Former Gov. Tommy Thompson speaks to the crowd at a primary night gathering Tuesday at the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha. Thompson won the primary. Credit: Mark Hoffman 
 
 By of the 
 
 Tommy Thompson won a fierce Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday on the theme of electability, as voters agreed with the former governor's claim that he represented the best chance to win the seat in November and help the GOP regain control of the Senate. 
 
 Thompson, 70, defeated businessman Eric Hovde, home builder and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald in a primary that languished for months in the shadow of recall politics. 
 
 He now faces U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, in a race that likely will turn on the key issues of taxes, energy and health care. 
 
 The election presents voters with a sharp ideological choice that could help determine which party controls the Senate. But it could be overshadowed again by a suddenly more prominent Wisconsin narrative - the vice presidential bid of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. 
 
 Surrounded by his family and overjoyed with his triumph, Thompson told his supporters, "Ladies and gentlemen, Wisconsin is on a roll." 
 
 "When it's all said and done, we're Republicans, we believe in the future," Thompson said at the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha County. "We're going to make this country the country we always wanted to be, fiscally sound, capable of doing everything. . . . We're going to make America the best it can possibly be." 
 
 Baldwin made no direct reference to Thompson when she addressed supporters at Highbury bar in the Bay View neighborhood but said voters will have a clear choice in November. 
 
 Baldwin argued for an end to tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs and backed policies that would lead to greater manufacturing in Wisconsin. 
 
 "That's the road to a stronger middle class," Baldwin said. 
 
 Before the polls closed, Baldwin challenged the primary winner to three televised general election debates, including a debate in Wausau on Oct. 18 sponsored by Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio, the Journal Sentinel and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4). 
 
 Joe Heim, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said Thompson is a good GOP candidate for the general election because, in the past, he had taken some more moderate positions that might appeal to independent voters. 
 
 "One would think that he's the one for whom it will be easiest to move to the middle," Heim said of Thompson. "Baldwin would have an easier time beating one of the other three because she can paint them as extreme." 
 
 In a matchup of Republicans against Baldwin in November, a Marquette University Law School poll released Aug. 8 showed Thompson performing the best. Thompson received 48% to Baldwin's 43%. Neumann and Baldwin each got 44%. Baldwin had 44% to Hovde's 41%. Baldwin does best against Fitzgerald - 45% to 40%. The results show little change since early July. 
 
 Thompson's victory is the latest in a remarkable political career - two decades in the Assembly, 14 years as governor, health secretary under President George W. Bush and then a lucrative career in the private sector. 
 
 He dabbled briefly in the 2008 presidential election. 
 
 But Thompson hasn't run for a statewide office since 1998, and a key to his primary victory was pointing to his past accomplishments while assuring voters he was the same old Tommy. 
 
 Thompson won the Senate primary despite being outspent by Hovde, a political newcomer who put more than $5 million into a campaign that took in another $500,000 in contributions, according to the Federal Election Commission. 
 
 He also was hit with attack ads from independent groups, such as the Club for Growth, which endorsed Neumann and painted Thompson as a big spender while he was governor. 
 
 Throughout the campaign, even when polls showed the race was narrowing, Thompson confidently said he was the sure bet to defeat Baldwin, reminding voters that only one politician could run on his first name in Wisconsin. 
 
 "It's a sign of trust," he told a business group in Milwaukee. "It's a sign of familiarity. It's a sign of accomplishment." 
 
 He also touted his record as governor: cutting taxes 91 times, reforming welfare and starting Milwaukee school choice, a program that uses public funds for low income students to attend private and parochial schools. 
 
 In particular, Thompson is expected to paint Baldwin as an out-of-touch free-spending liberal who supported President Barack Obama's economic stimulus. 
 
 On health care, the candidates could not be more far apart. Thompson has vowed to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while Baldwin has embraced it. 
 
 Baldwin's defense of the program is a personal one. She tells voters that she was raised by her grandparents in Madison and, at the age of 9, was hospitalized for three months because of a bone infection. Her grandparents discovered that their insurance plan didn't cover grandchildren, which required them to use their savings to pay for her care. 
 
 With that as a backdrop, Baldwin said she grew up believing that every American deserved the right to have affordable, comprehensive health care coverage. 
 
 Hovde, Thompson's closest challenger, told his supporters that he was proud of running a campaign that informed Wisconsin voters about the challenges of United States' debt crisis. 
 
