The latest from the Casper Star-Tribune:

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A physician, a feedlot owner, a retired immigration agent, numerous attorneys and a recent Libertarian candidate for Congress are among those who want to fill Wyoming’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

The number of candidates topped out at 31 Thursday with the passing of a 5 p.m. application deadline set by the state Republican Party.

Next Tuesday, the state GOP Central Committee will winnow the number to three.

And by the following Tuesday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal will choose the successor to Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., who died June 4 while being treated for leukemia.

Some of the best-known candidates included state Rep. Colin Simpson, of Cody; former Wyoming House Speaker Randall Luthi, of Freedom; former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis; former Wyoming U.S. Attorney Matt Mead; and state Sen. John Barrasso, of Casper.

“We have a field of 31 candidates. I think that’s grassroots Wyoming at the best,” state GOP Chairman Fred Parady said. “If you look at it, it’s every corner of the state. It represents Wyoming geographically.”

Wyoming Republicans have a lot of research to do over the next few days. A full list of the candidates is available at the WYGOP website, and a partial list (I assume to be completed soon) of short bios at the the Star-Tribune.

My random thoughts of the moment:

• Rankin (Libertarian opponent of Rep. Cubin last year) will be on the list when pigs fly and Wyoming votes Hillary Clinton for President.

Ha, I guess that’s my only thought right now. I’m going to try to do some research before the forum on Sunday, but I probably will depend heavily on the statements there as well. I hope it’s the sort of atmosphere where non-committee-people can submit questions as well. Right off the bat, I can say that the following applicants are completely unacceptable to me: Simpson, Rankin, and Case. Short list so far, but expect it to expand over the next few days.