Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Baldwin wins reelection by defeating a Trump-backed opponent

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin won a third term, delivering a victory for Democrats in the swing state that President-elect Donald Trump carried on Tuesday.

Baldwin defeated Republican challenger Eric Hovde, a bank owner and real estate investor endorsed by Trump. Hovde has not conceded the race, which was within the 1-percentage point margin that would allow for him to seek a recount, based on unofficial results.

"The voters have spoken and our campaign has won," Baldwin said after The Associated Press called the race. "The people of Wisconsin have chosen someone who always puts Wisconsin first, someone who shows up, listens, and works with everyone to get the job done."

Baldwin declared victory earlier Wednesday after the tally of absentee ballots from Milwaukee was reported. She had a lead of 0.9% based on the unofficial results, just within the 1% margin that would allow for Hovde to request a recount if he pays for it.

"You know we'll spend time with the Hovde campaign and our staff and election integrity staff and others and look at that issue and see, it is a very, very close race," said Wisconsin GOP Party Chairman Brian Schimming.

In a statement before the AP called the race, Hovde didn't concede or say whether he would request a recount.

"We're watching the final precinct results come in," he said. "We're certainly disappointed that the Democrats' effort to siphon votes with a fraudulent candidate had a significant impact on the race, with those votes making up more than the entire margin of the race right now."

The "fraudulent candidate" Hovde referred to is Thomas Leager of the America First Party. Leager, a far-right candidate who was recruited by Democratic operatives and donors to run as a conservative, finished a distant fourth but got more votes than the margin between Baldwin and Hovde.

"It's unfortunate if the Democrats wouldn't have put a plant, this probably would have been called some time ago," Hovde told his backers before sending them home. "But you know what? It is what it is."

The reference of a "plant" meant to define independent Senate candidate Phil Anderson, who claimed 1% of the vote.

"There's a bag of tricks that various campaigns can engage in," said UWM Professor Emeritus Mordecai Lee.

Lee says he does not buy the accusation that conservative-based Anderson was planted on the ballot to steal votes.

"After everything is certified, then he's got 3 days to go to the Wisconsin Election Commissioner and file the form saying he wants the recount, and then they'll tell him how much it might cost," said Lee.

Four years ago, the Former President Donald Trump paid $3 million to recount Dane and Milwaukee Counties, but it didn't make a difference.

"I think it's fair to say that in modern Wisconsin history very, very few recounts are successful in overturning the results," said Lee.

Baldwin ran ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin to Trump by less than a percentage point. That marks the fifth time in the past seven presidential elections that a presidential election in Wisconsin has been decided by less than a point.

The Baldwin win comes despite Republicans seizing control of the U.S. Senate by flipping Democratic-held seats in Ohio and West Virginia.

Democrats were hoping for a Baldwin win to prevent Republicans from holding both of Wisconsin's Senate seats.

Although Baldwin's voting record is liberal, she emphasized bipartisanship throughout her campaign. She became the first statewide Democratic candidate in more than 20 years to win an endorsement from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization.

Hovde tried to portray Baldwin as an out-of-touch liberal career politician who hadn't done enough to combat inflation, illegal immigration and crime.

Baldwin won her first Senate race in 2012, against popular former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, by almost 6 percentage points. Hovde lost to Thompson in that year's primary. Baldwin won reelection in 2018 by nearly 11 points.

This win could mean that for the first time since the presidential race in 1968, Wisconsin would have a split ticket in a presidential and Senate race.

Voters outside of the Capitol building in Madison on Wednesday had mixed feelings following the election results.

“I’m a young mom to a daughter, I’m 21. I had her when I was 19, and a lot of the issues that are coming up directly affect me as a young mom," said Hannah Schultz, who noted she was feeling a bit disheartened.

Riley Sweet, an 18-year-old who voted for the first time in this election, said he felt hopeful that Baldwin clinched the narrow victory.

"I think it definitely means a lot, maybe more than the presidential race in that she’ll have a lot more impact on the policies here. So yeah, that means a lot to me," Sweet said.

Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the Baldwin campaign said she would deliver a victory speech on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Madison.