Eric Hovde (R), Thomas Leager (America First Party), Phillip Anderson (Disrupt The Corruption Party), and Tammy Baldwin (D), who is already in office, are running for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin on November 5, 2024.
As Scott Bauer of the Associated Press wrote, “The seat in battleground Wisconsin is seen as essential for Democrats, who know they must win there if they want to keep the majority in the Senate.”
In an election year with Democrats protecting a lot more Senate seats, a win there for Republicans would greatly improve their chances of getting the upper hand.
Baldwin beat Leah Vukmir (R) 55.4% to 44.6% in 2018, which was the biggest margin of victory in any statewide race in Wisconsin that November. The average margin of victory in November 2018 statewide races in Wisconsin was 4.9%. Ron Johnson (R) beat Mandela Barnes (D) 50.4% to 49.4% in Wisconsin’s 2022 Senate race.
As of August 27, 2024, the race was seen as Lean Democratic by The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Decision Desk HQ and The Hill, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Baldwin worked as a lawyer after getting his bachelor’s degree from Smith College and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He was chosen in 2012.
She has been a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, the Dane County Board of Supervisors, and the representative for Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District. She was a lawyer before she ran for office.
Baldwin said that lowering costs, making abortion available across the country, and protecting democracy are her top objectives.
Baldwin told Crystal Hill of Democracy Docket, “This is a time when we need to keep working on, first, lowering the cost of things.”Also, we’re working to get back the rights and freedoms we’ve lost… We need to protect the rights and freedoms of half of our state after the Dobbs decision.
This is particularly important in Wisconsin, where a law from 1849 makes abortion illegal. We also need to protect our democracy. One of the states that chose a bunch of fake voters was ours. The state’s Government, which is run by Republicans, has tried to make it harder for people to vote.
Hovde works in real estate, is the CEO of a bank, and helped start the Hovde Foundation, a family-run organization. He went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison and got his bachelor’s degree. Hovde said that the cost of healthcare, inflation, and the border between the U.S. and Mexico are his top concerns.
Havde told Vanessa Kjeldsen of WMTV 15 that “our country has real deep problems going on right now.” People are really being hurt by inflation; many of the stories I hear are very sad…It’s a very big problem when you think about how much food, insurance, energy, and health care have gone up.
And a lot of this, even most of it, is caused by all this careless spending. I’m very worried about what we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.
The balance of power between the parties in the U.S. Senate in 2025 will depend on how this race turns out.
There are 34 out of 100 seats up for election, plus one special election. In 2024, there are 29 places up for election.
Nineteen are held by Democrats, eleven by Republicans, and four by independents. It was May 2024, and eight senators had said they would not be running for re-election.