Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson is “seriously considering” launching a campaign against incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a former Thompson aid said Sunday in a TV interview.
Bill McCoshen worked as Thompson’s chief of staff and later as his campaign manager before becoming senior vice president of a Washington D.C. lobbyist group.
“You’re going to see some additional evidence here very shortly that this thing is ramping itself up, that there are serious people involved in this effort and that Tommy’s very seriously considering it,” McCoshen said during an interview on Mike Gousha’s “UpFront” TV program.
Thompson was elected to an unprecedented four terms as governor of Wisconsin, serving 14 years. Sen. Feingold has been the junior Wisconsin senator since 1993. Thompson was an early Republican candidate in the 2008 presidential election, while Feingold was also mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate for the election.
“This would be a heavyweight championship battle,” McCoshen said. “There’s no question about that.”
Although McCoshen said Thompson would most likely not announce an official run for senate until the state GOP convention May 20, McCoshen did say Thompson has “the right people in the room,” and “I’d want the people around me that he’s got around him right now.”
However, some Wisconsin Democrats have expressed doubts over Thompson’s connection with lobbying groups.
“Who’s in the room? Corporate lobbyists. Where is the room? Washington D.C.,” Mike Tate, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said in a statement. “Tommy’s campaign is off to a really bad start, and it’s only going to get worse because the last thing Wisconsin voters want is a friend of special interests in the U.S. Senate.”
A potential Thompson campaign could also pose a threat to Republican candidates Terrence Wall and Dave Westlake, whose campaigns were unavailable for comment.
“Tommy Thompson is the one Republican who’s got amazing name recognition, and that’s working in his favor,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin said.
Despite this advantage, a potential Thompson campaign would not be an easy victory.
“On the downside, Feingold is the incumbent, and he’s raised an awful lot of money already, and Thompson has not really started at all and it’s already March of the election year,” Burden said. “It seems very challenging for him to put together a serious campaign in the next eight months and knock off an incumbent.”
In response to McCoshen’s hints at a Thompson campaign, Sen. Feingold questioned where Thompson’s loyalties would lie as senator.
“Well, why are all these people in Washington asking Tommy Thompson to run? Because he’s their friend. Because he does what they want,” Feingold said in a statement. “I’ve spent years and years taking on the special interests. And Tommy Thompson spent years taking them on as clients. That’s the difference between the two of us.”
