Wisconsin GOP can’t find anyone willing to run against out Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Wisconsin Republicans are struggling to find a candidate to take on out Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) in next year’s Senate race. According to The Daily Beast, GOP recruiters have tried to get several potential candidates but have been repeatedly turned down.

Six of the state’s Republican representatives – Tom Tiffany, Mike Gallagher, Bryan Steil, Derrick Van Orden, Scott Fitzgerald, and Glenn Grotham – have all said no, citing a variety of reasons.

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But GOP leadership isn’t letting anyone see them sweat. “We will have a strong candidate in Wisconsin that highlights Tammy Baldwin’s record as a far-left rubber stamp for Joe Biden,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Tate Mitchell.

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But the clock is ticking, and Baldwin has already been running her campaign for quite some time, having announced in April that she’d be running for reelection to a third term.

Wisconsin would be a key victory for Republicans looking to flip the Senate. Conversely, Baldwin’s seat is considered critical to the Democrats maintaining Senate control. Right now, two top contenders for the GOP nod are two wealthy businessmen: Scott Mayer and Eric Hovde. Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, a controversial figure and well-known Trump supporter, is also considering a run.

There is one Republican officially running against Baldwin: 40-year-old Rejani Raveendran, an Indian immigrant who is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and is a mother of three, working toward a bachelor’s in political science.

While Raveendran has announced her campaign, the Daily Beast could not find evidence she had filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

In a statement when Baldwin announced her campaign, the senator said she’s “committed to making sure that working people, not just the big corporations and ultra-wealthy, have a fighter on their side. With so much at stake, from families struggling with rising costs to a ban on reproductive freedom, Wisconsinites need someone who can fight and win.”

Baldwin made history in 2012 when she became the first out gay senator in the nation and the first woman senator from Wisconsin. At the time, she declared, “I didn’t run to make history. I ran to make a difference.”

In 2018, she won her first reelection bid against a Trump-endorsed, anti-LGBTQ+ opponent.

Last year, Baldwin spearheaded the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA), which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, federally recognizes interracial and same-sex marriages performed by states, and requires states to recognize marriages performed in other states.