Tammy Baldwin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Baldwin in 2023 | |
| Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Leader | Chuck Schumer |
| Preceded by | Patty Murray |
| United States Senator fromWisconsin | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 Serving with Ron Johnson | |
| Preceded by | Herb Kohl |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Scott Klug |
| Succeeded by | Mark Pocan |
| Member of theWisconsin State Assembly from the78th district | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | David Clarenbach |
| Succeeded by | Mark Pocan |
| Member of theDane County Board of Supervisors from the 8th district | |
| In office April 15, 1986 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Lynn Haanen |
| Succeeded by | Scott McCormick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (1962-02-11)February 11, 1962 (age 63) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Domestic partner |
|
| Relatives |
|
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website Campaign website |
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962)[1] is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as thejuniorUnited States senator fromWisconsin. A member of theDemocratic Party, she has also served as thesecretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017. Baldwin has been the dean of theUnited States congressional delegation from Wisconsin since 2023, when RepresentativeRon Kind retired.
Baldwin graduated fromSmith College and theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School, and was a lawyer in private practice before entering theWisconsin State Assembly in 1993. She served three terms fromWisconsin's 78th Assembly district from 1993 to 1999, and seven terms as theUnited States congresswoman fromWisconsin's 2nd congressional district from 1999 to 2013. She was elected to the United States Senate in2012, and reelected in2018 and2024.
Baldwin is thefirst openly lesbian woman elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly (1993), thefirst openly lesbian woman and first woman elected to the U.S. House from Wisconsin (1998), and the first openly LGBT person and first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin (2012).[2][3][4] She has aprogressive voting record onhealthcare,reproductive rights, andLGBT rights.[5]
Baldwin was born and raised inMadison, Wisconsin. Her mother, who died in 2017, was 19 and going through a divorce when Baldwin was born. Baldwin was raised by her grandparents and spent Saturdays with her mother, who suffered from mental illness and opioid addiction.[6] Her maternal grandfather, biochemistDavid E. Green, wasJewish (the son of immigrants from Russia and Germany), and her maternal grandmother, who wasAnglican, was English-born.[7] Baldwin's aunt is biochemistRowena Green Matthews. Through her maternal grandfather, Baldwin is a third cousin of comedianAndy Samberg.[8][9]
Baldwin graduated fromMadison West High School in 1980[1] as the classvaledictorian.[10] She earned aBachelor of Arts fromSmith College in 1984 and aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School in 1989.[1]
Before entering state politics, Baldwin first held political office at age 24 when she was elected to theDane CountyBoard of Supervisors in 1986. She served on the board until 1994.[10] She also served one year on theMadisonCommon Council to fill a vacancy.[11]
Baldwin has worked as an attorney in private practice.[1]
Baldwin ran to representWisconsin's 78th Assembly district in centralMadison in 1992. She won theDemocratic primary with 43% of the vote.[12] In the general election, Baldwin defeatedLabor and Farm Party nominee Mary Kay Baum andRepublican nominee Patricia Hevenor, 59–23–17%.[13] She was one of just six openly gay political candidates nationwide to win a general election that year.[14]
Baldwin was reelected with 76% of the vote in 1994.[15] She was reelected to a third term with 71% of the vote in 1996.[16]
Committee assignments:
In 1998, U.S. CongressmanScott Klug of the2nd district, based in Madison, announced he would retire, prompting Baldwin to run for the seat. Baldwin's ads leaned into the fact that Wisconsin had never sent a woman to Congress, and many of her ads targeted younger voters.[20] She won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 37% of the vote.[21] In the general election, she defeated Republican nominee Josephine Musser, 53–47%.[22] Baldwin's campaign drew strong turnout inDane County, using a team of volunteers, many of whom were students. The turnout was said to have helpedRuss Feingold's reelection campaignthat year, and was acknowledged by Feingold as a factor.[23]
Baldwin is the first woman elected to Congress from Wisconsin. She is also thefirst openly gay non-incumbent elected to the House of Representatives, and the first open lesbian elected to Congress.[24][25] She and RepresentativeBarney Frank co-founded theCongressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus in 2008.[26]
