Tommy Thompson, the former four-term Wisconsin governor and Bush-era Health and Human Services Secretary who has been eyeing a run in 2012 for his state’s open Democratic-held Senate seat, has now announced that he is officially filing his papers to run — but he adds that this is still not his actual announcement, which will come soon.
“I’ve filed my corporation documents today, which allows me now to build my organization, raise money so I can go out there and tell the story,” Thompson said Monday, during an interview with Milwaukee-area talk radio host Charlie Sykes.
“An announcement will be coming very soon…we’re doing it in steps because that’s what the federal law requires.”
Thompson has previously announced co-chairs for his upcoming campaign.
Thompson will face a Republican primary against at least two challengers, state House Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and former Congressman Mark Neumann. On the Democratic side, the frontrunner for the nomination is Rep. Tammy Baldwin, whose district includes Madison and the surrounding counties.
Thompson has had a long and successful career in Wisconsin politics, but has not been on a ballot since 1998. He was first elected to the state Assembly in 1966, eventually becoming the Republican minority leader. He was elected governor in 1986, then re-elected in 1990, 1994 and 1998, before joining President George W. Bush’s cabinet in 2001. He left the cabinet after the 2004 election, and briefly sought the Republican nomination for president in 2007, only to withdraw after a poor showing in the Ames Straw Poll.
Thompson was long courted by the GOP to run for Senate in various cycles, but never made the jump — he came very close in 2010, but ultimately backed away.
