Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s decision to retire after 24 years is a political maven’s ideal. Too bad almost no one is paying attention to the race to choose his successor.

The Republican primary features Tommy Thompson, a once hugely popular governor and the former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Mark Neumann, a former congressman and a conservative standard-bearer; and Jeff Fitzgerald, the current speaker of the state Assembly.

Eric Hovde, an investor who moved back to his hometown of Madison after 20 years in Washington D.C., continues to make overtures of running with millions of his own dollars that could alter the race.