In 2000, Baldwin was reelected, defeating Republican nominee John Sharpless by 8,902 votes (51%–49%). She lost eight of the district's nine counties, but carried the largest, Dane County, with 55% of the vote.[27]
After the 2000 census, the 2nd district was made significantly more Democratic in redistricting. Baldwin won reelection to a third term in the newly redrawn 2nd district with 66% of the vote against RepublicanRon Greer.[28] In 2004, she beat Dave Magnum 63–37%.[29] She won a 2006 rematch against Magnum, again winning 63–37%.[30] In 2008, she defeated Peter Theron 69–31%,[31] and in 2010 she won a seventh term with 62% of the vote against Chad Lee.[32]
.jpg)
Baldwin ran as the Democratic nominee against Republican nomineeTommy Thompson, who had formerly been governor andSecretary of Health and Human Services. She announced her candidacy on September 6, 2011, in a video emailed to supporters.[33] She ran uncontested in the primary election,[34] and spoke at the2012 Democratic National Convention about tax policy, campaign finance reform, and equality in the United States.[35]
She was endorsed byDemocracy for America, and she received campaign funding fromEMILY's List, theGay & Lesbian Victory Fund, andLPAC.[36] Baldwin was endorsed by the editorial board ofThe Capital Times, who wrote that "Baldwin's fresh ideas on issues ranging from job creation to health care reform, along with her proven record of working across lines of partisanship and ideology, and her grace under pressure mark her as precisely the right choice to replace retiring U.S. SenatorHerb Kohl".[37]
Thompson said during the campaign that Baldwin's "far-left approach leaves this country in jeopardy".[38] The candidates had three debates, on September 28,[39][40] October 18,[41] and October 26.[42] According to Baldwin'sFederal Election Commission filings, she raised about $12 million, over $5 million more than Thompson.[43]
On November 6, 2012, Baldwin became the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate, with 51.4% of the vote. Because of her 14 years in the House of Representatives, under Senate rules she had thehighest seniority in her entering class of senators.[44] She was succeeded in Congress by State RepresentativeMark Pocan, who had earlier succeeded her in the state legislature.
Baldwin was featured inTime's November 19, 2012, edition, in the Verbatim section, where she was quoted as saying "I didn't run to make history" on her historic election.[45] In a separate section, she was also mentioned as a new face to watch in the Senate.[46]
Baldwin won a second term in 2018 with 55.4% of the vote, defeating RepublicanLeah Vukmir by a margin of approximately 11%.[47]
In April 2023, Baldwin announced her intention to run for a third Senate term.[48] She narrowly defeated Republican nomineeEric Hovde even as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won Wisconsin.[49][50]
_(cropped).jpg)
In 2003, Baldwin served on the advisory committee of theProgressive Majority, apolitical action committee dedicated to electing progressive candidates to public office.[53]
In 2012, Baldwin described herself as aprogressive in the mold of former Wisconsin governor and U.S. senatorRobert M. La Follette.[54] In 2013, she and Wisconsin's senior U.S. Senator,Ron Johnson, split on votes more frequently than any other Senate duo from the same state.[55] She was one of 16 female Democratic senators to sign a letter in 2013 endorsingHillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee in the2016 presidential election.[56]
In 2023, the Lugar Center ranked Baldwin in the top third of senators for bipartisanship.[57]
In 2019, she and eight other Democratic senators sentAgriculture SecretarySonny Perdue a letter that criticized theDepartment of Agriculture for purchasing pork fromJBS USA, an American subsidiary of a Brazilian corporation.[58]
Baldwin cosponsored H. Res. 333, a bill in 2007 proposingarticles of impeachment against Vice PresidentDick Cheney, and H. Res. 589, a bill proposing the impeachment ofAttorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales. She wrote in theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, "I joined with my colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee, Reps.Robert Wexler andLuis Gutiérrez, in urging ChairmanJohn Conyers to conduct hearings on a resolution of impeachment now pending consideration in that committee." She added that although some constituents "say I have gone too far", others "argue I have not gone far enough" and feel "we are losing our democracy and that I should do more to hold the Bush administration accountable for its actions."[59]
In 2018, Baldwin was one of 25 Democratic senators to cosponsor a resolution in response to findings of theIntergovernmental Panel On Climate Change report andNational Climate Assessment.[60]
