Tommy Thompson May Challenge Russ Feingold, Report Says
Thompson has been the marquee Republican in the state for decades and was elected as governor four times. He also served as secretary of health and human services in the Bush administration and ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. (He dropped out well before the voting began.)
He has been rumored to be interested in a political comeback, and today's news is the clearest indication yet that he could be doing just that.
Politico reports that Thompson has been talking to his longtime political aides and has $200,000 in potential donations for a campaign that doesn't yet exist.
"If you talked to me two weeks ago, I would have put it at a 50-50 shot. Now it's at 70," a Thompson aide told Politico.
However, the Web site also notes that "political insiders in both parties in Washington and Wisconsin remain skeptical of Thompson's commitment to challenging Feingold."
Feingold, who is seeking his fourth term, has not drawn any top-tier Republicans challengers so far, and the seat has been thought to be safe to stay in the Democratic column. If Thompson runs that would likely change, putting another Democratic Senate seat in play for a takeover and increasing the possibility that Republicans could win control of the Senate in the midterm elections. At the very least, it would force national Democrats to put money into a race which they thought was safe.
A recent Rasmussen poll shows that Thompson would be slightly ahead of Feingold in a hypothetical match up, while Feingold leads his other possible Republicans challengers.
Thompson has plenty of time to mull over his options, as the filing deadline for the Wisconsin primary isn't until July.