November 6, 2024

"Baldwin officials said the numbers were not final but that she has taken the lead and the margin is too large for Hovde to make up."

It says here in "Tammy Baldwin declares victory in Wisconsin Senate race in 2024 election over Eric Hovde" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
With 97.3% of the votes counted, Baldwin led Hovde by 49.2% to 48.7% — a margin of nearly 16,000 votes — in a race that drew attention and big bucks from around the country. Absentee ballots had not yet been counted in Racine and Oshkosh and votes had not all been counted in various places in Oshkosh.... The Democratic incumbent outperformed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who was losing to former President Donald Trump by more than 41,000 votes.

Control of the Senate doesn't hinge on this race: "Republicans Clinch Control of the Senate/After picking up seats in West Virginia and Ohio and winning an unexpectedly close race in Nebraska, the G.O.P. had enough for a majority. Tight races in swing states will determine their margin" (NYT).

Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who party leaders hoped could overcome the Republican tide in his solidly red state, was defeated in his bid for a fourth term by the luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno. Mr. Brown’s loss came after Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia easily won the slot opened up by the retirement of Senator Joe Manchin III, who served most of his career in the Senate as a Democrat before becoming an independent this year.

The two losses reversed the 51-to-49 majority held by Democrats after Republican Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska held off an unexpectedly steep challenge from Dan Osborn, who ran as an independent. Republicans, whose campaigns appeared to be benefiting from former President Donald J. Trump’s strength in battleground states, could pad their new majority given very tight races in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada, and a Republican edge in Montana.

35 comments:

Leland said...

I guess her foray into the wilds of Wisconsin was successful. I’m sure she’ll let them be for another 6 years now.

Christopher B said...

CNN called Sheehy(R) in MT about 15 minutes ago (finally!). MI, PA, and NV still looking pretty close so I wouldn't expect more than 1 more Senate pickup.

tim in vermont said...

"Hey PA reporters. The Senate race is over. All that’s left to count is a handful of SEPA ballots that’ll be a slight Casey advantage and then a BUNCH of Cambria county Election Day votes that McCormick will win by a large margin. Make the call. The fat lady is singing." - Senate Republicans Twitter Account.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

McCormick in PA probably takes it; Brown in NV is ahead but it's too close and MI looks like a tie. Repubs would be happy with 54 I'd think!

tim maguire said...

My dream of a divided government will not be realized, which I have mixed feelings about given that right now I can’t think of a branch of government I’d trust the Democrats with.

Dan from Madison said...

I can't believe there are that many crossovers. Trump/Baldwin? It baffles me.

rehajm said...

...more evidence we bestow historical preservation status on our Senators noi matter how horrible their governance. It could be worse WI, MA reelected Liz Warren...

Greg Hlatky said...
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Greg Hlatky said...

I think the race was close in Nebraska because people thought they were voting for Tom Osborne.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

who votes for Trump and Baldwin? that is messed up.

Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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Oh Yea said...

Democrats are now the biggest supporters of the senate filibuster.

Christopher B said...

Hovde is way underperforming Trump, 60K fewer votes, while Baldin is only about 14K off Harris's total. My guess it's people who voted for Trump but not Hovde, not Trump plus Baldwin.

Wince said...

Baldwin may have won this one by a whisker…

A porn stash, specifically.

Ralph L said...

Hovde was as ahead as Trump was when I turned off the tube at 4 am. I think that was 95% reporting, so Milwaukee must have held back some precincts.

Quaestor said...

I trust Baldwin will enjoy being a backbencher in the hapless Minority Party.

Tacitus said...

In a state that is roughly 50:50 it is not unreasonable to have one Senator of each (political) persuasion. I consider Johnson an above average Senator. Baldwin....well, at least she has not done much to embarrass us all, and maybe that's the bar for politicians these days.

paminwi said...

Hovde was a fabulous candidate. He worked really hard & truly gave her a run for the money. She will continue to be a back bencher in the senate and a weak voice for Wisconsin.

paminwi said...

I agree.

Dixcus said...

Keep in mind that Republicans have been funding NPR for 3.5 years in the House.

I think DC Democrats are going to be OK.

Christopher B said...

Look at how far Hovde is underperforming Trump, around 60K votes. I'm guessing it's more people who only voted for Trump and left the Senate race blank (or 3rd party)

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Hovde statistically has a chance to pull it off.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

She is a horrible money grubber.

Tom T. said...

54 Republican seats is enough to take Murkowski and Collins out of the equation.

Curious George said...

She will. She has always been a do nothing and do what she's told Senator.

KJE said...

It’s more that Baldwin got all the Harris votes plus anyone undecided or conservative that is squishy on abortion. Nothing more.

Lazarus said...

It must have been the mustache.

Political Junkie said...

I can't believe the R got as close as he did. DJT just needed a bigger margin.

tommyesq said...

Similar in NH. They attacked Kelly Ayotte (running for governor) pretty heavily for once having said that she would never vote for Trump. Ayotte won, but Trump lost NH. Weird.

Sydney said...

I'm surprised Sherrod Brown lost in Ohio. He's been our senator for almost 20 years. I thought he could never be voted out.

mccullough said...

Utah flipped to Republican too

MadisonMan said...

I'm rarely sad when an incumbent Senator loses, but ousting Baldwin is a tall order for someone who is not really living in WI -- not that she does either any more.