An openly gay U.S senator? Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin could become the first, reports Gay Politics.
Sources close to Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., have told the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund she is very likely to run for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Herb Kohl, who has decided not to run for reelection in 2012. If Baldwin runs and wins, she would become the nation’s first openly LGBT member of the U.S. senate.
“This would obviously be a top priority for us. Tammy Baldwin has been an outstanding congresswoman, and she’d be an outstanding senator,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which has endorsed Baldwin repeatedly. In 1998, when Baldwin became the first openly LGBT candidate to win election to the U.S. Congress as a freshman, the Victory Fund raised nearly a quarter million dollars for her campaign.
Baldwin made history in 1998 as the first openly LGBT candidate to win election to Congress as a freshman.
Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade notes that a statewide primary and Senate campaign "would be more challenging for Baldwin" than the electorate in her own Democratic-leaning district but ...
Despite the challenge that Baldwin could face, recent events in Wisconsin could tilt the odds of winning a Senate seat in her favor. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) agenda, which has included a restriction on collective bargaining rights of state workers, has energized Democrats in Wisconsin. Baldwin was vocal in her support for the union rights during the debate and could capitalize on her visibility during the often heated discussion in her pursuit of higher office.
To be continued ...