In 1995, Baldwin proposed the creation of a review board to investigate the deaths of prison inmates.[61] In 1997, she authored a bill changing Wisconsin's candidate filing system to an electronic one.[62] Baldwin opposescapital punishment.[63]
Baldwin was one of 17 senators to sign a letter to President-electDonald Trump in 2016 asking him to fulfill a campaign pledge to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.[64]
She and 30 other senators signed a letter to Kaléo Pharmaceuticals in 2017 in response to the opioid-overdose-reversing deviceEvzio rising in price from $690 in 2014 to $4,500 and requested the company detail the price structure for Evzio, how many devices Kaléo Pharmaceuticals set aside for donation, and the totality of federal reimbursements Evzio received in the previous year.[65]
Baldwin was one of six senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell and Minority LeaderChuck Schumer in 2017 requesting their "help in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the 340B program", aTrump administration rule mandating that drug companies give discounts to health-care organizations presently serving large numbers of low-income patients.[66]
.jpg)
In a 2015 radio interview, Baldwin said that she,Pope Francis, andDonald Trump all supported repeal of thecarried interest tax loophole.PolitiFact wrote that "while Pope Francis has called for helping the poor and addressingeconomic inequality, we could not find that [Trump] has spoken out on this particular tax break."[67]
The editors ofThe Capital Times commended Baldwin for her vocal opposition to a budget resolution in 2017 that she believed would increaseincome inequality, calling her "one of the budget's most ardent foes".[68] She expressed opposition to the Trump tax-reform bill, theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, saying that it was being drafted "behind closed doors" and charging that it was being "shoved through." In its place she promoted the Stronger Way Act, a bill that she andCory Booker co-sponsored.[69]
Baldwin sponsored theReward Work Act of 2018, which proposed to guarantee the right of employees in listed companies to elect one-third of theboard of directors.[70] She signed a letter toLabor SecretaryAlexander Acosta in 2019 that advocated that the U.S.Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) make a full investigation into a complaint filed in May by a group of Chicago-areaMcDonald's employees that detailed instances of workplace violence, such as customers throwing hot coffee and threatening employees with firearms. The senators argued that McDonald's could and should "do more to protect its employees, but employers will not take seriously their obligations to provide a safe workplace if OSHA does not enforce workers rights to a hazard-free workplace."[71]
Baldwin supports Buy America rules and has advocated for their inclusion in federal funding bills.[72][73]
Baldwin was one of 12 senators to sign a letter to PresidentBarack Obama in 2016 asserting that the passage of theTrans-Pacific Partnership "in its current form will perpetuate a trade policy that advantages corporations at the expense of American workers" and that there would be an "erosion of U.S. manufacturing and middle class jobs, and accelerate the corporate race to the bottom" if provisions were not fixed.[74]
In 2024, Baldwin was one of a handful of Democrats credited with ending President Biden's proposedIndo-Pacific trade agenda. She said, "There were some big concerns that we would be retreating back to the day where trade was a race to the bottom, especially for workers."[75]
Baldwin was one of six Democrats led byAmy Klobuchar to sign letters in 2019 to theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) and theDepartment of Justice recounting that many of them had "called on both the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate potential anticompetitive activity in these markets, particularly following the significant enforcement actions taken by foreign competition enforcers against these same companies" and requesting that each agency confirm whether it had opened antitrust investigations into each company and that each agency pledge it would publicly release any such investigations' findings.[76]
Baldwin was one of 34 senators to sign a letter to President Trump in 2019 encouraging him "to listen to members of your own Administration and reverse a decision that will damage our national security and aggravate conditions insideCentral America", asserting that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance" since becoming president and that he was "personally undermining efforts to promote U.S. national security and economic prosperity" by preventing the use of Fiscal Year 2018 national security funding. The senators argued that foreign assistance to Central American countries created less migration to the U.S. by helping to improve conditions in those countries.[77]
