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Sen. Tammy Baldwin is fighting to hold onto her Senate seat in a tight race against Republican Eric Hovde in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
The seat is one of several up for election in 2024 that are seen as crucial for control of the Senate, as Republicans work to build a majority. The race in the Badger State, among the most competitive this cycle, has been a bruising one as the two candidates each sought to portray the other as coastal elites out of step with Wisconsinites.
Baldwin, 62, was first elected to the Senate in 2012 after representing Wisconsin in the House for more than a decade. She has a long history of courting rural voters in the state — in her last race, she won counties that had supported Trump, despite her progressive politics.
Hovde, 60, also sought the GOP nomination in 2012, but it went to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who went on to lose the election to Baldwin. As chairman and CEO of Utah-based Sunwest Bank, Hovde is one of a number of Republican Senate candidates recruited in part for their ability to fund their own campaigns this cycle.
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On the campaign trail, Baldwin painted Hovde as an out-of-touch wealthy businessman. He campaigned on issues like immigration and criticized Baldwin for her record in Washington.
The race grew personal in the campaign’s final stages, as Republicans ads raised innuendoes about Baldwin’s long-term partner, a financial adviser, and her business ties. While Republicans have demanded that Baldwin disclose her partner’s assets, claiming in advertisements that Baldwin is “in bed with Wall Street” and dubbing her the “third senator from New York,” Democrats accused the GOP of trying to draw attention to her sexuality. Baldwin is the first openly LGBTQ senator in history.
Meanwhile, Democrats worked to highlight Hovde’s connections to California. They’ve also zeroed in on a number of controversial comments by Hovde, including the suggestion that people in nursing homes don’t have the capacity to vote.
The Cook Political Report rated the race as a toss-up heading into Election Day, shifting its rating from lean-Democrat in early October as the state appeared to tighten. Baldwin was considered the most vulnerable of the Democratic Senate candidates in the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and Hovde saw some momentum in the late stages of the campaign.
