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Oakley — Kansas Sen. Stan Clark was killed Saturday when his car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 amid high winds that blew dust, making it difficult for drivers to see, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.

Clark, R-Oakley, was driving west on I-70 near Oakley about 7:15 p.m. Saturday when authorities say his 1994 Chrysler was crushed between two tractor-trailers. Clark, who had no passengers, was taken to an Oakley hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Tod Hileman, public resources officer for Troop D in northwest Kansas, said winds had reached 70 miles per hour and dust forced many drivers to slow down or stop along the highway as visibility reached nearly zero.

Early Sunday, Hileman said the accident was still under investigation, but authorities said one of the tractor-trailers was stopped for a separate accident when Clark's car hit it. The patrol is unsure if the second tractor-trailer forced the accident. No one else was killed.

Clark, 49, had served in the Senate for a decade. He was considered a leader of conservative Republicans and a potential candidate for Senate president later this year. He was chairman of the Utilities Committee and served on its Assessment and Taxation Committee.

He was known for keeping a quiet, modest demeanor and for his simple dress -- a white shirt and collarless dark coat -- in keeping with membership in the Dunkard Brethren Church.

Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington, called Clark "just a very good man."

"He was a very good person, very dedicated, and he took his job as a senator very seriously," she said in a telephone interview.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said Clark was quiet and bright and "obviously loved his family." He and his wife, Ruthie, had a young son, Will.

"I would say he was one of the kindest members of the Legislature," Mays said. "He was a very spiritual man."

Clark was appointed to represent the northwest corner of the state in 1994 after his predecessor, Sheila Frahm, was elected lieutenant governor. He won a full, four-year term in 1996, and was re-elected in 2000.

The Dunkard Brethren embrace a life of deliberate simplicity, eschewing television, for example. During a 1995 interview, Clark said he became acquainted with the church while taking wedding pictures as part of his commercial photography studio.

"I got the opportunity of attending a number of churches, and I really enjoyed the people," said Clark, who converted in 1989.

He added: "There's a closeness of family. There are all kinds of family get-togethers all the time."

The patrol said one other person was killed during the same storm Saturday in a similar accident near Goodland.