 His short political career was over, he said, and he was throwing his support behind Thompson to defeat Baldwin. 
 
 "We have to restore America, our home," Hovde said. 
 
 In his concession speech, Neumann endorsed Thompson and called on Republicans to unite in opposition to Baldwin, whom he called more liberal than Obama. 
 
 "We just have to have Tommy Thompson beat Tammy Baldwin this fall," Neumann told his supporters at a Brookfield hotel. 
 
 Fitzgerald's spokesman Steve Stanek said: "We think our campaign pointed the candidates in the right conservative direction, and hopefully they continue that." 
 
 Gov. Scott Walker called Thompson to congratulate him. He had allowed the Thompson campaign to use flattering comments Walker made recently for use in a recent Thompson TV spot but declined to give an endorsement. 
 
 The governor released the following statement after Thompson's win: "Voters in Wisconsin will have a clear choice between an extreme liberal from Madison or a proven reformer who can get us working again." 
 
 During the race, Hovde, 48, a banker and investor, portrayed himself as a fresh face and a political outsider (despite living in Washington, D.C., for 24 years until returning to his native Madison last year) with the financial expertise needed to attack the deficit and other economic problems in the Senate. 
 
 Thompson raised $3.2 million, including loans and contributions of his own of $700,000 - most of it in the waning days of the race. 
 
 Neumann raised just less than $3.2 million and made loans and personal contributions totaling $595,725. 
 
 Baldwin enters the general election campaign with plenty of money on hand. Through July 25, she has reported raising $7.2 million and has $3.2 million cash on hand. Since then, she has raised at least an additional $122,000, according to Federal Election Commission records. 
 
 Neumann, 58, appealed to tea party Republicans. He also touted his private sector credentials and reminded voters of his reputation as a fiscal hawk in Congress in the 1990s. 
 
 As the early front-runner, Thompson became the target of attacks, including from factions in his own party who said he wasn't conservative enough and pointed to the fact that the size of government grew sharply under his leadership. The Club for Growth went on the air with ads that hit both Thompson and Hovde, and all told, spent $1.7 million, a spokesman for the group said. 
 
 Thompson battled back from charges that he was a big spending governor, saying government grew for the right reasons - the state took over a larger share of schools in exchange for cost controls and it built highways and new prisons. 
 
 Thompson was the oldest candidate in the race, but his style - gregarious, plain-spoken and optimistic - continued to connect with voters. 
 
 He kicked off his campaign for Senate on Dec. 1 in Waukesha County. But he had been toying with a run for months and did the same in 2010 before deciding not to take on incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold, prompting some to compare his flirtations with another fading star, Brett Favre. 
 
 No matter. 
 
 The Senate race didn't gain traction until after the July Fourth holiday. Until then, voters and the state's political machinery were geared up for the June recall election for governor between Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. 
 
 The race was further squeezed by an August primary, instead of a traditional date in September. And then came the Olympics, the massacre at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek and Mitt Romney's selection of Ryan, all diverting the public's attention. 
 
 Bill Glauber, Jason Stein, Meg Jones, Arthur Thomas and Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report. ||||| Two longtime Republicans, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson and Rep. John Mica of Florida, turned back conservative challengers in primaries on Tuesday while 12-term Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida was trailing tea party challenger Ted Yoho, a veterinarian and political novice. 
 
 Lida Bonilla casts her vote during the Florida Primary elections in Hialeah, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) (Associated Press) 
 
 Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson talks to the media after voting in a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Madison, Wis. Thompson is runningagainst businessman Eric Hovde, state Assembly Speaker... (Associated Press) 
 
 An "I Voted" sticker is affixed on former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's jacket Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Madison, Wis. Thompson voted in Tuesday's primary election and is running against businessman... (Associated Press) 
 
 Businessman Eric Hovde and his wife Sharon react after voting in a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, at the village hall in Shorewood Hills, Wis. Hovde is competing against former Gov. Tommy Thompson,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde greets supporters at a GOP campaign office on Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in Fitchburg, Wis. Hovde, a political newcomer, is in a four-person race for... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson votes along with his wife, Sue Ann Thompson in a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Madison, Wis. Thompson is running against businessman Eric Hovde, state... (Associated Press) 
 
 Yoho's strong showing was the surprise of the night as four states held primaries, including Connecticut and Minnesota. He was ahead of Stearns by less than 900 votes, complete but unofficial primary results showed. 
 
