Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin sailed to re-election Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Republican Leah Vukmir in Wisconsin and ending the GOP’s hopes of picking up a seat in a state President Trump won in 2016.
Networks called the race just after 9:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after polls closed in the state. With about 23 percent of the vote in, Ms. Baldwin had 55.7 percent, compared to 44.3 percent for Ms. Vukmir, a nurse and Wisconsin state senator.
Despite Mr. Trump’s surprising win in the state in 2016, the outcome of the Senate race was never truly in doubt. All polls since last summer showed Ms. Baldwin with a solid lead; the most recent Real Clear Politics average of all polls heading into Tuesday’s election gave the incumbent a lead of more than 10 percentage points.
In the closing days of the contest, Ms. Vukmir dismissed the poll numbers and insisted she, like Mr. Trump, could overcome the odds. The Republican also clung closely to the president as she made her final pitch to voters, pledging to back Mr. Trump’s tough immigration policies.
“I do stand with our president for building that wall, securing our borders,” she said this week, as quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We’re a nation of laws.”
Ms. Baldwin, on the other hand, zeroed in on health care. She told voters that the Affordable Care Act — which survived by one vote earlier this year amid a Republican attempt to repeal it — would be in peril if Ms. Vukmir came out on top.
“The Affordable Care Act with all its imperfections changed lives and insured millions,” she said this week “My opponent wants to be one vote the other way. We’re not going to let that happen.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.