Republican Senator Craig Thomas of WY dead at age 74 :(

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FOXNews.com - Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas Dies at 74 - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

WASHINGTON — Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, a three-term conservative Republican who stayed clear of the Washington limelight and political catfights, died Monday. He was 74.

The senator's family issued a statement saying he died Monday evening at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He had been receiving chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia.

Just before the 2006 election, Thomas was hospitalized with pneumonia and had to cancel his last campaign stops. He nonetheless won with 70 percent of the vote, monitoring the election from his hospital bed.

Two days after the election, Thomas announced that he had just been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, will appoint a successor from one of three finalists chosen by the state Republican party.

Thomas was a low-key lawmaker who reliably represented the interests of his conservative state, often becoming involved in public lands issues. He worked in behind-the-scenes posts to oversee national parks, including Yellowstone in Wyoming.

He was also an advocate for domestic energy and minerals production. He worked to protect Wyoming's mining industry from foreign competition and backed efforts to get a federally funded coal gasification plant built in the state.

After his first round of chemotherapy, Thomas returned to the Senate in December, a month earlier than expected. A few months later, he said he felt better than he had in a long time. But he returned to the hospital for a second round of chemotherapy in May.

"I'm resolved to do all I can to keep the leukemia in check," he said then. "I've been feeling very good over the last several months — even returning to my regular morning run. But I've always known that further treatments are common and could periodically be part of this thing."

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Details still coming out. This is pretty sad, but at least his battle with the disease is finally over.

[motivez]

Always sad to see someone who's dedicated a great deal of their lives to public service perish, but I say that not knowing anything about his record.

Just to spark some conversation here, isn't it somewhat irresponsible to run for office if you know for a fact that your health is unlikely to last? The people voted for him, not whoever is going to replace him, but without being informed that in all likelyhood he would not survive for his entire term.

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Originally Posted by motivez

Always sad to see someone who's dedicated a great deal of their lives to public service perish, but I say that not knowing anything about his record.

Just to spark some conversation here, isn't it somewhat irresponsible to run for office if you know for a fact that your health is unlikely to last? The people voted for him, not whoever is going to replace him, but without being informed that in all likelyhood he would not survive for his entire term.

Thats a good point, I read two things on that, I read that he wanted to step down and got voted in during his states primary as the repub. I also read that he stepped down and still won 70% of the vote.

I tend to lean towards the Fox/CNN story that he continued to run and didn't actually drop out.