MILWAUKEE—Even though former Sen. Russ Feingold hasn’t said whether he’ll run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Herb Kohl next year, that didn’t stop many Democrats from daydreaming about sending him back to Washington.

About 1,000 Democrats gathered in Milwaukee on Friday for a convention billed as a prelude to recalling Republican Gov. Scott Walker and six GOP state senators. However, many attendees were also focused on national politics, particularly the U.S. Senate.

While U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Kind have been mentioned as possible Democratic candidates for the Senate seat, Feingold seemed to be an early favorite.

“I really think Russ is the only one out there,” said Megan Moen, 23, a caregiver from Cedarburg. “I like Tammy Baldwin and Ron Kind but I think they’re better as congressmen.”

Feingold lost his re-election bid last year, and has seemed to adjust easily to life as a private citizen after 18 years in that office. He taught a law class this spring and is writing a book, and says he’s still deciding whether to return to politics.

He has said he plans to make a decision by Labor Day.

Convention attendees seemed to agree that he’d have the best chance of winning the seat.

Cecily Smith, 58, said she wanted to see Feingold back as a senator because he proved his commitment to Wisconsin during the three terms he served.

“He knows his stuff in the Senate. He gets stuff done,” said Smith, a graduate student from Madison. “We’ve got to have some sense back in there.”

Some people said Baldwin shouldn’t be overlooked. Lisa Theo, 51, said the congresswoman has a strong record of fighting for healthcare and education.

“I’d love to see her run,” said Theo, a geography professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. “I think she’d be fabulous.”

Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said Feingold would be the “prohibitive favorite” if he decided to run but said Baldwin and Kind would also be formidable candidates.

Voters were so upset over recent Republican actions, he said, that he was confident that whichever candidate Democrats ran would end up winning.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin countered that voters already made their opinions of Feingold clear last November

“If Democrats think they’ll have a different result if he decides to run next November they’re kidding themselves,” spokeswoman Katie McCallum said, adding that Baldwin was too liberal to win a statewide race.

Some Democratic attendees said they’d prefer seeing Feingold run for governor if Walker is recalled next year.

“I think he’d be the best candidate against Walker,” said Mark Mamerow, 52, a computer analyst from Milwaukee. “I think he’d swamp the field if he ran for senator but he’d be more powerful, he’d make a bigger difference, as governor.”

Democrats say they want to recall Walker in part because of his efforts to strip certain collective bargaining rights from most public employees. They’re also targeting six Republican state senators for supporting the measure, which is currently tied up in a court challenge.

The measure prompted weeks of massive protests at the state Capitol in February. Some convention attendees said all the anger and passion would carry over to helping Feingold win a potential race next year, even though he lost the election last year.

“All these things going on in local politics have really ticked people off,” said Brian Wahlig, 51, a researcher from Glendale. “I think that would really help Feingold if he decides to run.”

———

Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.