Senator's Death Sees Both Parties Eye Wyoming

The death today of a Republican senator, Craig Thomas, opens a new opportunity for the Democratic party, even if it does little to change the political landscape in Washington in the short term.

With Democrats holding only a razor-thin majority in the Senate, thanks to the support of two independent senators, the loss of the 74-year-old, who represented Wyoming, creates a headache for Republicans.

Already facing a tough challenge to hold onto Wyoming's only House of Representatives seat and the other Senate seat next year, the Republican party will now also have to compete in a special election at the same time to fill the rest of Mr Thomas's term until 2012.

Under Wyoming's constitution, the state governor - Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat - must pick a temporary stand-in from a list of three names chosen by state Republicans. That person will serve as senator until the general election in November 2008.

Thomas, who died of leukemia today, was a hugely popular figure in Wyoming, having represented the state in Congress since 1989, and won re-election to the senate last year with 70% of the vote.

A reliable Republican "red state", remote and rural Wyoming in recent years has shown some signs of moving towards the Democrats.

Mr Freudenthal was re-elected governor last year with a landslide. Meanwhile, the state's sole member of the House of Representatives, Republican Barbara Cubin, survived by a whisker with only 48.3% of the vote, compared with 47.8% - or just 1,000 votes.

The Democrats have already identified Ms Cubin's seat as a top target in 2008, while Wyoming's other senator, Republican Michael Enzi, is also up for re-election at the same time - giving the Democrats a chance of picking up one of the three seats, especially if the popular Mr Freudenthal decides to run.

The 2008 elections are likely to see Democratic gains in the Senate, with the band of Republicans elected in 2002 - at the high tide of their party's fortunes, post-September 11 - up for re-election and likely to struggle.

The Democratic party's current slender majority is sustained by the votes of independent, Joe Lieberman, and socialist, Bernie Sanders, with South Carolina's Democrat senator, Tim Johnson, still trying to recover from the incapacitating stroke he suffered last year.