Tommy Thompson (R), the former four-term Wisconsin governor and secretary of Health and Human Services, would take down Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) if an election for Senate were held today, according to a new poll from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (Sept. 27-29, 700 A, MoE +/- 3.8%).

Thompson leads Feingold, who's up for re-election to a fourth term next year, by a 43%-39% margin. However, Thompson has not indicated interest in the race, and Feingold's only challenger right now is businessman David Westlake. Feingold has never won with more than 55% of the vote.

Thompson made a brief run for president, officially announcing his candidacy in April 2007 and dropping out after the Ames straw poll four months later. He made headlines this week after urging Congress to pass health care reform this year.

Feingold made headlines this morning after lambasting the White House for not sending a representative to his Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on President Obama's policy czars.