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Jim Geringer

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Jim Geringer
30th Governor of Wyoming
In office
January 2, 1995 – January 6, 2003
Preceded byMike Sullivan
Succeeded byDave Freudenthal
Member of the Wyoming Senate
In office
1989–1995
Succeeded byCurt Meier
ConstituencyPlatte County (1989-1992)
3rd district (1993-1995)
Personal details
Born (1944-04-24) April 24, 1944 (age 80)
Wheatland, Wyoming, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Sharyn Geringer
​
(m. 1967)​
Children5
EducationKansas State University (BS)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Years of service1967–1991
UnitUnited States Air Force Reserve

James Edward Geringer[1] (born April 24, 1944) is an American politician who was the 30th Governor of Wyoming, serving from 1995 to 2003.

Early life and education

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Geringer was born and raised on a farm in Wheatland, Wyoming. His father, Gottlieb Geringer, was a Volga German from Lauwe (now Yablonovka, Saratov Oblast) in the Russian Empire, and his mother, Edla Malin (née Johnson), was of Swedish descent.[1] He attended Kansas State University and was a member of Triangle Fraternity, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. He served for ten years in the United States Air Force before retiring. He briefly worked at a power generating station in Wheatland before purchasing a farm.

Politics

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In 1982, Geringer successfully ran as a Republican for a seat in the Wyoming House of Representatives. After serving there for six years, he won the Platte County seat in the Wyoming Senate in 1988.[2] After the state legislature switched from a county-based apportionment system to a district based apportionment system, in 1992, Geringer was elected to represent the 3rd senate district.[3][4] In 1994, Geringer was elected as Wyoming's governor.

Geringer was generally a conservative throughout his political career. As governor, he helped pass laws that regulated class action lawsuits, reformed bankruptcy laws, toughened crime laws, legalized charter schools, and lowered taxes. However, he broke with the Republican Party in supporting environmental rulings and the Equal Rights Amendment.

In 1997, Governor Geringer called for a boycott of America Online after Sondra London posted a series of murder confessions sent to her from "Happy Face Killer" Keith Jesperson, protesting that he found the items to be offensive.[5] Although London voluntarily removed the pages in question, AOL banned her from the AOL domain, which in turn prompted an outpouring of support from all over the World Wide Web, including multiple offers of free server space.

After serving as governor, he joined Redlands, California based ESRI as director of policy and public sector strategies.

Geringer is one of the founding governors of Western Governors University (WGU) and is currently chairman of the WGU Board of Trustees.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-27. Retrieved 2014-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Platte". Casper Star-Tribune. November 11, 1988. p. 11. Retrieved November 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Election Results: State Senate". Casper Star-Tribune. November 5, 1992. p. 13. Retrieved November 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Wyoming Legislator Database". Wyoming Legislature. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  5. ^ "AOL to Take Down Serial-Killer Site". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  6. ^ Board of Trustees Archived 2008-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
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Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Wyoming
1994, 1998 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Wyoming
1995–2003 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former Governor Order of precedence of the United States Succeeded byas Former Governor
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