HE SAID, SHE SAID

The Journal Sentinel staff

Madison Wisconsin first lady Sue Ann Thompson has made a remarkable recovery from breast cancer and become more active in politics perhaps a tad too active, the governor said Friday.

Sue Ann Thompson campaigned actively for Marathon County Circuit Judge Ann Walsh Bradley, who was elected Supreme Court justice Tuesday.

Bradley won 55% of the vote, defeating by more than 90,000 votes Brown County Circuit Judge N. Patrick Crooks, who had the backing of Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's campaign forces and supposedly the governor himself.

In an interview Friday, the governor said his wife was doing fine after cancer surgery several months ago.

"She's a stronger person and a stronger advocate," Thompson said. Somewhat chagrined, he added with a laugh, "More politically involved than I would care.

"All I can say is she got more involved in that campaign than any of my campaigns, ever."

Crooks had the governor's campaign forces supporting him, including Janesville lawyer George K. Steil Sr., as campaign chairman, and Assembly Majority Leader Scott Jensen (R-Waukesha), former Thompson chief of staff, as his campaign manager.

The governor, however, never formally endorsed Crooks, and he wouldn't say Friday whether he voted for Crooks.

"I stayed the hell out of it," the governor said.

But Sue Ann Thompson re Leg 1 ends here vealed in a separate interview that the governor, before a trip earlier this week to Germany, voted by absentee ballot for Bradley, and that he was pleased that Bradley won.

"Tom voted for Ann," she said. "I know that for a fact, that he voted for Ann. He was happy. Maybe not as happy as I was. That would have been hard.

"He's always happy when I'm happy. It's not nice to make me unhappy! Don't you know that?"

She said those who thought the governor was backing Crooks were mistaken.

"I think Tom was in support of me, regardless," she said. "I really think he did try to stay out of it for that reason."

Mrs. Thompson and former Democratic Gov. Anthony S. Earl served as co-chairs of the Bradley campaign. She appeared in TV spots for Bradley and, during the interview, said she worked hard for her Leg 2 ends here candidate.

"I contacted a lot of people," she said. "I made a lot of friends across the state all these years. Good friends are wonderful. I certainly in the last six months learned that firsthand."

However, she downplayed her role. Bradley, a friend for at least 25 years, deserved all the credit for campaigning so hard, she said.

"She worked very, very hard."

She said she has no plans to get involved in other political campaigns.

"This may be my last campaign," Mrs. Thompson said. "I didn't go into it because I was going to rev up a campaign machine or anything.

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