By Mary Clare Jalonick
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 5, 2007

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

The senator's family issued a statement saying he died Monday evening at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. 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 acute myeloid leukemia had just been diagnosed.

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

"Wyoming had no greater advocate, taxpayers had no greater watchdog, and rural America had no greater defender than Craig Thomas," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said last night. "The Senate is a lesser place without Craig here, but the state of Wyoming and our nation are much better places because he was here."

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

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.

Thomas entered Congress in a special election in 1989 to replace Dick Cheney when the future vice president was named defense secretary by the first President Bush. Thomas won that race with 52 percent of the vote.

Thomas was born in Cody, Wyo., and raised on a ranch. He graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in agriculture, then served four years in the Marines.

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and four children.