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Wisconsin Representative Won't Run in Senator's Race

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

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(By Anya van Wagtendonk, Wisconsin Public Radio) -Another prospective Republican candidate for U.S. Senate has announced he won't run in 2024, leaving U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin without a declared GOP challenger in her reelection bid.

According to Anya van Wagtendonk with Wisconsin Public Radio, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, announced Tuesday that he will seek reelection in his northwestern Wisconsin Congressional district instead.

"While Tammy Baldwin is vulnerable due to her record as a rubber stamp for President Biden, I can make the greatest impact continuing to serve the great people of Wisconsin in the House of Representatives," Tiffany said in a written statement.

A spokesperson for his campaign said that Tiffany will support whoever runs against Baldwin next year. So far, there are no declared contenders. Tiffany's decision comes less than two months after another Republican congressperson, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay, announced he will not run.

Tiffany entered Congress after winning a 2020 special election in a landslide. He won with a similar margin in 2022. But he'd face a different electorate running for statewide office, according to Anthony Chergosky, a political scientist at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

"It seems like Tiffany would have a pretty darn good chance at winning the Republican nomination if he opted to run," Chergosky said. "But he does, after all, represent a very secure district, and running for Senate would have been a major roll of the dice on his part."

Meanwhile, Baldwin's 2024 race will be her third. She won her 2018 election by 11 percentage points, and has made a strong fundraising showing to date, raking in some $3.3 million during the second quarter of this year. That leaves her with a campaign war chest of about $5.5 million.

By contrast, the Tiffany campaign brought in about $114,000 in the same time period. That marked an increase in fundraising that suggested he was eyeing a run, but the relatively low sum reflected the fact that the Republican Party has not yet unified behind a candidate, Chergosky said.

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