Freshman Introductions: Tammy Baldwin and Joe Donnelly

Joe Donnelly

Joe Donnelly has been elected to replace popular longtime Republican Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN). Lugar had lost in an unexpected primary upset to a Tea Party backed uber-conservative -- Indiana State Treasurer Richard Murdock. Murdock sealed his and Donnelly fate with a comment about abortion but it may have cost Murdock the race. Joe Donnelly, however, is no champion of pro-choice ideals; he, himself, is a strong prolife Congressman getting high marks from Right to Life and other prolife organizations. Donnelly graduated from Norte Dame Law School and became a lawyer in Indiana, a profession he held until he started a small printing and stamping business in the mid-1990s. In 2006, he announced his candidacy for congress for a second time; he had lost in 2004 to the same incumbent he would upset two years later. Since his swearing in, Donnelly has been a member of the conservative faction of House Democrats – the Blue Dog Caucasus. This conservatism has given him one of the most independent records in congress. He voted both to end DADT and to keep it on separate occasions. In the senate, Donnelly will serve on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Tammy BaldwinTammy Baldwin not only becomes Wisconsin first women Senator, but she is also the first openly LGBT person to be elected to the Upper House. Baldwin was first elected to political office in 1986 as a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors. In 1992, she ran for a seat in the 78th District of the Wisconsin State Assembly. She won with 59% of the vote; her nearest opponent received just 23%. Baldwin would go on to be re-elected in both ’94 and ’96. In 1998 Scott Klug announced he would retire at the end of his term, which prompted Baldwin to run for his 2nd congressional district seat. She would go on to win and be reelected relatively easily 6 times. Baldwin’s 2012 Senate victory came as a bit of a surprise to many as she is much more progressive than your average cheese head. Baldwin’s opponent was moderate former four term Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. While in the House, Baldwin was consistently rated as one of the most progressive voices in D.C. She was one of the loudest opponents of the Bush administration and in 2007 introduced legislation to impeach former Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorneys General Alberto Gonzales. Because she served for fourteen years in the House of Representatives, she will have the most seniority in the freshman class of senators due to Senate rules.