But while Doyle's campaign tries to leave the case behind, political observers say fallout from the trial will muddy the debate over campaign-finance reform in a gubernatorial race that already has seen its share of questionable donations.

"You've got this money floating around in general that is simply destroying the political system, both at the state level and at the federal level," said John Witte, professor of political science at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "The amount of private money that you have to have to run your campaign is just ridiculous. If this leads to some kind of reform of that sort, I would be very happy."

Both Doyle and his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Hobart, have raised millions of dollars in a contest billed as the most expensive political race in Wisconsin history.

The most recent campaign finance reports, filed in January, show Doyle having a cash balance of $4.2 million and Green with $2.1 million.

Green has issued a challenge to Doyle to limit spending in the gubernatorial race to $5.5 million, equivalent to about $1 per Wisconsin resident. But, so far, Doyle has not responded.

As for questionable donations, Doyle and Green have returned contributions to donors either under indictment or linked to indictments.

Earlier this year, Green placed more than $29,000 in contributions he received from former Texas congressman Tom Delay — indicted in the Washington lobbyist scandal — into a separate account. He said he plans to give the money to the state's "rainy day fund" and to some charities.

The government watchdog group Common Cause of Wisconsin has called on Doyle to return the $20,000 he received from Adelman, but the Doyle campaign says it's keeping the money.

"After an exhaustive federal investigation, the trial confirmed that this is about one person: Georgia Thompson," said Doyle's campaign spokeswoman Melanie Fonder. "This isn't about anyone else, and the company did nothing wrong."

Both gubernatorial campaigns say the Thompson case has no bearing on their campaign strategies.

"The governor has a tremendous record of accomplishment over the last 3½ years, and he will stay focused on what people in Wisconsin care about, and that's making health care and energy more affordable, creating more jobs and keeping Wisconsin the stem-cell leader," Fonder said.

Meanwhile, some state lawmakers — including Rep. Terri McCormick, R-Greenville, and Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison — are seizing the moment by calling for the state Legislature, which adjourned last month, to reconvene and vote on Senate Bill 1.

The ethics reform bill passed the Senate last fall, but was not given a vote by the Assembly in the final days of the session.

Doyle's spokesman Matthew Canter said Doyle has declined to call a special session.

"Until we get a new Legislature that's willing to bring this to a vote, the governor will continue to lead on this issue of restoring clean government," Canter said.

McCormick, the lead sponsor of the bill in the Assembly, said "an extraordinary session" should be called to "get this done for voters."

An extraordinary session in the Assembly would have to be called by Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, who did not immediately return phone messages left at his Madison office or his campaign headquarters.

McCormick was critical of Gard last month for not scheduling a vote on Senate Bill 1 and for, instead, following through on a closed-door vote by the Assembly Republican caucus to kill the ethics reform bill. McCormick and Gard are both candidates for the 8th congressional seat being vacated by gubernatorial candidate Green.

Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah and author of the ethics bill, said the Thompson conviction "certainly adds to the urgency of a massive reform in how we police elected government."

Ellis vows to reintroduce his ethics bill when the next session reconvenes in January.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said Doyle should use the verdict as an opportunity to shape the debate over ethics and campaign-finance reform in the state and help restore public confidence to voters.

He said that on the heels of the state Capitol corruption scandal where former Assembly speaker Scott Jensen and four other former state lawmakers were convicted of pursuing campaign work on government time, Wisconsin residents are fed up with unethical behavior of politicians.

Heck said the corruption cases will result in a wave of negative campaign ads this fall as Republicans attempt to "wrap Georgia Thompson around Gov. Doyle's neck," and "Democrats produce ads wrapping Scott Jensen around Republicans' necks."

Heck said, "Given what's just happened, if nothing comes of it, then there's never going to be a good time" to discuss ethics reform.