Wisconsin's Feingold at Risk ... But Only if Thompson Runs

By Greg Giroux | October 7, 2009 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As Wisconsin's 2010 Senate race now stands, Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold appears a prohibitive favorite in his bid for a fourth term.

But the race would become a blockbuster if Tommy G. Thompson, a former four-term Republican governor, were to jump into the race. That's according to a poll of 700 Wisconsin adults conducted Sept. 27-29 by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.

The poll showed that 43 percent of respondents would back Thompson, who was governor from 1987 until 2001, when he resigned to become secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. Feingold received support from 39 percent in the hypothetical matchup with Thompson.

But Feingold benefits from the fact that such a matchup appears to be highly hypothetical. The 67-year-old Thompson staged a brief bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, an indication that he has not completely retired from the political arena. But he has not publicly expressed interest in running for the Senate against Feingold next year.

So at the moment, Dave Westlake, a little-known businessman, is Feingold's lone Republican challenger.

-- Greg Giroux

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Comments

Come on Tommy, RUN. We need to take out this extreme Lib. America Needs You. Time to say goodbyt to slash and burn Politics Feingold holds so dear. This anti-Death Penalty crusader needs to be shown the door. Draft Tommy now.

Posted by: dante805 | October 8, 2009 7:59 AM