In 2020, Baldwin voiced her opposition toIsrael's plan toannex parts of the Israeli-occupiedWest Bank.[78] In March 2024, she urged theBiden administration torecognize a "nonmilitarized"Palestinian state after the end of thewar in Gaza.[79] In April, she voted for a$14 billion military aid package to Israel.[80] Baldwin attended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress in July 2024 and was the only Democratic representative from Wisconsin in attendance.[81] After the address, she said she was "deeply disappointed" in the remarks, which came in the middle of the conflict in Gaza. Baldwin wrote that while she was "resolute" in her support for "Israel's right to defend itself and the need to end Hamas's threat... the time has come for the innocent bloodshed and the war to end".[82] Baldwin supports a two-state solution to theIsraeli-Palestine conflict.[83] In July 2025, she voted in favor of two motions made by SenatorBernie Sanders to block arms sales to Israel.[84][85]
Baldwin was one of 11 senators to sign a letter in 2017 toAttorney GeneralJeff Sessions expressing their concern "about credible allegations that the Trump campaign, transition team, and Administration has colluded with the Russian government, including most recently the events leading to the resignation of Lieutenant GeneralMichael Flynn as National Security Adviser." The senators requested the creation of "an independent Special Counsel to investigate collusion with the Russian government by General Flynn and other Trump campaign, transition and Administrative officials" in order to maintain "the confidence, credibility and impartiality of the Department of Justice".[86]
AfterSecretary of StateMike Pompeo announced in 2016 that the Trump administration was suspending its obligations in theIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days in the event that Russia continued to violate the treaty, Baldwin was one of 26 senators to sign a letter expressing concern over the administration "now abandoning generations of bipartisan U.S. leadership around the paired goals of reducing the global role and number of nuclear weapons and ensuring strategic stability with America's nuclear-armed adversaries" and calling on Trump to continue arms negotiations.[87]
Baldwin was a vocal critic of theIraq War.[10][88] She was among 133 House members who voted in 2002 against authorizing theinvasion of Iraq. She said there would be "postwar challenges", that "there is no history of democratic government in Iraq", that its "economy and infrastructure are in ruins after years of war and sanctions", and that rebuilding would take "a great deal of money".[89] In 2005, she joined theOut of Iraq Caucus.[90] In 2023, Baldwin voted with a bipartisan majority to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq. She also supports repealing the 2001 AUMF for the War on Terror.[91]
Baldwin voted for a resolution byRand Paul andChris Murphy in 2017 that would block Trump's $510 million sale of precision-guided munitions toSaudi Arabia that made up a portion of the $110 billion arms sale Trump announced during his visit to Saudi Arabia the previous year.[92][93]
Baldwin voted against tabling a resolution spearheaded byBernie Sanders,Chris Murphy, andMike Lee in 2018 that would have required Trump to withdraw American troops either in or influencingYemen within the next 30 days unless they were combatingAl-Qaeda.[94] In 2021, she voted for a resolution, opposed by a 67–30 majority, that would have blocked a $650 billion weapons sale to Saudi Arabia.[95]
Baldwin was one of 18 senators to sign a letter toThad Cochran andBarbara Mikulski in 2016 requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fund a study of gun violence.[96]
Baldwin was a cosponsor of the Military Domestic Violence Reporting Enhancement Act in 2017, a bill to create a charge of domestic violence under theUniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and stipulate that convictions must be reported to federal databases to keep abusers from purchasing firearms within three days in an attempt to close a loophole in the UCMJ whereby convicted abusers retain the ability to purchase firearms.[97]
Baldwin was a cosponsor of the NICS Denial Notification Act in 2018,[98] legislation developed in the aftermath of theStoneman Douglas High School shooting that would require federal authorities to inform states within a day after a person failing theNational Instant Criminal Background Check System attempted to buy a firearm.[99]
In 2022, Baldwin voted for theBipartisan Safer Communities Act, a gun reform bill introduced after a deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School inUvalde, Texas. The bill enhanced background checks for firearm purchasers under age 21, provided funding for school-based mental health services, and partially closed thegun show loophole andboyfriend loophole.[100][101][102]
