UW History Professor Discusses Senator Replacement Precedence

June 14, 2007 -- The current effort to find a replacement for U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas marks the fourth time that Wyoming has been faced with having to replace a U.S. senator who died in office, according to University of Wyoming History Professor Phil Roberts. Additionally, the state had to replace a young senator-elect who died before taking office.

Prior to 1993, if a senator died in office, it was entirely up to the governor to replace the deceased, regardless of party affiliation, he says.

The three who died in office were F.E. Warren in October, 1929; John B. Kendrick in November, 1933; and Lester Hunt, who committed suicide in April, 1954, just a few months before his term was completed.

Keith Thomson's situation was quite different. He was senator-elect, not having even been sworn in yet, when he died in November, 1960, following a hiking trip near Cody.

Warren's replacement was a fellow Republican, Patrick J. Sullivan, appointed by Republican Gov. Frank Emerson. Kendrick's replacement was fellow Democrat Joseph O’Mahoney, appointed by Gov. Leslie Miller.

After Hunt's suicide, the Republican acting governor, C.J. Rogers, appointed a Republican, E.D. Crippa of Rock Springs, who served out the term but did not file or run in 1954. Instead, O'Mahoney, who had been in the senate from 1933 when he was appointed to replace Kendrick until he lost in 1952, went back into the senate for another six-year term, Roberts says.

“Hunt's suicide and Thomson's premature death at the age of 41 sent shock waves through each of their respective parties,” Roberts says.

The Thomson replacement process was the most controversial. J.J. "Joe" Hickey was governor, having defeated Milward Simpson in 1958 when Simpson sought a second term as governor. In the same election, Democrat Jack Gage was elected secretary of state. When Thomson died, the governor was to appoint the successor.

“For many years, the story is told that Hickey actually planned to appoint Tracy McCraken, Cheyenne newspaper tycoon, but McCraken died just a couple of weeks after Thomson,” Roberts says. Hickey decided to resign as governor and allow his secretary of state, who would be acting governor, to make the appointment.

“Of course, the acting governor, Jack Gage, appointed Hickey to the seat,” he says. “The result was a temporary triumph for the Democrats--very temporary. Two years later, not only did Hickey lose to Milward Simpson for the four years remaining in the term, but Thyra Thomson, Keith's widow, won as secretary of state, a position she held for the next 24 years!”

Roberts says Democrats were very successful in the western states in the early 1960s, but many historians think that the Thomson-Hickey incident dealt a sharp setback to party fortunes in Wyoming, even though Gale McGee continued to win -- in 1958, 1964 and 1970.

The legislature, heavily Republican, made the change in 1993, after Ed Herschler had served 12 years and Mike Sullivan seven years as governor. The bill stated the central committee of the party, after notification from the governor that the seat was vacant, would have 15 days to submit the names of three potential replacements. The governor would make the appointment.

Sullivan vetoed the bill, saying it eroded the governor's power. Roberts says it resulted in the first gubernatorial veto to be overridden by the legislature. The bill passed the House with all but three Democrats voting "no" and, in the Senate, it passed on a straight party line vote. He says the governor vetoed the bill on Feb. 18, but soon after, the House voted 41-19 to override. The Senate followed by a vote of 20-10.

Photo
Lester Hunt was one of four United States senators from Wyoming who died in office. Hunt committed suicide in his Senate office shortly before his term ended in 1954. (American Heritage Center Photo)

Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007