Glen Gainer III

Glen B. Gainer III (born February 26, 1960) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 19th State Auditor of West Virginia from 1993 until he resigned in 2016.[1]

Glen Gainer
19th Auditor of West Virginia
In office
January 13, 1993  May 14, 2016
GovernorGaston Caperton
Cecil H. Underwood
Bob Wise
Joe Manchin
Earl Ray Tomblin
Preceded byGlen Gainer, Jr.
Succeeded byLisa Hopkins
Personal details
Born (1960-02-26) February 26, 1960
Parkersburg, West Virginia,
U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Susan Gainer (1984–present)
ChildrenJohn
Joshua
Alma materUniversity of Charleston

Early life and career

Glen B. Gainer III was born in 1960 to Glen. B Gainer, Jr. and Sally Jo Gainer. He has one sister, Beth, and one brother, John David (deceased).[2] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Charleston in 1982. He married Susan Ryder in 1984 and they have two sons.[1]

Gainer worked in the West Virginia State Treasurer's office from 1985 to 1989, was the budget director of the West Virginia Department of Energy from 1989 to 1991 and was national accounts representative of John Deere & Company from October 1991 through December 1992.[1]

Political career

In 1992, Gainer ran for State Auditor. He won the Democratic primary with 63%, defeating Mark Anthony Manchin, son of former Secretary of State and State Treasurer A. James Manchin and uncle of current U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.[3] He was unopposed in the general election and took office in January 1993, succeeding his father, Glen Gainer, Jr., who had served in the office from 1977 to 1993. Denzil Gainer, a cousin of Glen Jr., had served as Auditor from 1961 to 1972, when he died in office.[4]

Gainer was also unopposed in the elections of 1996 and 2000.[3] In 2004, he was re-elected with 62% of the vote, beating Republican Lisa Thornburg.[3] In 2008, he was re-elected with 99.94% of the vote, defeating write-in Constitution Party candidate Robert Ingargiola, who won only 295 votes to Gainer's 525,084.[3] In 2012, he faced a strong challenge from State Delegate Larry V. Faircloth, but he was comfortably re-elected with 57% of the vote.

In November 2013, Gainer announced that he was running for the United States House of Representatives in West Virginia's 1st congressional district against Republican incumbent David McKinley in the 2014 elections.[5] His father ran for the same district in 1982, finishing third in the Democratic primary. Gainer, outraised and outspent by McKinley, ran a "grassroots campaign",[6] emphasising the need for consensus and bipartisanship in Congress.[7] In endorsing him, The Charleston Gazette praised his bipartisan efforts and noted his effectiveness in the Auditor's office, particularly his saving $145 million a year through "p-cards" that simplify small-scale state purchases.[8] In the general election, McKinley defeated Gainer by a roughly two-to-one margin.[9]

In December 2015, Gainer announced that he would not be running for re-election to a seventh term in 2016.[4] He said that 24 years as Auditor was long enough and he didn't want to become "stagnant" in the office.[4] Gainer said that he would pursue work in the private sector after leaving office in January 2017.[10] In April 2016, he announced he would resign in May, before the end of his term, to accept a job with a nonprofit group,[11] which was later announced as being President and CEO of the National White Collar Crime Center, beginning May 15. Gainer had previously served as the group's board chairman for 18 years.[12] Gainer was succeeded as Auditor by Lisa Hopkins, who had worked for the Auditor's office since 1999 and had served as general counsel and deputy commissioner of securities since 2001. She was appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on May 13 and she took office 2 days later.[13][14]

Electoral history

West Virginia Auditor Democratic Primary Election, 1992
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III 179,303 62.60
Democratic Mark Anthony Manchin 107,052 37.40
West Virginia Auditor Election, 1992
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III 454,654 100.00
West Virginia Auditor Election, 1996
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III (inc.) 438,621 100.00
West Virginia Auditor Election, 2000
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III (inc.) 484,534 100.00
West Virginia Auditor Election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III (inc.) 428,177 61.57
Republican Lisa Thornburg 267,644 38.50
West Virginia Auditor Election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III (inc.) 525,084 100.00
West Virginia Auditor Election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Glen Gainer, III (inc.) 355,610 57.40
Republican Larry Faircloth 263,959 42.60
West Virginia 1st Congressional District Election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican David McKinley (inc.) 92,491 63.96
Democratic Glen Gainer, III 52,109 36.04

References

  1. "West Virginia State Auditor's Office". wvsao.gov. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  2. (September 10, 2009) - Obituaries - "Glen B. Gainer Jr.". Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  3. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Glen B. Gainer III". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  4. Hoppy Kercheval (December 7, 2015). "Auditor Glen Gainer will not seek re-election". Metro News. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  5. Ali, Ann (November 8, 2013) - "WV Auditor Glen Gainer Announces Run for Congress". WBOY.com. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  6. Fortney, John (October 10, 2014) - "UPDATE: Gainer Conducting 'Grassroots' Campaign Against McKinley". TheNewsCenter.tv. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  7. Gutman, David (September 29, 2014) - "Gainer Wants to Build Consensus, Compromise in Congress". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  8. (October 16, 2014) - "Editorial: Glen Gainer is Solid Choice in W.Va.’s First District". The Charleston Gazette. January 1, 2015.
  9. Harris, Linda (November 4, 2014) - "McKinley Defeats Gainer in U.S. House WV District 1 Race". 13 WOWKTV.com. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  10. Eric Eyre (December 7, 2015). "WV auditor Glen Gainer III will not seek re-election". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  11. Mattise, Jonathan (April 15, 2016). "West Virginia Auditor Glen Gainer resigning for new job". The Register-Herald. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  12. Eric Eyre (April 26, 2016). "Gainer to work for white-collar crime center". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  13. Mary Smith (May 13, 2016). "Update: WV Gov. Tomblin names Gainer's replacement for state auditor". The News Center. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  14. Rusty Marks (April 26, 2016). "Lisa Hopkins appointed interim state auditor for WV". The State Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
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