Wisconsin’s Thompson Is Tea Party’s Top GOP Target

The tea party has made former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson its top Republican target of the 2012 Senate races, The Hill reports. Many grass-roots conservatives are backing GOP Rep. Mark Neumann’s campaign against Thompson.

So far, tea partyers haven’t been able to find strong like-minded challengers to run against moderate incumbent GOP senators such as Olympia Snowe of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Dick Lugar of Indiana.

Neumann may represent conservatives’ best hope to defeat a heavyweight Republican who doesn’t hew closely enough to the conservative line. Tea partyers are perhaps most upset with the fact that Thompson supported early versions of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform effort.

However, several tea party groups haven’t come out for Neumann yet.