Former Gov. Tommy Thompson has won the Republican primary for Senate in Wisconsin, surviving a heated four-way race — and likely giving Republicans their strongest candidate in what is expected to be a close race with Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin.
With 82 percent of precincts reporting, Thompson had 35 percent of the vote, businessman Eric Hovde had 30 percent, former Rep. Mark Neumann had 23 percent and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald had 12 percent, according to the Associated Press.
The PollTracker Average currently gives Thompson a narrow advantage over Baldwin, 46.9 percent to 45.6 percent.
Thompson was elected to four terms as governor, starting in 1986, and later became President George W. Bush’s secretary of Health and Human Services. He left the Cabinet in 2005, and ran a short-lived campaign for president in 2007.
Some conservative groups such as the Club For Growth, backed other primary candidates, but Thompson may have benefited from a divided opposition.
