(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., promised to continue fighting for Wisconsin interests at the national level and said she would counter Republican President-elect Donald Trump if necessary.
Baldwin, the incumbent, led Republican challenger Eric Hovde 49.38% to 48.52% when the Associated Press called the race for Baldwin on Wednesday afternoon.
“You know that I will always fight for Wisconsin. And that means working with President Trump to do that, and standing up to him when he doesn’t have our best interests at heart,” Baldwin said in a post-election address Thursday morning.
Baldwin also called for unity and reiterated her policy stances.
“We deserve a politics with less vitriol, less division, less hatred, and fewer lies–actually, no lies. Because it’s time that we come together and tackle the problems that are actually facing working people and communities across our state,” she said, listing high health care costs, abortion restrictions, and LGBTQ discrimination. “It’s time that we put the politics of division behind us.”
Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate tossup race was one of the closest in the country, with a roughly 29,000 ballot difference between Baldwin and Hovde.
Though the difference between the candidate scores remains less than 1%, which automatically triggers an allowance for a recount, Hovde has not yet requested one. But Hovde also hasn’t yet conceded the race, announcing Wednesday he will “continue to monitor returns and make sure every vote has counted.”
