Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin bested her Republican challenger Leah Vukmir, CNN projects, overcoming a late push from President Donald Trump to mobilize Republican voters in the state.
Her win came in a state Democrats were determined to move back into their column after Trump toppled the “blue wall” of Midwestern states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — two years earlier.
Through a race in which both parties focused on turning out their bases, Baldwin and Vukmir clashed over the country’s approach to abortion, immigration and the #MeToo movement.
“We don’t put children in cages like this President has done and we can’t let this happen again,” Baldwin said at a debate in October.
Vukmir said Baldwin’s plan for the border would be “drawing a line in the dirt.”
Vukmir, a darling of conservative talk radio in Wisconsin, navigated a brutal GOP primary. She edged out businessman Kevin Nicholson — who was backed by millions of dollars that GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein pumped into the race — with the support of Gov. Scott Walker and the state’s Republican establishment.
In October, Trump endorsed Vukmir at a Wisconsin rally, calling her a “a very special person” who could deliver “strong borders and safe communities.”
But the President also nodded to the political reality of a race in which polls consistently showed Baldwin ahead.
“I like looking at polls only when we’re winning,” he joked, before adding the Vukmir was “doing very well.”
