The death of Sen. Craig Thomas of Wyoming tonight will provoke, after a period of mourning, a most interesting battle for succession.
By statute, the governor, Democrat Dave Freudenthal, "shall" appoint a successor from among three Wyomingians sent to him by the Republican Party. Potential nominees include Rep. Barbara Cubin, state treasurer Cynthia Lummis, Colin Simpson, the son of ex-Sen. Al Simpson and WY state sen. John Barrasso. In 2008, the seat is up, and Democrats want Freudenthal, who has an 80 percent approval rating, to run for it. He might.
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Thomas' seat wouldn't normally be up for election in 2008. He was just re-elected in 2006. It's Wyoming's other Senate seat, held by Mike Enzi, that's up this year.
That means that in Nov. 2008, Wyoming will have one normally-scheduled Senate election with an incumbent and one special Senate election with an appointee. Since it's also a presidential year, and Rep. Cubin is up for re-election, that means Wyoming's residents will vote for their entire federal slate at once.
Posted by SDM | June 5, 2007 10:34 AM