Senator Thomas Loses Battle With Cancer
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Senator Thomas of Wyoming, 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 yesterday 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% 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.
Governor Freudenthal, a Democrat, will appoint a successor from one of three finalists chosen by the state Republican Party.
