The field of candidates to replace the late Craig Thomas in the U.S. Senate has grown to 19.

New candidates announced this morning by the Wyoming Republican Party include state Sen. Cale Case of Lander, Rep. David Edwards of Douglas, John Holtz of Laramie, Randy Stevenson of Wheatland, Clark Stith of Rock Springs and Thom Rankin of Casper. Rankin was a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House in 2006, but has apparently changed his affiliation to Republican.

The deadline for people to submit applications to be considered as nominees to replace Thomas is 5 p.m. today. The state Republican Central Committee will meet in Casper Tuesday to select three names to submit to Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who will then select the new U.S. senator.