Tommy Thompson filing for Senate in Wisconsin
Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson (R) is taking another step towards a Senate bid.
Republican Presidential hopeful, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson wipes sweat from his face as he speaks to fairgoers, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa.
(AP/Charlie Neibergall)
Thompson told a local radio station Monday morning that he’s running for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D), saying, “An announcement will be coming very soon...we're doing it in steps because that's what the federal law requires.”
Thompson plans to file paperwork on Sept. 19 so he can begin fundraising, but the former Bush Health and Human Services secretary is not making a formal announcement yet.
Although he is just getting in the race now, Thompson is already under fire from both Democrats and Republicans.
Rivals in the state GOP and conservatives across the country see Thompson as too moderate and too much a part of the GOP establishment for the current Republican party. They point out that the state elected Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R) in 2010 — two strident conservatives closely aligned with the tea party movement.
“He's done a lot of good things,” said Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald , a likely primary rival, recently. “I think people are looking for something different.”
“In Wisconsin we should respect Tommy’s lifetime of service as Governor, in the Legislature, and in President Bush's cabinet,” said former Rep. Mark Neumann (R) in a statement Monday. Neumann is already in the primary. “My focus in this race is on Tammy Baldwin.”
Sen. Jim DeMint (R) attacked Thompson in a recent letter to supporters. The national Club for Growth has been sniping at him too.
Thompson argues that he was ardent about cutting taxes and spending long before the current breed of tea party-backed politicians got in the game. But four terms in the governor’s mansion leaves plenty for opponents to use against him.
And Thompson’s biggest obstacle might be what he did after leaving office: supporting the idea — if not the final product — of President Obama’s health-care reform.
In his second term, Thompson himself said, “"I'm not as conservative as I once was. ... It's much better to use pragmatic common sense than be so rigidly tied to one ideology you can't see the forest for the trees.”
On the Democratic side, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) is the only declared candidate.
State Sen. Frank Lasee is another likely Republican candidate.
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