From the Casper Star-Tribune, the race is on:
A lot of Republicans — maybe 20, maybe more — want to replace the late Craig Thomas in the U.S. Senate, State GOP Chairman Fred Parady said Monday.
Applicants already include recently resigned Wyoming U.S. Attorney Matt Mead, state Rep. Colin Simpson of Cody, state Sen. John Barrasso of Casper, and former state GOP Chairman Tom Sansonetti of Cheyenne.
[…]
The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Thursday, Parady said. All applicants will be disclosed Friday, but he will offer morning updates until then.
After a forum at Casper College with the candidates on Sunday, the state Republican Central Committee will meet June 19 in Casper to select the three who will be presented to Freudenthal by June 20, Parady said.
With only days to campaign, the candidates were moving fast Monday.
Simpson, son of former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, said he and his wife started on the road at 2 p.m. Sunday and had already stopped in Lovell, Gillette, Sheridan and Buffalo to meet and visit with members of the central committee.
“We’ll see how far you can drive in five days,” he said.
While a brief glance at the WYGOP website makes no mention of this Sunday forum, I did notice on the 4 pg “Senatorial Replacement Procedure” that the Tuesday session is open to the public — with Central Committee members being the only voters, obviously.
Ah, I just found it in another Casper Star-Tribune article:
On Sunday, the party hopes to hold a candidate forum in Casper that would be broadcast on Wyoming Public Radio and Wyoming Public Television. The Star-Tribune will also cover the event with video and a blog.
I’ll post more details as they come out.
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I’m really looking forward to the list of names coming out on Friday!
Gonna be an interesting next few days….
So so far (i.e., going by who has applied, not just been speculated upon) we know we like Dr./Sen. Barrasso. Any info on some of the others?
I don’t know anything about the others yet, but I plan on doing some intense research on Friday after the official list is out. I’m also planning on going to Casper for the forum Sunday (if it happens) and hopefully to the voting session on Tuesday.
Tieki Rae: Speaking as a boy from Ohio, does it make sense that Simpson stands the best chance at re-election? (i.e. name recognition) This is really my biggest (maybe only concern)……….. Next Stop Lauderdale
If Simpson is on the list, it would not surprise me one bit if Freudenthal chose him. However, I’ve heard that he isn’t really liked within the Republican community of Cody. He kind of has the reputation of being a RINO (pro-choice) riding on his dad’s coattails. I hope to get a better idea of how well he’s received by the WYGOP as a whole, but I really hope that the central committee doesn’t put him on that list.
With apologies to Tieki Rae for forcing a visit to the moderation cue; your favorite Cody blogger checking in here.
Re: Colin Simpson. Yes, he does have name recognition, thanks to his father. Both of these men have done some good things in their respective services.
“Sen. Al” was one that fought in favor of confirming Justice Thomas to the Bench. He stood up for the Vice President during the hunting accident. He has done his fair share at fighting to keep the winter access for the East Gate of Yellowstone (50 miles west of Cody). On a low point, “Sen. Al” is the Simpson behind the Simpson/Mazzoli immigration/amnesty bill
Rep. Simpson has been a fighter for the East Gate as well and has done some good work in the wolf issue.
Tieki Rae, you’re tuned in well when you say that the current speaker of the Wyoming House has a lot of points against him with the conservative wing of the party. He has received high marks from the Wyoming NARAL (though they have decreased in recent years; still scoring in the 50-75 range though) and he has not given the help we would like on issues like DOMA.
And yes, in addition to all this, there are other Cody folk that are uncomfortable with the coattail issue.