Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., announced her bid for a third Senate term Wednesday, framing one side of the 2024 race with no declared Republican candidates.
Baldwin’s re-election launch comes fresh off a Democratic victory in Wisconsin, where liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz won an open state Supreme Court seat last week by a 11 point margin. Abortion rights was a driving factor for Democratic turnout in the state — and an issue Baldwin referenced in her announcement.
“I’m committed to making sure that working people, not just the big corporations and ultra-wealthy, have a fighter on their side. With so much at stake, from families struggling with rising costs to a ban on reproductive freedom, Wisconsinites need someone who can fight and win,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin handily won her second bid in 2018, defeating Republican challenger Leah Vukmir by nearly 11 points. That was a relative outlier in such a narrowly divided state — her Republican colleague, Sen. Ron Johnson, narrowly beat former Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes by one percentage point last November, while Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won re-election by more than 3 percentage points.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, Chairman of the Select Committee on China, businessmen Scott Mayer and Eric Hovde and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke are among those seen to be possible, high-profile candidates. But no Republicans have officially entered the race.
In 2012, Baldwin became the first woman representing Wisconsin in the Senate and the first openly gay member in the chamber. She helped lead the legislative effort to codify same-sex marriage last year.