Thomas Lawrence Sansonetti, known as Tom Sansonetti (born 1949), is an attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and a government official from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

. He now resides in Greenwood Village

Greenwood Village, Colorado

The city of Greenwood Village is a prominent suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area and a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States...

, a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

.

After graduation from high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, he earned an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 in Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

 and his Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from Washington and Lee University School of Law

Washington and Lee University School of Law

The Washington and Lee University School of Law is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. Facilities are currently on the campus of Washington and Lee University in Sydney Lewis Hall...

 in Lexington

Lexington, Virginia

Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...

, Virgiia. In 1989, he became legislative director for newly-elected U.S. Representative Craig L. Thomas, and shortly afterwards was chosen to be his chief of staff. In 1991, he became Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he served until 1993. He then joined the Cheyenne law firm of Holland and Hart, where he worked until being appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department

United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division

The U.S. Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division is one of seven litigating components of the United States Department of Justice...

. He is considered to be a strong conservative but has never held elective office.

Sansonetti received the most votes from the GOP central committee to succeed his former mentor, Senator Thomas, who died on June 4, 2007. He advanced as one of the state GOP's three party nominees for senator. Governor Dave Freudenthal

Dave Freudenthal

David Duane "Dave" Freudenthal , is an American politician who served as the 31st Governor of Wyoming. A Democrat, he was reelected to his second term on November 7, 2006, and announced on March 4, 2010, that he would not attempt to seek a third term as Governor.-Education and early...

 appointed State Senator John Barrasso

John Barrasso

John Anthony Barrasso is the junior U.S. Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party. He was appointed to the Senate following Craig L. Thomas's death and won a special election in 2008 to fill the remaining four years of Thomas's term....

, an orthopedic surgeon from Casper

Casper, Wyoming

Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...

.