Wyo. opponent says incumbent made threat

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Thomas Rankin, the Libertarian running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, said Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record), R-Wyo., threatened to slap him after a televised debate.

During a debate Sunday that also included Democrat Gary Trauner, Cubin and Rankin had a testy exchange over campaign contributions Cubin received from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

Rankin, who has multiple sclerosis and uses an electric wheelchair, said Monday night in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the confrontation occurred immediately after the debate.

"My aide and I were packing up to leave the debate, and Barbara walked over to me and said, 'If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face.' That's quote-unquote," Rankin said.

Rankin said several people witnessed the exchange, although he wouldn't name them, and that he was getting phone calls about it before he got home Sunday night. The story was first reported Monday night on the Casper Star-Tribune's Web site.

When contacted by The Associated Press, Cubin campaign spokesman Eric Cullen acknowledged that Rankin and Cubin exchanged strong words, but said he didn't hear the exchange.

Cullen said Cubin would not talk about the incident, but read the following statement:

"Mr. Rankin misrepresented Mrs. Cubin's positions and insulted her integrity during the debate. When she approached him after the debate, he said something not very complimentary. She responded. It was a private conversation. She's over it.

"Just last week, she had an art center for the developmentally disabled named in her honor. Anyone who knows her knows she would never lash out at someone unprovoked. She believes voters are sick of this type of political maneuvering. She has nothing more to say."

Twice during the debate Rankin said Cubin had taken $22,000 in improper campaign donations. Cubin denied the accusation both times.

When Rankin brought it up the first time, Cubin looked sternly at him, shook her head and mouthed an inaudible denial. On the second occasion, she looked out at the audience flabbergasted and lifted her arms up. Because of the structure of the debate, Cubin resorted to quick denials at the beginning of other topics.

In her closing remarks at the end of the debate, Cubin began, "One thing I've learned tonight is that when you have a record for people to misrepresent, they do."

During her tenure, Cubin received $22,520 in campaign contributions from Delay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC. She has said she would not return the money unless DeLay was convicted of a crime.

Trauner said he neither saw nor heard the confrontation.

"I walked off the stage and was with my family," he said.

Cubin, a six-term incumbent, is in a close race with Trauner. A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll conducted earlier this month for the Star-Tribune showed Cubin leading Trauner 44 percent to 37 percent, with 4 percent saying they would vote for Rankin. The remaining 15 percent were undecided. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.