(NewsNation) — With 49.3% of the vote, NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ has called the race for the U.S. Senate seat for Wisconsin in favor of Sen. Tammy Baldwin. See all Wisconsin race results here.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin defended her seat in the critical swing state against Republican challenger Eric Hovde, a wealthy real estate executive who was handpicked by national Republicans to go up against Baldwin.
Baldwin enjoyed the luxury of both her incumbent status and a significant war chest coming from Democratic loyalists. Hovde, meanwhile, contributed his own money to his effort to win the Senate seat by loaning his campaign $13 million to unseat his Democratic challenger. According to Open Secrets, Baldwin had raised more than $35 million and spent more than $29 million compared to Hovde’s more than $16 million raised and more than $13 million spent.
With Democrats holding the slimmest advantage in the upper chamber of Congress, Wisconsin remained a key state along with Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania in maintaining that control.
Baldwin served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly beginning in 1992 before she became Wisconsin’s first female member of Congress in 1998. In doing so, Baldwin also became the first openly gay candidate to win a spot in Congress, where she has served seven terms.
While in office, Baldwin has helped to craft the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as legislation that would allow young people to remain on their parents’ health insurance plan until age 26.
Baldwin focused her reelection efforts on issues including bolstering “made in Wisconsin manufacturing,” lowering prescription drug prices, advocating for access to abortions and reproductive health care and bipartisan efforts to “protect our troops, support our first responders, and keep Wisconsin safe from threats both at home and abroad,” among other issues.
Meanwhile, Hovde has never held office after a failed 2012 Senate bid when he lost the Republican nomination to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. Thompson then lost to Baldwin, who was reelected in 2018 when the Madison native won in a landslide victory.
Hovde emerged from Wisconsin’s Republican primary to face Baldwin after receiving the nod from national Republicans and getting an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Like Trump, Hovde made his fortune in real estate, along with banking, and is the co-owner and CEO of a Wisconsin real estate development company. He also serves as the CEO of a commercial business bank.
The Republican candidate built his 2024 Senate bid platform to mirror the GOP’s platform, focusing on tackling inflation and the cost of living, curbing the flow of migrants across the southern border, “reclaiming America’s position as a strong global leader,” and “fixing our broken healthcare system.”
Wisconsin has remained a critical state in the race for the White House. The state had shifted between red and blue for much of its history before the Democrats claimed victory in seven straight presidential elections between 1998 and 2012. Biden won Wisconsin by less than a percentage point over Trump in 2020.
The outcome of this race will affect the balance of power in the Senate. A total of 34 seats are up in 2024, with 23 being held by Democrats and independents. Republicans can retake control of the upper chamber of Congress by flipping two seats from Democrats or by winning the presidential race and flipping just one other seat.
