Baldwin Will Face Thompson in Senate Race

It’s Dem congresswoman against GOP ex-gov in Wisconsin

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the sole lesbian member of Congress, will battle former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson for the state’s open Senate seat in November.

Thompson won the Republican primary Tuesday against Madison businessman Eric Hovde. The victory signals support for Republican Establishment principles: in addition to his four terms as governor, Thompson was the Health and Human Services Secretary in the George W. Bush administration. At HHS he implemented conservative policies that limited access to legal abortion, curtailed comprehensive sex education and demoted science in favor of morality.

Baldwin, in contrast, is one of the House’s staunchest liberals and supported the Affordable Care Act, the Lily Ledbetter and Equal Pay Acts for women’s income parity, the Violence Against Women Act and reproductive freedom. If elected, she will be the first openly gay Senator in history.


What Do You Think?