The 2004 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

won re-election to a third term. , this was the last time the Democrats won the Class 3 Senate seat from Wisconsin.

Candidates

Democratic

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Republican

* Russ Darrow * Robert Gerald Lorge *

Tim Michels Timothy James Michels (born August 7, 1962) is an American businessman who co-owns and co-manages Michels Corporation, a family-owned and operated construction company. A member of the Republican Party, Michels was the party's unsuccessful no ...

, businessman and army veteran * Robert Welch, State Senator

Minor candidates

Libertarian

* Arif Khan, entrepreneur

Independent

* Eugene Hem, perennial candidate and former educator

General election

Campaign

Michels insisted he has more real world experience than Feingold, someone he called an "extreme liberal" who was out of touch with Wisconsin voters. Feingold attacked back by saying that any Republican would be a rubber stamp for President Bush. The incumbent had $2.2 million in the bank, while Michels had already spent $1 million in the primary and had only about $150,000 left. During both the primary and general election campaigns, Michel ran a series of ads attacking Feingold for his status as the sole senator to oppose the 2001

Patriot Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropr ...

. One of his earliest ads during the primary accused Feingold of putting "his liberal ideology before our safety", while another primary spot featured footage of the

September 11 Attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and a voice-over saying that "our leaders passed new laws to keep us safe. But Russ Feingold voted against those laws." After easily winning the Republican primary against three opponents, Michel released two more anti-Feingold spots focusing on the Patriot Act. One of the ads showed further footage of the September 11 attacks, while another depicted a Middle Eastern spy photographing a Wisconsin

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

before Michels appears on-screen and announces that Unlike Russ Feingold, I will support renewing the PATRIOT Act, because we need to be able to track and stop terrorists before they strike again." Michels reported that one-fifth of his campaign's advertising budget was devoted to making and airing the spots. In October, based on a belief that Feingold was vulnerable due in part to his vote on the Patriot Act, the NRSC pledged $600,000 in support of the Michel campaign. However, after the Michel commercials generated negative attention and Feingold continued to lead comfortably in most polls, the party rescinded their financial assistance. On October 1, a poll showed Feingold leading 52% to 39%. In mid October, another poll showed Feingold winning 48% to 43%. A poll at the end of the month showed him leading 51% to 36%.

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

;Debates
Wisconsin Senate General Election Debate
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, October 1, 2004
Wisconsin Senate General Election Debate
on

, October 16, 2004
Wisconsin Senate General Election Debate
on

, October 22, 2004 ;Official campaign websites (archived) Democrats
Russ Feingold
Republicans
Russ Darrow

Tim Michels

Robert Welch
{{United States elections, 2004 2004 Wisconsin elections

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...