U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin narrowly beat Republican challenger Eric Hovde on Tuesday, securing a third Senate term.
“The people of Wisconsin have chosen someone who always puts Wisconsin first,” Baldwin said in a statement.
As of 8:33 a.m. Wednesday, Baldwin secured around 27,000 more votes than Hovde in one of the 2024 elections' most competitive races.
Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race was tracked as one of the critical races in determining the post-election Senate majority. The October Marquette Law Poll had Baldwin leading Hovde 51% to 49%, six points less than her lead in August.
Baldwin’s race was the seventh most expensive race in the nation, raising over $66 million between the two candidates. By the end of October, Baldwin managed to out-raise Hovde by $10 million in campaign contributions. However, Hovde outspent Baldwin by $6 million in TV advertisements between Oct. 14 and Election Day, according to the Associated Press.
Baldwin outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris, who was losing her bid for the presidency to former President Donald Trump by more than 32,000 votes in the state.
Earlier Tuesday, Baldwin told The Daily Cardinal she believed the record high early voter turnout was a good sign for her race. She said the reports of record early voter turnout has been “amazing” and believed it was a good sign for her race.
Baldwin’s campaign focused heavily on restoring abortion rights, a critical issue among Wisconsin voters. When the Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for the procedure in June 2022, an 1849 law banning abortions with no exception for rape or incest went into effect in Wisconsin.
Baldwin also focused her campaign on highlighting authorship of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a Senate bill that would restore nationwide abortion access and restore protections for abortion.
Iain Chang is a senior staff writer at The Daily Cardinal covering state news and politics.
