It was odd enough that ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson took over as chairman of the board for a Florida pharmaceutical firm in the middle of his U.S. Senate campaign.

In making the announcement, TherapeuticsMD - which specializes in providing over-the-counter and prescription drugs to women - pointed to Thompson's years as U.S. health and human services secretary, including his role in adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare.

But then a spokesman for the former four-term Wisconsin governor said Thompson was planning to do the company work for free.

"The governor has served as an uncompensated adviser to TherapeuticsMD for the past year, and the acceptance of the board appointment reflects his belief in the women's health products the company offers," Thompson campaign aide Brian Nemoirtold the Huffington Post in May. "Obviously, he would not have accepted the uncompensated board appointment if he felt it competed with the demands of the Senate race."

Uncompensated board appointment? When did Thompson start taking board positions for free?

It has been documented that Thompson has built a net worth of about $13 million largely through investments and work for dozens of companies, often as a member of the board of directors.

But Thompson's pro bono board work for TherapeuticsMD did not last long.

According to corporate filings, Thompson has since been awarded 75,000 stock options "for his services as a director and as Chairman of the Board during the 2012 calendar year." The company granted the stock options on June 29, a little more than a month after the announcement that he had joined the board.

Thompson - who is running against U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, for the open seat - can buy the TherapeuticsMD stock at $2.80 per share at the end of the year. The pharmaceutical company's stock closed at $3.45 a share Friday. He has 10 years to exercise his options.

Baldwin spokesman John Kraus suggested that the former governor knew all along that he was going to be paid for his work on the board. The news release on the appointment does not say that Thompson would offer his services for free.

"This wouldn't be the first time that Thompson senior adviser Brian Nemoir misled the media," Kraus said Friday.

Lisa Boothe, Thompson's communications director, said no one misled anyone regarding Thompson and TherapeuticsMD.

Boothe said the original statement was accurate, but the circumstances changed.

"It was uncompensated at the time and now, it is compensated," Boothe said in an email.

Boothe also played down the value of the stock options.

The strike price, she noted, was set at $2.80 a share, the price of the stock on the day Thompson was granted his options.

But the stock price for TherapeuticsMD has risen in the last three months. If he could have exercised and sold his options last week, Thompson would have netted nearly $50,000.

The options don't vest, however, until Dec. 31.

Boothe emphasized that Thompson may never exercise the options.

"The stock option grant you reference is a grant of unvested stock options which is not income," Boothe said. "In addition, Governor Thompson as previously noted will resign from all boards and so, the restrictions on these options may never be satisfied and thus, forfeited."

On second thought

After facing criticism for trying to retire his primary campaign debt in the middle of a heated general election, ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann reversed field last week with a fundraising appeal for Thompson, his primary foe.

"I firmly believe that the road to control of the United States Senate runs through Wisconsin," Neumann wrote last week. "We could be the difference between two more years in the Minority, and sending Harry Reid back to the Minority where he belongs. This race is so important. Tommy Thompson needs our help, today."

Neumann continued, "I'm all in for Tommy Thompson. I hope you are too."

Last Monday, Neumann - who finished third in a four-way GOP primary - asked his supporters to give him money so he could wipe out a $152,000 debt in his campaign account. In an interview, the millionaire businessman brushed aside any suggestion about paying the outstanding bills with his own money.

Neumann, who campaigned on a detailed plan to balance the federal budget, said he didn't see the problem in trying to balance his own books at the same time the Thompson campaign was scrambling for cash. Thompson faces Baldwin in the Nov. 6 general election.

But two days after defending his actions, Neumann shifted gears with his solicitation for Thompson. Club for Growth, a national outfit closely allied with Neumann, repeatedly blasted Thompson in the primary for being too moderate.

"While we came up short in that Primary, we still have an important battle before us," Neumann wrote in the email. "My friend Tommy Thompson is now the Republican nominee for United States Senate from Wisconsin. I am proud to have endorsed him. He is locked in a dead heat in the most important race in America.

"The same Radical Left that rocked our state with Recalls is now targeting Governor Thompson, doing everything they can to destroy him and elect Tammy Baldwin. He needs your help. Will you join me and back Tommy Thompson today?"

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice.