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.

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). 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. 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.

Gainer was also unopposed in the elections of 1996 and 2000. 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", emphasising the need for consensus and bipartisanship in Congress. 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. In the general election, McKinley defeated Gainer by a roughly two-to-one margin.

In December 2015, Gainer announced that he would not be running for re-election to a seventh term in 2016. In April 2016, he announced he would resign in May, before the end of his term, to accept a job with a nonprofit group, 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. 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.

Electoral history West Virginia Auditor Election, 1992PartyCandidateVotes%DemocraticGlen Gainer, III454,654100.00 West Virginia Auditor Election, 1996PartyCandidateVotes%DemocraticGlen Gainer, III (inc.)438,621100.00 West Virginia Auditor Election, 2000PartyCandidateVotes%DemocraticGlen Gainer, III (inc.)484,534100.00 West Virginia Auditor Election, 2008PartyCandidateVotes%DemocraticGlen Gainer, III (inc.)525,084100.00