An outspoken advocate of single-payer, government-rununiversal health care since her days as a state legislator, Baldwin introduced the Health Security for All Americans Act, which would have required states to provide such a system, in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005.[10][88][103][104][105] The bill died each time it was introduced without a House vote.[106]
Baldwin has said that she "believes strongly that a single-payer health system is the best way to comprehensively and fairly reform our health care system."[106] In 2009, she voted for the version of health-care reform that included apublic option, a government-run health-care plan that would have competed with private insurers, but only the House passed that version. She ultimately voted for theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare), which became law in 2010.[10][107] Baldwin is credited with writing the ACA provision that allows Americans to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26.[108] She said she hoped a public option in the ACA would lead to a single-payer system. The first version of the ACA Baldwin voted for included a public option, but the final version did not.[106]
In 2009, Baldwin introduced the Ending LGBT Health Disparities Act (ELHDA), which sought to advance LGBT health priorities by promoting research, cultural competency, and non-discrimination policies. The bill did not pass.[109]
Baldwin was one of five Democratic senators to sign a letter to President Trump in 2017 warning that failure "to take immediate action to oppose the lawsuit or direct House Republicans to forgo this effort will increase instability in the insurance market, as insurers may choose not to participate in the marketplace in 2018" and that they remained concerned that his administration "has still not provided certainty to insurers and consumers that you will protect the cost-sharing subsidies provided under the law."[110]
Also in 2017, Baldwin wrote an op-ed titled "Why I support Medicare for all and other efforts to expand health coverage."[111] In 2018 she was one of ten senators to sponsor the Choose Medicare Act, an expanded public option for health insurance that also increased Obamacare subsidies and rendered people with higher incomes eligible for its assistance.[112]
During the2018–19 United States federal government shutdown, Baldwin was one of 34 senators to sign a letter toCommissioner of Food and DrugsScott Gottlieb recognizing the FDA's efforts to address the shutdown's effect on public health and employees while remaining alarmed "that the continued shutdown will result in increasingly harmful effects on the agency's employees and the safety and security of the nation's food and medical products."[113]
In 2019, Baldwin was one of 11 senators to sign a letter to insulin manufacturesEli Lilly and Company,Novo Nordisk, andSanofi about their increased insulin prices depriving patients of "access to the life-saving medications they need".[114] She was one of eight senators to cosponsor the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA), a bill intended to strengthen training for new and existing physicians, people who teach palliative care, and other providers on the palliative care team that grants patients and their families a voice in their care and treatment goals.[115] In 2022, Baldwin voted with Democrats to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare at $35 a month. The act also allowed Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.[116]
Baldwin was one of 41 senators to sign a bipartisan letter in 2019 to the housing subcommittee supporting theHousing and Urban Development Department's Section 4 Capacity Building program as authorizing "HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country" and expressing disappointment that President Trump's budget "has slated this program for elimination after decades of successful economic and community development." The senators wrote of their hope that the subcommittee would support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020.[117]
In 2024, Baldwin co-sponsored the Stop Predatory Investing Act to ban corporate investors that buy up more than 50 single-family homes from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties.[118]
Baldwin voted against building a fence on the U.S.–Mexico border in 2006.[119] She voted in 2013 for S. 744, theBorder Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.[120] She voted againstKate's Law in 2016.[121]
In 1993, Baldwin became thefirst openly lesbian woman elected to theWisconsin State Assembly and one of fewopenly LGBT people elected to political offices in theUnited States at the time of her election.
