Tammy Baldwin faces Eric Hovde in U.S. Senate election

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Wisconsin residents will elect one of their two U.S. senators in November. The winner of the race between incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, and Republican businessman Eric Hovde will earn a six-year term, which starts in January.

What to know

WHAT DOES A U.S. SENATOR DO?

Write, review and vote on lengthy legislation that is often bundled into larger packages. Bills often move slowly through the Senate because of the chamber’s cumbersome process.

Probe the president’s Cabinet, judicial and diplomatic appointees by holding hearings to examine a nominee’s qualifications and ultimately voting to approve or reject them.

BACKGROUND READING

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., speaks during President Joe Biden’s visit to Wisconsin on Aug. 15, 2023, at a factory in Milwaukee. (Drake White-Bergey / Wisconsin Watch)

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seeking a third six-year term in the U.S. Senate in November. First elected in 2012, Baldwin previously served in the U.S. House and in the state Legislature. She is the first woman to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, and she is the chamber’s first openly gay member.

One of her signature legislative accomplishments came during her time in the U.S. House, when she authored the provision in the Affordable Care Act that allows Americans to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26. She’s also been a proponent of “Buy America” policies, which require certain materials used in infrastructure projects to be made in the United States. More recently, in the U.S. Senate, she led an effort to pass legislation that guarantees federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

An April Marquette Law School Poll found that 47% of Wisconsin residents had a favorable opinion of Baldwin, while 42% had an unfavorable view. She’s also had success appealing to voters outside of the state’s Democratic strongholds, which powered her to reelection in 2018 by 11 percentage points — a blowout by Wisconsin standards. She faces no primary challenger on Aug. 13.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde talks to reporters at Wisconsin Media Row at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Jack Kelly / Wisconsin Watch)

Republican Eric Hovde, a wealthy businessman who owns a real estate development company and a bank, will challenge Baldwin in November. He faces two GOP opponents in the Aug. 13 primary, though he’s considered by election analysts to be the only top-tier Republican candidate in the race. He was endorsed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin in May.

Hovde has so far focused his campaign on curbing government spending, which he says is responsible for inflation in recent years, and securing the country’s southern border. He’s sought to tie Baldwin to President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the presidential race in July. Hovde has also made uniting Americans a central piece of his campaign. “We need to put on the red, white, blue jersey and come together as Americans,” he told delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Hovde has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats for owning a multi-million-dollar home in Laguna Beach, California. He’s also been chastised for suggesting nursing home residents are not “at a point to vote.”