{{Short description|American businessman and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Tom Wiens |state_senate = Colorado |district = 4th |term_start = January 12, 2005 |term_end = January 7, 2009 |predecessor = Ken Chlouber |successor = Mark Scheffel |state_house1 = Colorado |district1 = 45th |term_start1 = January 9, 2003 |term_end1 = January 6, 2005 |predecessor1 = Joyce Lawrence |successor1 = Jim Sullivan |birth_date = |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |party = Republican |spouse = |children = |education = }} '''Tom Wiens''' is an American businessman and politician from the state of Colorado. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to one term each in both houses of the Colorado State Legislature, serving in the State House from 2003 to 2005 and the State Senate from 2005 to 2009.
==Political career== Wiens was the Republican nominee for Colorado State Treasurer in 1978, taking 43% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Roy Romer. He also ran for U.S. House in {{ushr|CO|3}} in 1982, challenging Democratic incumbent Ray Kogovsek. Wiens polled 45% of the vote in the general election. In 2002, Wiens successfully ran for an open seat in the Colorado House of Representatives, winning by a wide margin in both the primary and general elections. After serving one term, he successfully sought a promotion to the state senate in 2004. He chaired the Republican Senate caucus from 2005 to 2007.<ref name = oc/> Wiens chose not to run for re-election in 2008.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeremy |last=Pelzer |title=Five GOP candidates are in SD-4 race so far |url=http://www.politickerco.com/jeremypelzer/923/five-gop-candidates-so-far-sd-4-race |work=The Denver Post |date=April 17, 2008 |accessdate=2008-11-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421165824/http://www.politickerco.com/jeremypelzer/923/five-gop-candidates-so-far-sd-4-race |archivedate=April 21, 2008 }}</ref>
In 2009, Wiens was rumored to be considering a campaign for the 2010 Colorado gubernatorial election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.5280.com/tom-wiens-is-doing-everything-possible-to-run-for-colorado-governor-in-2010/ |work=5280 |access-date=November 6, 2023 |date=February 18, 2009 |author=Pelzer, Jeremy |title=Tom Wiens Is Doing “Everything Possible” to Run for Colorado Governor in 2010}}</ref> However, he instead announced that he would run in the U.S. Senate race. Wiens took just 16% of the vote at the 2010 Republican caucus and dropped out of the race two months later, endorsing Ken Buck, who would go on to win the primary but lose the general election.<ref>{{cite news |work=Politico |author=Catanese, David |date=May 24, 2010 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/05/wiens-withdraws-backs-buck-037707 |title=Wiens withdraws, backs Buck |access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref><ref name = oc/> In August 2010, Wiens expressed interest in running for governor if former U.S. Representative Scott McInnis lost the Republican primary or dropped out of the race.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/wiens-eyes-colorado-gov-race-040753 |title=Wiens eyes Colorado gov race |work=Politico |author=Catanese, David |date=August 6, 2010 |access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref> McInnis did indeed lose the primary, but Wiens chose to endorse Constitution Party nominee Tom Tancredo rather than run himself.<ref name = oc/>
==Professional career== Wiens has experience as a project manager and entrepreneur, serving on the boards of multi-state bank and capital management companies. He also owns a ranch in the Rocky Mountain Foothills.<ref>{{cite web |work=Douglas County Community Foundation |access-date=November 6, 2023 |url=https://www.dccf.org/who-we-are/staff.html/title/tom-wiens |title=Tom Wiens}}</ref>
In 2006, Wiens was sued in federal court by a former customer who accused him of fraud and breach of contract.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Denver Post |access-date=November 6, 2023 |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2006/03/16/wiens-business-dealings-dogged-by-lawsuits-liens/ |date=March 16, 2006 |author=Crummy, Karen |title=Wiens’ business dealings dogged by lawsuits, liens}}</ref>
==Personal life== Wiens lives in Sedalia.<ref name = oc>{{cite web |title=Wiens, Tom J. |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=29451 |access-date=November 6, 2023 |work=Our Campaigns}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiens, Tom}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century Colorado politicians Category:21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Republican Party Colorado state senators Category:Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives