Sen. Tammy Baldwin visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus last Tuesday, calling on students to vote for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.
The meeting was hosted by College Democrats as part of a high-traffic canvassing event. Baldwin spoke to about 20 students and discussed the necessity of electing Mandela Barnes to the U.S. Senate as well as the crucial role students would play in such close races across the state.
Baldwin emphasized tight races are the norm in Wisconsin, underlining statewide races, in both presidential and midterm years, are usually decided by a percentage point.
“Every vote matters,” Baldwin said. “Every vote you can wring out, every vote you can solidify is extremely critical.”
She pointed to the 2020 presidential election when Joe Biden won Wisconsin by fewer than 21,000 votes out of over 3.2 million cast — a 0.62% margin of victory she said came down to “just a couple of votes [President Trump] lost per precinct.”
UW-Madison students “play an enormous role in getting those votes,” Baldwin said, adding that student turnout can be a determining factor in many races.
“I'm here as living proof of that,” she said. “There's no way that I would now be a United States Senator if I hadn't had incredible student turnout in my [previous races].”
Over 24,500 UW-Madison students voted in the 2020 presidential election. In the most recent statewide elections, the victor prevailed by roughly the same margin, with Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, winning his 2018 race by fewer than 30,000 votes. President Biden won by an even smaller share in 2020. Baldwin said students can help secure victory for Democrats in November.
“We can do an incredible turnout push on this campus and really deliver for Tony Evers, Sarah Rodriguez, Josh Kaul [and] Mark Pocan,” Baldwin said, noting the Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and representative.
She acknowledged recent attempts by Republican lawmakers to restrict access to the ballot box may have caused confusion among students, but asserted people “just have to have a plan.”
Baldwin also touched on the necessity of replacing Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who she called her “polar opposite.” A Republican, Johnson has made headlines for embracing conspiracy theories and voting in opposition of Baldwin more than any other pair of senators from the same state.
“Basically, when I'm fighting for you, and casting votes, [Johnson’s] usually canceling the vote out,” Baldwin said. “I believe that we need two senators fighting for us.”
The U.S. Senate is currently split, with Democrats and Republicans each holding 50 seats. The Democrats have the majority and have been able to pass some legislation because of the tie-breaking powers of Vice President Kamala Harris, but the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 votes for the passage of many laws, has stymied much of their agenda.
“I think about our need to take serious actions on criminal justice reform,” Baldwin said. “I think about our need to take serious actions on immigration policy. I think about so many things that have been out of reach because of the filibuster. We need two more Democrats.”
One of the items currently stalled is the Women's Health Protection Act — co-authored by Baldwin — which would restore Roe. v Wade and prevent states from passing laws that further restrict reproductive freedoms. She said the bill only has 48 supporters, all Democrats — two short of the 50 it would need to pass.
“If we had two more Democrats in the U.S. Senate who were willing to both reform the filibuster and pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), we could, in short order, restore full freedoms to half of all Americans,” she emphasized.
Baldwin drew a stark contrast between Johnson — who celebrated the overturn of Roe v. Wade and opposes the WHPA — and Barnes, who is pro-choice and believes passing WHPA is necessary to protect reproductive rights.
“Send me a partner who's working for you,” Baldwin pleaded, encouraging students to vote for Barnes.
Baldwin also urged students to re-elect Gov. Evers, who she said was in the unfortunate situation of dealing with a “MAGA Republican” controlled state legislature. The Legislature has sent Evers bills restricting women's right to choose, ballot access and “all sorts of things that would be harmful to Wisconsin and set us back,” Baldwin said.
She highlighted Evers has been vetoing these laws but Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels would sign them into law.
“We would live in a very different state if that were to be the case,” Baldwin said. “So we need him for his veto [and] the fact that he would fill any vacancies on our state Supreme Court or fill any vacancies in our local courts, and that makes a huge difference.”
Baldwin also characterized Evers' re-election as one that would save Wisconsin from losing its reputation.
“We need him to send a message that Wisconsin is not lost,” Baldwin said, adding that the direction of the State Legislature had already portrayed the state negatively to the rest of the country. “We want students [to keep] wanting to come to Wisconsin to get their higher education at this super university. But I think people do look at the political climate of communities when they're thinking about where they want to live for a period of time or forever.”
She urged students to volunteer between now and the election “like your rights depend on it — because they do.”
Baldwin then opened up the floor to questions. When asked about her most impactful accomplishment in Congress, Baldwin said it was when she authored an amendment to the Affordable Care Act in 2010 which allowed young people to stay on their parents' health insurance until they are 26. She asked the assembled students if they were on their parents' health insurance, and everyone raised their hands.
“That always makes me want to cry,” Baldwin said, saying she was proud she could get the amendment through.
Baldwin also pointed to her efforts in leading the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA). The act, which she co-authored, would provide legal protections for same-sex marriage and interracial marriage.
The RFMA was prompted by Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Dobbs threatened the constitutional right to privacy that provided the basis for past marriage equality rulings in the past, and a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas revealed his dissatisfaction with those rulings, raising concerns the legality of same-sex marriage was at risk.
Baldwin, the first openly lesbian woman to be elected to the House and the Senate, said she had heard from countless people who were worried their marriages would soon be invalidated or not possible. The RFMA passed in the House with bipartisan support, but Senate leadership delayed the bill until after the midterm elections once it appeared it lacked the necessary Republican votes.
Johnson initially signaled he would vote for the bill before backtracking weeks later, telling reporters he didn’t think the bill was necessary. In an interview, Baldwin said she still hopes Johnson would “flip-flop a couple more times” and end up supporting the bill, though she indicated during the event the bill has enough votes.
“In order to pass [the Respect for Marriage Act] and overcome the filibuster, we need 60 votes,” Baldwin said. “And I think I have more than 60 now. We have all the Democrats, and I think we have over 10 Republicans and so hopefully, before the end of the year, after the midterms, we’ll have a vote and codify marriage equality.”
Gavin Escott is the campus news editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has covered protests, breaking news and written in-depth on Wisconsin politics and higher education. He is the former producer of the Cardinal Call podcast. Follow him on X at @gav_escott.
