Nov 6, 2024 - Politics & Policy
Baldwin beats Hovde, keeping Wisconsin Senate seat for Democrats
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Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) has defeated Republican Eric Hovde in Wisconsin's toss-up Senate race, the Associated Press reported.
Why it matters: Baldwin fended off a late surge from Hovde and an influx of national Republican money to keep a critical Senate seat in Democrats' column.
- Baldwin's victory in a race that late polls indicated was neck-and-neck comes as a relief for Democrats, despite having lost their Senate majority.
The big picture: Baldwin campaigned on many of the economic accomplishments of the early Biden administration — even as she distanced herself from the president — and painted Hovde as a wealthy outsider who was trying to buy a Senate seat.
- Hovde's campaign cast Baldwin as part of the Washington establishment and tied her closely to the Biden administration.
- A wealthy, Wisconsin-born banker, he faced accusations of carpetbagging from Democrats as the CEO of California-based Sunwest Bank.
- Baldwin is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Senate and the first woman elected to the Senate from Wisconsin.