 Yoho's anti-incumbent campaign was boosted by a television ad with actors dressed as politicians in suits eating from a trough alongside pigs and throwing mud at each other. 
 
 Stearns, who is chairman of an investigations subcommittee for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has led high-profile probes of the failed California solar energy company Solyndra as well as Planned Parenthood. 
 
 Thompson turned back a trio of challengers to win Wisconsin's Republican Senate primary, setting up a general election race against Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin for retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl's seat. The GOP hasn't held it since 1957. 
 
 Thompson's win, as an establishment Republican derided by rivals as not conservative enough, was a disappointment for tea party forces and other conservative activists hoping to add to big wins earlier this year in the Indiana and Texas GOP Senate primaries. Tea party candidates scored major gains in the 2010 congressional races, but they've had mixed success since then. 
 
 The win marked the first step in a political comeback for Thompson, 70, a former Cabinet secretary who hasn't been on the ballot since 1998. 
 
 He beat former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, businessman and political newcomer Eric Hovde, who spent at least $4 million on the race, and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald. Neumann had support from tea party forces as well as the anti-tax group Club for Growth. 
 
 Thompson's challengers cast themselves as closer than Thompson to today's more conservative GOP. 
 
 Wisconsin Republicans hope they can build momentum from GOP Gov. Scott Walker's recall win in June and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's decision to tap native son Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. The GOP sees the Senate race in Wisconsin as a pickup opportunity as they try to gain majority control from the Democrats. 
 
 Thompson enjoyed the most name recognition statewide as a governor for 14 years who was first elected to political office in 1966. He got a late boost from Ryan, who praised Thompson's record as governor during a rally in Wisconsin on Sunday. Ryan did not mention Thompson's rivals. Thompson aired a radio ad on Monday featuring Ryan's comments. 
 
 In Florida, Mica, a 10-term congressman who wields considerable clout as the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is expected to win in November in his Republican-leaning district. Tea party freshman Rep. Sandy Adams fell short in his bid against Mica despite backing from 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. 
 
 Mica and Adams landed in the same central Florida district due to redistricting, and the result was a nasty member-versus-member primary. 
 
 The Florida contest was a prime example of the sharp split in the Republican Party this election season between grass-roots conservatives and the GOP's establishment candidates. 
 
 Mica overcame criticism by Adams that the big-spending ways of longtime lawmakers and Washington insiders like him have fueled the nation's soaring debt, a charge that echoes the deep divisions in the GOP. The two tangled over spending for pet projects and who's more conservative. 
 
 Also in Florida, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson will face Republican Connie Mack IV in November after each won handily in their respective party primaries. 
 
 In Connecticut, wealthy former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, the GOP's endorsed candidate, defeated former Rep. Christopher Shays in the Senate primary. Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, is retiring. 
 
 Shays, a moderate who had represented a district anchored by Greenwich and other wealthy suburbs outside New York City since 1987, lost his seat in 2008. He had hoped his Washington experience could blunt McMahon's wealth and official party support. 
 
 McMahon spent about $50 million of her own money in her failed 2010 Senate race. It was the largest amount of money spent on any campaign in state history, as well as the largest amount per vote nationwide. She outspent Shays and attacked him as a career politician. 
 
 In Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Chris Murphy, who was the party's endorsed candidate, beat former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. Looking past Shays, McMahon has already aired an attack ad against Murphy.
– Former four-term Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has fought off a trio of conservative challengers to win the state's GOP Senate primary. Thompson, George W. Bush's secretary of health and human services, will compete against Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin in a race that could determine control of the Senate. Thompson's rivals tried to use his history of taking moderate positions against him, but GOP voters agreed that his centrism made him the most likely to defeat Baldwin, who aims to become the first openly gay senator, notes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In Connecticut, meanwhile, former wrestling exec Linda McMahon crushed her rival in the Republican primary, setting up a showdown with Rep. Chris Murphy for the Senate seat being vacated by Joe Lieberman. And in Florida, veteran GOP Rep. John Mica defeated freshman Rep. Sandy Adams in a race that pitted them against each other because of redistricting. Adams lost despite having the support of Sarah Palin and much of the Tea Party. And it looks like there has been an upset in another Florida race, where 12-term Rep. Cliff Stearns is trailing Tea Party challenger Ted Yoho in their Republican primary, reports the AP. Yoho, a political novice, ran an anti-incumbent campaign with one ad depicting politicians in suits eating alongside pigs in a trough.