Russ Feingold

Russ Feingold served in the U.S. Senate from 1992 to 2010, representing the state of Wisconsin. In 2010, Feingold lost his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate to Republican candidate Ron Johnson.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/individual/#mapSWI Feingold was a prominent figure with regard to legislation on campaign finance reform. He co-authored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act. Feingold started his career in politics in 1983 as a Senator for the Wisconsin State Senate.

On March 19, 2009, Feingold submitted legislation that would eliminate the death penalty by federal statute. Titled the "Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2009," Feingold cites the fact that the United States comes in fifth on the list of nations who executed the most people in 2007. Leading the list were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.Huffington Post: Feingold To Death Penalty ... (March 19, 2009)

With the help of Republican and 2008 Presidential hopeful, John McCain, Russ Feingold reformed campaign finance procedures. Introduced to the Senate in 2005, the Act would ban lobbyists from giving gifts to members of the Senate. The Act would further impose a $50,000 fine for any infraction. The McCain-Feingold Act amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.http://www.fec.gov/press/bkgnd/bcra_overview.shtml

In 2010, Russ Feingold ran for a third term in the U.S. Senate against Republican nominee Ron Johnson. Feingold's platform was to reduce the deficit by ending earmarks and giving the President line-item veto power. He also defended his vote on the health care reform.http://deskofbrian.com/2010/10/russ-feingold-vs-ron-johnson-senate-debate/ Early polls in October had Johnson leading by 6 points.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/wi/wisconsin_senate_feingold_vs_johnson-1577.html On November 2, 2010, Russ Feingold was defeated by Republican candidate Ron Johnson by five percentage points, with Johnson claiming 52% of the vote.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/individual/#mapSWI

After his defeat, Russ Feingold addressed his supporters on his blog, writing, "Thank you. Thank you for your support over the years. Representing Wisconsin in the Senate has been the greatest honor of my life and together we accomplished many great things. No one has ever had such a strong foundation of support as I have. You gave me my backbone.In the words of Bob Dylan: 'But my heart is not weary. It’s light and free. I’ve got nothing but affection for those who have sailed with me.' Forward!"http://blog.russfeingold.org/