With Republicans still on the sideline in Senate race, Tammy Baldwin hits the campaign trail

BROOKFIELD – On the 278th day of her second reelection campaign, Tammy Baldwin still lacked a top-tier challenger. There were 297 days to go before her third appearance on Wisconsin's ballot for U.S. Senate.

She spent that afternoon at a modest event venue in a county she lost by about 52,000 votes in 2018, fielding questions from about 30 Waukesha-area moms who, undeterred by the minus-23 degree wind chill, showed up looking for information, conversation and, perhaps most of all, motivation.

What are Democrats doing to help families who feel increasingly financially strapped? How will they support public school teachers reaching new heights of burnout? How can people — particularly with progressive leanings — motivate their friends and neighbors to vote?

"Look how close our races are in this state," Baldwin told the women assembled by the liberal-leaning group Motherhood for Good. "We're a 50-50 state. It's going to be, who has the energy, who has the engagement."

Baldwin — wearing a Green Bay Packers zip-up sweater a few hours ahead of their Wild Card playoff victory — was joined by Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and Motherhood for Good organizers Kate Duffy and Danielle Linn. A few moms juggled their participation with efforts to quiet the handful of young children tucked away in the back of the room (one of whom was heard describing "the cheesiest cheese curds EVER").

"It is really apt at this moment in time to talk about how much it costs to raise a family," Baldwin said in an interview before the event.

She said she often hears from voters about child care accessibility and affordability, the cost of groceries, the cost of health care and housing.

"I’m anxious to talk about who the culprits are that are causing all these problems and what we can do to solve them, because people want action. They want a resolution to the struggles that they’re seeing," she said.

The senator rejects Republican efforts to tie these issues to Democratic President Joe Biden — "Bidenomics" or "Bidenflation" — and instead blames "corporate greed" and a failure by the federal government to rein it in. Even as inflation comes down, she said, "we're seeing the prices of goods we use continue to go up."

"And then when we see the quarterly reports for the corporations, oh my god, they're making money hand over fist," she said. "They're not passing any of their profits back in terms of lowering costs."

She noted that she and her fellow Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee recently launched an investigation into the cost of asthma inhalers produced by four pharmaceutical companies in an effort to snuff out price gouging.

Republicans seek to tie Baldwin to Biden and the economy

Republicans aren't letting up on linking Baldwin with voters' financial woes.

"Tammy Baldwin lost all credibility with Wisconsin families when she voted lockstep with the Bidenomics agenda," Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming said. "Wisconsinites deserve a senator who will restore low costs and rising wages by putting their needs first."

Although he has yet to announce, National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Steve Daines told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last month that Madison banking mogul Eric Hovde will challenge Baldwin with the committee's backing. He has recently upped his social media presence, including sharing a shirtless video of himself about to go for a swim on Jan. 12, the day of Wisconsin's first massive snowstorm of the season.

Hovde finished a close second to former Gov. Tommy Thompson in the 2012 GOP Senate primary and contemplated a 2018 Senate run.

Scott Mayer, a businessman from Franklin, and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., who has been in a public feud with national Republicans, are also considering bids. A number of little-known political figures have also launched campaigns in recent months.

The race is rated lean Democrat by both the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Sabato's Crystal Ball.

Baldwin is a rarity in Wisconsin's current political climate. In a battleground state where most statewide contests are decided by razor-thin margins, she doubled her victory margin from 2012 to 2018, defeating her GOP challenger by about 11 points.

She recently reported raising more than $3 million in the last quarter for 2023 — more than the $2.8 million she raised in the same period ahead of her successful 2018 campaign. She had just under $7 million in cash on hand as of the end of September.

But she'll also be on the ballot with Biden, whose approval rating hit a new low at 33% in a recent ABC/Ipsos poll. And with high-stakes election after high-stakes election, Wisconsinites are always at risk of voter fatigue. Asked during Sunday's town hall what the biggest challenge to her reelection is, Baldwin said it's reaching voters who are "giving up."

Baldwin calls Biden accomplishments 'transformational'

For her part, Baldwin said she believes Biden's legacy will be as one of the most "accomplished" and "transformational" presidents in U.S. history.

"It's just, for some reason, being drowned out by, you know, Trump invoking Hitler," she told the Journal Sentinel. "It's really scary to me."

Democrats need to do more to tout Biden's accomplishments, she said, which include student debt relief, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Asked how she appeals to voters outside the state's Democratic strongholds, Baldwin said it comes down to showing up, listening, respecting people with different views and letting your work speak for itself. That's allowed her to connect with groups that might not have been inclined to support her, like dairy farmers and manufacturers, she said.

Among Baldwin's proudest accomplishments in the Senate are dairy business innovation initiatives first passed in 2018 and "Buy American" provisions included in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, she said.

When she decided to seek a third term, she said it was in large part because "we've had several huge setbacks in terms of our freedoms in recent years."

"I feel with regard to securing full reproductive rights including abortion care, that's a vital issue. I didn't expect to see that day happen when the Dobbs decision occurred and Wisconsin had no (abortion) services for 15 months. I want to see that fight through. I want to win those rights back," Baldwin said.

The Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol still weighs heavily on her mind, too.

"On Jan. 6, we almost lost our democracy. And the backdrop behind that was years and years of trying to make it harder for people to vote. … And so I really think our democracy is at stake," she said. "We defeated the big lie even though every effort was made to try to overturn that (election.) People should be hyper-vigilant about not letting us get that close again, ever. Our democracy is too precious."

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tammy Baldwin campaigns while Republicans await their candidate