In 1993, she said she was disappointed by PresidentBill Clinton's support of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, calling it "a concession to bigotry".[122] In 1994, she proposed legalizingsame-sex marriage in Wisconsin.[123] In 1995, she proposeddomestic partnerships in Wisconsin.[124]
In 2018, Baldwin was one of 20 senators to sign a letter toSecretary of StateMike Pompeo urging him to reverse the rollback of a policy that granted visas to same-sex partners of LGBTQ diplomats who had unions that were not recognized by their home countries, writing that too many places around the world had seen LGBTQ people "subjected to discrimination and unspeakable violence, and receive little or no protection from the law or local authorities" and that refusing to let LGBTQ diplomats bring their partners to the U.S. would be equivalent to upholding "the discriminatory policies of many countries around the world".[125]
In 2019, Baldwin was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to Pompeo requesting an explanation of aState Department decision not to issue an official statement that year commemoratingPride Month or to issue the annual cable outlining activities for embassies commemorating Pride Month. They also asked why theLGBTI special envoy position remained vacant and wrote that "preventing the official flying of rainbow flags and limiting public messages celebrating Pride Month signals to the international community that the United States is abandoning the advancement of LGBTI rights as a foreign policy priority".[126]
In 2022, Baldwin helped pass theRespect for Marriage Act.[127]
On December 16, 2024, Baldwin led over 20 Democratic senators in introducing an amendment to the Senate version of theNDAA 2025 that removed the restriction on TRICARE coverage for gender-affirming care for minors. The amendment was not brought up for a vote.[128][129][130]
Baldwin introduced a bill in 2013 that would "bring greater government transparency, oversight and due process whenever authorities use information gathered for intelligence purposes to make domestic non-terrorism cases against Americans."[131]
She called themass shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016 a "hate crime",[132] and said, "The question now for America is are we going to come together and stand united against hate, gun violence and terrorism?"[133]
Baldwin was one of 22 members of Congress to vote against a 20069/11 memorial bill; she said she "voted against the bill because Republicans had inserted provisions praising thePatriot Act and hard-line immigration measures".[134][135] She voted nine times in favor of other similar bills.[136]
Her vote received renewed attention inWisconsin's 2012 U.S. Senate race, whenTommy Thompson's campaign released an ad about it that PolitiFact rated "Mostly False".[136] Thompson said, "Wisconsin voters need to know that Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin put her extreme views above honoring the men and women who were murdered by the terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks on our nation."[134] PolitiFact wrote, "Thompson said his Democratic challenger voted against a resolution honoring9/11 victims. Technically, he's correct. Baldwin voted against the measure in 2006—and criticized Republicans for adding in references to the Patriot Act, immigration bills, and other controversial matters. But Baldwin has voted nine times in favor of similar resolutions, and the day before the vote in question supported creation of a memorial at the World Trade Center site. Thompson's statement contains an element of truth, but leaves out critical information that would give a different impression. That's our definition of Mostly False."[136]
Baldwin was a cosponsor of a bipartisan resolution led byGary Peters andJerry Moran in 2019 that opposed privatization of theU.S. Postal Service (USPS), citing the USPS as a self-sustained establishment and noting concerns that privatization could cause higher prices and reduced services for its customers, especially in rural communities.[137]
.jpg)
In August 2013, Baldwin was one of 23 Democratic senators to sign a letter to theDefense Department warning that some payday lenders were "offering predatory loan products to service members at exorbitant triple digit effective interest rates and loan products that do not include the additional protections envisioned by the law" and asserting that service members and their families "deserve the strongest possible protections and swift action to ensure that all forms of credit offered to members of our armed forces are safe and sound."[138]
In January 2015,USA Today obtained a copy of a report by theDepartment of Veterans Affairs inspector general about theTomah, WisconsinVeterans Affairs medical facility. The report said that two physicians at the Tomah VA were among the biggest prescribers ofopioids in a multi-state region, raising "potentially serious concerns". Baldwin's office had received the report in August 2014 but did not take action until January 2015, when Baldwin called for an investigation after theCenter for Investigative Reporting published details of the report, including information about a veteran who died from an overdose at the facility. Awhistleblower and former Tomah VA employee learned that Baldwin's office had a copy of the report, and repeatedly emailed Baldwin's office asking that she take action on the issue. Baldwin's office did not explain why they waited from August 2014 to January 2015 to call for an investigation. Baldwin was the only member of Congress who had a copy of the report.[139][140]
