| Office: | Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court |
| Appointer: | John Carney |
| Term Start: | July 5, 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Randy J. Holland |
| Birth Date: | 25 August 1956 |
| Birth Place: | Dover, Delaware, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Education: | Dartmouth College (BA) Widener University (JD) |
Gary Francis Traynor (born August 25, 1956) is an American lawyer who serves as a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.[1]
Traynor was born in Dover, Delaware, in 1956, and graduated from Dover High School.[2] He completed a bachelor's degree in history at Dartmouth College in 1978, and a J.D. degree at Widener University Delaware Law School in 1982.[3] [4]
Traynor was in private practice in Dover from 1982 to 1990 at the law firm Brown, Shiels & Chasanov, and in Wilmington from 1990 to 2014 at the law firm Prickett, Jones & Elliot.[1] He also served as an officer in the Delaware Army National Guard from 1990 to 1991, and was a commissioner on the Delaware River and Bay Authority from 2009 to 2014.[1]
Traynor worked for the state as an assistant public defender for Sussex County from 2015 to 2017.[4]
On February 9, 2017, Delaware Supreme Court justice Randy J. Holland announced that he would retire from the court at the end of March.[5] On May 14, 2017, the Governor of Delaware John Carney announced that he would nominate Traynor to the vacant seat.[4] Carney and Traynor went to the same high school, played on the same football team, and also attended Dartmouth together.[2] [6]
Traynor is a Republican.[4] Governor Carney, a Democrat, was required to nominate a Republican to replace Holland under state law, because no party can have more than three members on the state's supreme court.[1]
The Delaware Senate unanimously confirmed Traynor's nomination on June 7, 2017.[7] His twelve-year term on the Delaware Supreme Court began on July 5, 2017.[1]