State (Wyo.) GOP nominates Sansonetti, Barrasso, Lummis for Senate seat (Thomas' Senate seat)

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Source: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune

State GOP nominates Sansonetti, Barrasso, Lummis for Senate seat

By DAN LEWERENZ Tuesday, June 19, 2007

CASPER, Wyo. - A former chief of staff to the late Sen. Craig Thomas is one of three nominees selected by the Wyoming Republican Party to succeed Thomas in the Senate.

Tom Sansonetti, who worked for Thomas when Thomas went to the U.S. House in 1989, won the most votes _ 58_ in the final round of voting Tuesday by the 71-member state GOP Central Committee.

State Sen. John Barrasso, a surgeon from Casper, was second with 56 votes. Former state Treasurer Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne finished third with 44 votes.

"One of these three will be the next Wyoming state senator," Wyoming GOP Chairman Fred Parady said after bringing all three on stage.

The party will forward their names Wednesday to Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, who has five days to pick a successor to Thomas.

Matt Mead, who resigned as U.S. attorney for Wyoming in order to run for the seat, finished fourth with 30 votes. Ron Micheli, a former state Agriculture Department director, was the last of the finalists with 25 votes.

Read more: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/06/19/ap-state-wy/d8ps6ihg0.txt