laramie with his wife, Dr. Heather Rothfuss, and their 4 children.

State Senate

Dr. Rothfuss has been the Senate Minority Leader of the Wyoming Legislature since 2013. First elected to the Wyoming State Senate in 2010, he represents Senate District 9 in Laramie, Wyoming. The senator also co-chairs the Wyoming Blockchain Select Committee and serves as the ranking member of the Education Committee, the Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, the Management Council, and numerous other task forces.

In 2010, Rothfuss ran to succeed State Senator Mike Massie. He defeated Jodi Guerin in the Democratic primary with 61% of the vote, and was elected without opposition in the general election.

He ran for re-election to the Wyoming State Senate to represent District 9. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018 with 96.6% of the vote. His current term ends on January 2, 2023.

While serving in the Senate, Rothfuss joined with Republican State Senator Hank Coe to sponsor legislation that would require "every Wyoming high school student to attend school through the 12th grade or until their 18th birthday, unless a parent agreed otherwise", which was prompted by the revelation that, although Wyoming spends nearly $16,000 per student, it has a low graduation rate.[1] Additionally, Rothfuss suggested amending the Hathaway scholarship restrictions to "allow University of Wyoming summer school students to use the fund to pay for 3 credit hour classes."[2] For the 2013–2014 legislative term, Rothfuss was selected by Democrats in the Senate to serve as the Senate Minority Leader.

Key legislation

Wyoming Stable Token Act

During the 2022 Budget Session, Rothfuss and state senator Tara Nethercott, along with state representatives Mike Yin and Jared Olsen introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation titled the “Wyoming Stable Token Act".[3] The bill would allow Wyoming treasurer Curtis Meier Jr. to create a state stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. A Wyoming stable token is a virtual currency representative of and redeemable for a United States dollar held in trust by the state of Wyoming. Components of the act included rulemaking, report requirements, creating an oversight committee, providing for monitoring, as well as independent auditing.

DAO law

The Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology introduced SF0038, which passed on April 21, 2021. Known as the Wyoming Decentralized Autonomous Organization Supplement, the bill made Wyoming the first state to clarify the legal status of decentralized autonomous organizations by allowing Wyoming to recognize DAOs as limited liability corporations.[4]

2008 United States Senate campaign

In 2008, Rothfuss announced that he would challenge two-term Republican Senator Mike Enzi. He defeated Al Hamburg in the Democratic primary with 62% of the vote. In the general election, however, Enzi defeated Rothfuss, receiving 76% of the vote to Rothfuss's 24%.

Electoral record

2008

2008 United States Senate General Election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mike Enzi (incumbent) 189,046 75.63% +2.68%
Democratic Chris Rothfuss 60,631 24.26% -2.79%
Write-in 269 0.11% N/A
Total votes 249,946 100%
2008 United States Senate Democratic Primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss 14,221 62.38%
Democratic Al Hamburg 8,578 37.62%
Total votes 22,799 100.00%

2010

2010 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss 784 60.59
Democratic Jodi Guerin 510 39.41
Total votes 1,294 100%
2010 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss 3,572 100
Total votes 3,572 100%

2014

2014 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss (incumbent) 3,182 100
Total votes 3,182 100%
2018 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss (incumbent) 1,032 100
Total votes 1,032 100.0%

2018

2018 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss (incumbent) 4,669 96.6
Write-in 165 3.4
Total votes 4,834 100%

2022

2022 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 Democratic Primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss (incumbent) 570 99.5
Write-in 3 0.5
Total votes 573 100%
2022 Wyoming State Senate, District 9 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Rothfuss (incumbent) 3,221 62.9
Republican Diana Seabeck 1894 37.0
Write-in 9 0.2
Total votes 5,124 100%

References

  1. ↑ Todd, Leah (July 14, 2013). "In the nation's fifth biggest education spender, 1 in 5 Wyoming students will not graduate". Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ Beck, Bob (July 16, 2013). "Lawmakers are told that Hathaway is working". Wyoming Public Media. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ "SIXTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING 2022 BUDGET SESSION" (PDF). Wyoleg.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  4. ↑ "SF0038 - Decentralized autonomous organizations". Wyoleg.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Results" (PDF). Soswy.state.wy.us. 2008. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.