Baldwin, Tammy, 1962-

Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Wisconsin since January 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 78th district, and from 1999 to 2013 represented Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.

Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Baldwin graduated from Madison West High School in 1980 as the class valedictorian. She earned a B.A. from Smith College in 1984 and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1989. She was a lawyer in private practice from 1989 to 1992. Baldwin was first elected to political office in 1986 at the age of 24, when she was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors, a position she held until 1994. She also served one year on the Madison City Council to fill a vacancy in the coterminous district.

In 1992, Baldwin ran to represent Wisconsin's 78th Assembly district in western Madison. She won the Democratic primary with 43% of the vote and defeated two opponents in the general election with 59% of the vote. She was re-elected twice with 76% and 71% of the vote in 1994 and 1996, respectively. In 1998, U.S. Congressman Scott Klug of the 2nd district, based in Madison, announced he would retire, prompting Baldwin to run for the seat. She won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 37% of the vote. In the general election she defeated Republican nominee Josephine Musser 53%-47%. Though narrowly re-elected in 2000, with the 2000 census making her district more Democratic, Baldwin was easily re-elected five more times.

In 2012, Baldwin ran as the Democratic nominee against Republican nominee Tommy Thompson, who had formerly been governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services. She announced her candidacy on September 6, 2011, in a video emailed to supporters. She ran uncontested in the primary election, and spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention about tax policy, campaign finance reform, and equality in the United States. Baldwin won a second term in 2018 with 55.4% of the vote, defeating Republican Leah Vukmir by a margin of approximately 11%.

Baldwin, who is a lesbian, was the first woman to be elected to either chamber of the United States Congress from Wisconsin. Baldwin identifies as a progressive, and she has a consistently progressive voting record. She supports Medicare for All, LGBTQ rights, and gun control, and opposed the Iraq War.