At the heels of the passing last Monday of U.S Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming, the state's governor will have to appoint a successor. Wyoming's appointment law is a different one. Governor Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, will not likely be appointing from his own party. Wyoming law states that the party of the recently deceased seatholder should choose the candidates. Thus, Wyoming's Republican central committee will choose three names to submit to the Governor within two weeks of Mr. Thomas's passing. That leaves about a week. Afterward, the Governor will have five days to choose a name from that list to serve out the rest of the time until the special election next year.
Possible candidates are already being discussed. The frontrunner at this time seems to be State Representative Colin Simpson of Cody. State Senator John Barrasso of Casper is another name which comes up often. Another likely name is that of the former U.S. Attorney for Wyoming, Matthew Mead, who gave up that job on Wednesday. One possibility that keeps people talking is that of Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife. Some other names floating around include: State Senator Grant Larson, Wyoming GOP Chairman Fred Parady, former State Treasurer Cynthia Loomis, and former U.S. Justice Department official Tom Sansonetti.
The Wyoming GOP has set up a news conference for Monday to update on the process.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming News on the appointment possibilities
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