In February 2015, Baldwin fired her deputy state director over her handling of the VA report. The aide was offered but declined a severance deal that included a cash payout and a confidentiality agreement that would have required her to keep quiet. The aide filed an ethics complaint with theUnited States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The complaint was dismissed as lacking merit.[141] Baldwin said, "we should have done a better job listening to and communicating with another constituent with whom we were working on problems at the VA",[140] and that she had started a review of why her office had failed to act on the report. As a result of the review, Baldwin fined her chief of staff, demoted her state director, and reassigned a veterans' outreach staffer.[142] In 2016, Baldwin introduced a bill named after the affected veteran, Jason Simcakoski, to strengthen opioid prescribing practices and guidelines at the VA.[143] In November 2017, Baldwin co-sponsored legislation designed to strengthen opioid safety in the Department of Veterans Affairs.[143]
In 2021, Baldwin co-sponsored a bill to expand VA health benefits for veterans who were exposed to burn pits at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base inUzbekistan, also known as K2 Air Base.[144]
Baldwin was in a relationship with Lauren Azar for 15 years; the couple registered as domestic partners in 2009.[145] They separated in 2010.[146]
Baldwin was baptizedEpiscopalian but considers herself "unaffiliated" with a religion.[147][148]
In 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQPride parade,Queerty named Baldwin one of 50 heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[149][150]
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Primary[151] | Sep. 8 | Tammy Baldwin | Democratic | 24,227 | 37.09% | Richard J. Phelps | Dem. | 22,610 | 34.62% | 65,317 | 1,617 |
| Joe Wineke | Dem. | 17,444 | 26.71% | |||||||||
| Patrick J. O'Brien | Dem. | 1,036 | 1.59% | |||||||||
| General[151] | Nov. 3 | Tammy Baldwin | Democratic | 116,377 | 52.87% | Josephine Musser | Rep. | 103,528 | 47.03% | 220,115 | 12,849 | |
| Marc Gumz (write-in) | Rep. | 107 | 0.05% | |||||||||
| John Stumpf (write-in) | Tax. | 103 | 0.05% | |||||||||
| 2000 | General[152] | Nov. 7 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 163,534 | 51.36% | John Sharpless | Rep. | 154,632 | 48.57% | 318,380 | 8,902 |
| 2002 | General[153] | Nov. 5 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 163,313 | 66.01% | Ron Greer | Rep. | 83,694 | 33.83% | 247,410 | 79,619 |
| 2004 | General[154] | Nov. 2 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 251,637 | 63.27% | Dave Magnum | Rep. | 145,810 | 36.66% | 397,724 | 105,827 |
| 2006 | General[155] | Nov. 7 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 191,414 | 62.82% | Dave Magnum | Rep. | 113,015 | 37.09% | 304,688 | 78,399 |
| 2008 | General[156] | Nov. 4 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 277,914 | 69.33% | Peter Theron | Rep. | 122,513 | 30.56% | 400,841 | 155,401 |
| 2010 | General[157] | Nov. 2 | Tammy Baldwin (inc) | Democratic | 191,164 | 61.77% | Chad Lee | Rep. | 118,099 | 38.16% | 309,460 | 73,065 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tammy Baldwin | 1,547,104 | 51.41% | −15.90 | |
| Republican | Tommy Thompson | 1,380,126 | 45.86% | +16.38 | |
| Libertarian | Joseph Kexel | 62,240 | 2.07% | N/A | |
| Independent | Nimrod Allen, III | 16,455 | 0.55% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 3,486 | 0.11% | +0.05 | ||
| Majority | 166,978 | 5.55% | |||
| Turnout | 3,009,411 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tammy Baldwin | 1,472,914 | 55.36% | +3.95 | |
| Republican | Leah Vukmir | 1,184,885 | 44.53% | −1.33 | |
| Write-in | 2,964 | 0.11% | N/A | ||
| Majority | 288,029 | 10.83% | +5.25 | ||
| Turnout | 2,660,763 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tammy Baldwin | 1,672,777 | 49.33% | −6.03 | |
| Republican | Eric Hovde | 1,643,996 | 48.48% | +3.95 | |
| Disrupt the Corruption | Phil Anderson | 42,315 | 1.25% | N/A | |
| America First | Thomas Leager | 28,751 | 0.85% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 2,948 | 0.09% | −0.02 | ||
| Majority | 28,781 | 0.85% | −9.98 | ||
| Turnout | 3,390,787 | ||||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Data from Wikidata| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's 2nd congressional district 1999–2013 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of theCongressional Equality Caucus 2008–2013 Served alongside:Barney Frank | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Herb Kohl | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromWisconsin (Class 1) 2012,2018,2024 | Most recent |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus 2017–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 1) from Wisconsin 2013–present Served alongside:Ron Johnson | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as United States Senator | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States senators by seniority 36th | Succeeded by |
 | ||
| ||
| Class 1 | | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| 1st district |   | |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd district | ||
| 3rd district | ||
| 4th district | ||
| 5th district | ||
| 6th district | ||
| 7th district | ||
| 8th district | ||
| 9th district | ||
| 10th district | ||
| 11th district | ||
| Territory | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
