[media-credit name=’AJ Maclean’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]In stark contrast with the presidential election, little suspense was found in the battle for Wisconsin’s seat in the U.S. Senate.

Two-term Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold soundly defeated Republican challenger Tim Michels Tuesday, claiming 56 percent of the statewide vote to Michels’ 44 percent at press time.

Michels, an Oconomowoc construction executive, did well in certain locales: he dominated the heavily Republican Milwaukee suburbs and held his own throughout the Fox Valley. But it was not nearly enough to defeat Feingold, who easily took the rest of the state — including large margins in Dane and Milwaukee Counties.

In his victory celebration on Madison’s west side, Feingold congratulated Michels for running a “hard-fought race” and making a “very gracious concession call.” After a neck-and-neck battle with Mark Neumann in 1998, Feingold thanked Michels for conceding early in the evening.

One of the least wealthy members of the Senate, Feingold thanked his supporters for granting him another victory against a well-financed opponent.

“None of them can beat my backbone team,” Feingold exclaimed to hundreds of supporters.

The easy victory for Feingold confirmed what many observers said about the incumbent — despite Feingold’s maverick reputation, the Middleton man enjoys wide support throughout Wisconsin.

University of Wisconsin political science professor Virginia Sapiro said Michels did little wrong in the campaign, but faced an opponent out of the Republican’s league.

“Feingold was just too strong of an opponent for Michels,” Sapiro said.

Many Republican strategists saw Feingold, who was first elected in 1992, as vulnerable this year, in large part due to his lone vote in the senate against the Patriot Act.

Following his surprise victory in the Republican primary, Michels attacked Feingold relentlessly for voting against the measure, which Michels said is a vital piece in the greater war-on-terror puzzle.

But Feingold remained steadfast that civil liberties were jeopardized by the act and stressed the war on terrorism could be won without it.

Although the race attracted national attention, Michels’ strong-on-defense message was never able to make headway with the Wisconsin electorate. Polls consistently showed double-digit leads for Feingold, and when the National Republican Senatorial Committee decided to pull a planned $1.3 million ad buy on Michels’ behalf, the Feingold campaign said the writing was on the wall for Michels’ campaign.

In celebration, Feingold reflected on his career Tuesday, saying a different theme has marked each of his three successful bids for the Senate.

In defeating Bob Kasten in 1992, Feingold stressed reduction of the federal deficit. He pleaded for campaign-finance reform during his battle with Neumann in 1998, a goal later realized with the bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, otherwise known as the McCain-Feingold Act, in 2002.

This year Feingold said the emphasis was on terrorism, and stressed his votes against the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq are consistent with an agenda determined to win the war on terror.

“We will show the whole world that we will defeat terrorism and keep our freedoms too,” he said.