MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - On this day, Nov. 19, 1941, former Governor Tommy Thompson was born in the Village of Elroy, Wisconsin.

Thompson got his start in politics immediately after graduating law school at the University of Wisconsin.

He decided to run for Wisconsin State Assembly in 1966, winning the Adams-Juneau-Marquette District election with around 72% of the vote. He would serve in the State Assembly until 1986, when he successfully ran for and won the Wisconsin Governor’s election.

Thompson left office in 2001 as Wisconsin’s longest serving governor.

He became the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for President George W. Bush from 2001 until he resigned in December 2004.

In 2012, he won the Republican nomination for Wisconsin’s open U.S. Senate seat. He lost to democra

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