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Candidate of the Week

Tammy Baldwin
Wisconsin

Republican politicians have sent Wisconsin women back to 1849…Wisconsin women must have the freedom and right to make their own personal healthcare decisions about abortion without interference from Republicans.

Tammy Baldwin
Policy Positions
Endorsements
Organizations:
State

The site of freezing winters, back-and-forth political tension and, of course, dairy farms, Wisconsin can be considered an extremely interesting case study of the political consequences when rural populations and working-class communities feel unseen or unrepresented in government. Home to about 5.8 million people, Wisconsin is one of the least diverse states in America, with a population that’s 86.6 percent white. Bordered to the north and east by the Great Lakes of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, the geography of the state itself was largely shaped by glaciers about 17,000 years ago. The capital of Wisconsin is Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin Madison, a research university with an enrollment of over 40,000 students. The most populous city is Milwaukee, located on the shore of Lake Michigan and known for its world-famous breweries. It is also the home of the Brewers, a Major League Baseball team who were not, until recent years, known for their success.

Politically, elections in Wisconsin have been very contentious, and indicative of broader national trends. From the mid 1940s until 1984, Wisconsin primarily voted Republican. However, from 1988 to 2012, Democrats won all seven presidential elections in Wisconsin, albeit some by very slim margins (in 2000 and 2004, specifically.) In 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to win Wisconsin by a margin of just 0.7 percent, one of the most important victories for the Republicans in Trump’s presidential race. In 2020, however, Joe Biden took Wisconsin back from Trump (again, by a very narrow margin) in a move that solidified his presidential victory. As more young people continue to move to Wisconsin, the state’s makeup is dramatically shifting, and it can be assured that Wisconsin will continue to play a critical role in the outcomes of future national elections.