Tammy Baldwin

Sen. Tammy Baldwin works tirelessly to ensure that hardworking Wisconsin families continue to have a voice in the U.S. Senate. Baldwin was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and raised there by her grandparents. After graduating from high school, Baldwin went to Smith College, where she double majored in mathematics and government and was active in student government and in the movement for lesbian and gay rights. After graduation, she moved back to Wisconsin, taking a job working on equal pay issues in the Wisconsin governor’s office. Inspired by Geraldine Ferraro’s historic campaign for vice president, Baldwin won her first elected office, a seat on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, at age 24 while still in law school at the University of Wisconsin. After serving four terms, Baldwin was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, where she spearheaded legislation on civil rights, collective bargaining for public employees, campaign finance reform, and reproductive rights — before running successfully for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Baldwin made history as the first woman from Wisconsin elected to the House and the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress who was not an incumbent. She quickly established a reputation as a champion fighting for Wisconsin. And in 2012, when Baldwin first ran for the Senate as an underdog, EMILYs List was with her all the way. “The minute the opportunity to run for the Senate came up, EMILYs List was standing with me, shoulder to shoulder,” she has said. When elected, she made history as the first openly gay person ever elected to the U.S. Senate and the first woman ever elected to represent Wisconsin in that chamber. Today, Baldwin is one of the strongest fighters we have in the Senate — and her voice is one that we need at a time when the stakes have never been higher for women and families.