CHEYENNE - Two Republican candidates for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat have been pumping considerable personal wealth into their campaigns, new Federal Election Commission reports show.

Mark Gordon, a rancher and businessman from Buffalo, contributed a whopping $297,000 of his own money to a first-quarter war chest that topped $410,000, according to FEC reports.

Former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, meanwhile, bumped her first-quarter fundraising total to $168,000 by contributing $67,000 of her own money, according to her campaign.

Even with the injections of personal capital, both GOP candidates are still trailing Democrat Gary Trauner, who more than doubled his opponents' first-quarter numbers without contributing a dime of his own money.

Trauner, a businessman from Wilson, raised $256,000 in the seven weeks ending March 31, FEC figures show. He reported cash on hand of more than $550,000.

�People across our state are showing they believe the time is now for a new direction,� said Trauner, who narrowly lost to Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin in the 2006 general election. He so far has no opponent in the Aug. 19 Democratic primary.

Meanwhile, Republican Bill Winney of Sublette County raised $5,650 this quarter, and state Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, generated $9,275, FEC reports show.

Republican Swede Nelson of Cheyenne, a motivational speaker and substitute teacher, announced Wednesday that he is dropping out of the race, citing family reasons and a lack of resources.

Gordon, a political unknown who announced his candidacy two months ago, said the shot of personal money into his campaign was intended to show his commitment to the race before asking others to come on board.

The funds, he said, were generated from personal investments and from dollars raised in family business ventures. �My family has been fairly fortunate over the years in mining and real estate,� Gordon said.

Annaliese Wiederspahn, a spokeswoman for the Lummis campaign, said Lummis' personal contribution was made in an effort to show that she has some �skin in the game.�

�It needed to be there to get the job done right and just to show people that she is committed in every way to do this and do this right,� Wiederspahn said.

Zwonitzer, in a telephone interview Wednesday, blasted Gordon and Lummis for their personal spending amounts. He said Gordon's campaign had earlier told other candidates that he intended only to spend $200,000 in personal money during the primary election. Zwonitzer said Lummis pledged to spend only what she could raise from others.

Zwonitzer, who generated $7,975 from individual donors and $1,250 from political action committees, said he is not deterred by the large sums accumulated by his opponents. He said he expects to turn in more substantial numbers at the end of the next reporting period this summer.

�We'll catch up in fundraising to a number that will sustain my campaign,� said Zwonitzer, who said he missed out on most first-quarter fundraising while serving in the Legislature.

Getting his name out

The large infusion of personal wealth by a political unknown has precedent in Wyoming's U.S. House race. Jackson lawyer Bob Schuster injected $1.3 million of his own cash during his unsuccessful bid against Cubin to win the seat in 1994.

Cubin spent far less money but easily won the race, 52 percent to 43 percent. A Libertarian candidate earned the balance of the votes.

Jim King, political science professor at the University of Wyoming, said Gordon's large capital infusion probably makes sense for a candidate who is little known in the state.

�It's given him a chance to get his name out through television more quickly and to more people than if he were doing the standard county-by-county campaigning we often see this early,� said King, noting that Gordon already has a number of TV ads running around the state.

Gordon also raised nearly $105,000 from individual contributors, and about $10,000 from PACs. He has spent more than $326,000, and reported cash on hand of $86,000.

Lummis' federal campaign reports were not available on the FEC Web site Wednesday. Wiederspahn said the documents were submitted Tuesday and should be posted to the FEC site today.

�We were having technical difficulties uploading to the FEC site,� Wiederspahn said. �To avoid becoming noncompliant, we sent them a (computer) disk� by mail.

Lummis, in a statement on her Web site Wednesday, said she has spent less than $28,000 and that more than 80 percent of the contributions to her campaign were from Wyoming residents.

She touted her small spending amount as evidence of her fiscal conservatism during a shoe-leather campaign that has already taken her over 10,000 miles of Wyoming highway. She said the unspent funds will come in handy this summer when her �many volunteers fan out around the state.�

�Relying on the sweat equity and many generous friends around the state who opened their homes to us for overnight stays has allowed us to report cash on hand at the end of March in the amount of $140,581,� Lummis said.

So far this election cycle, Trauner has raised $638,000. He raised $190,000 from individual donors in the first quarter, and $464,000 overall, FEC figures show. Political action committees, meanwhile, added 63,000 this quarter and $174,300 overall.

�Our successful fundraising efforts with the help of so many Wyoming donors shows the problems and issues from 2006 have just gotten worse,� Trauner said.

Winney, who received 40 percent of the vote in the 2006 GOP primary against Cubin, raised all of his $5,650 from individual donors, and contributed none of his own funds. He wasn't available for comment Wednesday evening.

Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at {M3jared.miller@trib.com.