Tammy Baldwin has committed her life’s work to public service because she has a deep commitment to making a difference in the lives of Wisconsin’s working families. In the proud tradition of Wisconsin’s state motto, Forward, she believes that we must always work together to help provide fairness, equality, and economic opportunity for all.
Born & Raised in Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin was born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised by her grandparents in the Badger State. Her grandfather was a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her grandmother was a gifted artist and seamstress who became chief costumer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Theater Department.
Tammy was raised by her grandparents because her mother struggled with mental illness, chronic pain, and drug abuse. Tammy had to grow up fast, as her mother struggled with addiction to prescription drugs her entire life. When the opioid epidemic spread across Wisconsin, devastating countless families and entire communities, Tammy worked in the Senate to make sure Washington finally stepped up and supported local prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts throughout the state. She also authored and worked to pass the Jason Simcakoski Memorial and Promise Act, bipartisan legislation signed into law by President Obama that strengthens oversight of the VA’s opioid prescribing practices and provides safer and more effective care for our nation’s Veterans.
When Tammy was nine years old, she was diagnosed with a serious childhood illness similar to spinal meningitis. She spent three months in the hospital. Her grandparents had health insurance, but they weren’t allowed to list Tammy as a dependent. Their insurance wouldn’t cover her care, and they were forced to make great sacrifices to pay for Tammy’s health care.
Tammy got better, and her grandparents looked for a health insurance policy that would cover her in the future. But they discovered that because of her previous illness, they couldn’t find such a policy. Not from any insurer. Not at any price. Tammy had been branded with the words “pre-existing condition.”
Now, because of the Affordable Care Act, championed by Tammy in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate, children have protections that they didn’t have before and can’t be denied health coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
As her grandmother grew older, Tammy served as her grandmother’s primary caregiver – an extremely rewarding, but also challenging responsibility. Growing up in a grandfamily and being a caregiver shaped Tammy’s future in public service, and she led the bipartisan effort to support family caregivers by sponsoring and passing the RAISE Family Caregivers Act in the Senate which was signed into law in 2018.
A Commitment To Public Service
Tammy graduated from Madison West High School and went on to double-major in political science and mathematics at Smith College. In 1989, she received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. In 1986, while in law school, she served on the Madison Common Council, filling an aldermanic vacancy.
Tammy was then elected to four terms (1986-1994) on the Dane County Board of Supervisors. In 1992, Tammy was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a State Representative for the 78th District, serving three terms.
In 1998, Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District shattered the state’s glass ceiling and elected Tammy as the state’s first female member of Congress and the nation’s first openly gay challenger sent to Congress. She served seven terms in the House of Representatives, serving on the Budget Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Energy and Commerce Committee.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tammy helped craft the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, leading the effort to include the provision that now allows young people to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans up to age 26. She was also the lead sponsor of the Buffett Rule to ensure tax fairness, fought for student loan reforms to make higher education accessible and affordable, and developed a strong record of fighting against unfair trade deals that have shipped American jobs overseas.
Working for Wisconsin
Elected to the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2012, Tammy won a hard-fought race and made history as Wisconsin's first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate and the first openly gay member elected to the U.S. Senate. In 2018, Senator Baldwin was re-elected by the people of Wisconsin with 55.4% of the vote. And, in 2024, Wisconsinites elected Senator Baldwin to a third term in the Senate, while also sending President Donald Trump back to the White House on the same ballot.
In the Senate, Tammy works across party lines to give Wisconsin families a fair shot to get ahead and build a good life. Senator Baldwin is fighting to lower everyday costs, make childcare and health care more affordable, and invest in public schools and job training so people have the skills they need to succeed. Tammy is also fighting to keep Wisconsin a place where we make things, grow things, and create good-paying jobs. That means strengthening the Badger State’s iconic manufacturing and agriculture sectors, while helping Wisconsin lead the country in growing fields like advanced manufacturing and biotechnology.
For Tammy, the fight to make health care affordable and accessible is personal. After battling a childhood illness, she was denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, an experience that has driven her work to make sure no American has to go without the care they need because they can’t afford it. As Social Security and programs that support our seniors come under attack, Tammy is fighting to protect the benefits Wisconsinites have earned and make sure they are there for future generations.
As Ranking Member on the Senate Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, Senator Baldwin is leading the fight in Washington to stop misguided efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and undermine local schools. Tammy has successfully written laws that have increased investments in Head Start and preschool, lowering costs for parents, getting folks back in the workforce, and giving more children a strong start and safe place to learn. Senator Baldwin has also been a leader in Washington to promote apprenticeships, community colleges, and career and technical education.
Tammy has long believed that when the federal government invests taxpayer money, those dollars should support American workers, American companies, and American products. Senator Baldwin has worked across party lines to put Buy America reforms into law, including in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is making an historic investment in America’s infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs. The bipartisan legislation is fixing our roads and bridges and rebuilding our water infrastructure, including helping local communities replace lead service lines and address Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals so that Wisconsinites have safe and clean drinking water. Senator Baldwin successfully worked with both President Biden and President Trump to secure more than $1 billion from this law to replace the dated Blatnik Bridge that connects Duluth, MN to Superior, WI. Tammy also secured more than $1 billion from this law to expand access to reliable high-speed broadband for Wisconsin families, students, small businesses, and farmers.
From the Great Lakes to the Mighty Mississippi, Tammy knows that Wisconsin’s water is critical to our economy, our health, and our way of life. That’s why Senator Baldwin is working in Washington to ensure every Wisconsinite can trust that the water coming out of their faucet is safe, our lakes and rivers are free from harmful algae and contaminants, and shoreline communities are prepared to take on the extreme weather of tomorrow.
Representing America’s Dairyland, she has been working with Democrats and Republicans to support dairy farmers and cheesemakers by creating a program to provide them with the tools they need to innovate, develop new dairy products, reach expanded markets, and move our agricultural economy forward. She also worked to make sure her bipartisan FARMERS FIRST Act was signed into law, providing mental health support and suicide prevention programs for people who work in agriculture.
As attacks on Americans’ health care continue, Tammy has been on the front lines fighting to stop the reckless cuts to Medicaid, efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, and efforts that will raise costs for families. Tammy was proud to stand up to big drug companies and help pass a law to finally allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, cap yearly out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and limit monthly insulin costs to $35 for seniors on Medicare. Senator Baldwin is continuing to work to increase transparency in health care, lower prescription drug costs for all Americans, and take on the addiction and mental health crises. Tammy wrote the law to create the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, putting mental health care in reach and saving thousands of Americans’ lives in just the first few years of service.
Tammy knows that Wisconsin families don’t take their rights and freedoms for granted, and that’s why she leads legislation in the Senate to restore abortion rights nationwide and stop politicians from getting between women and their health care. Senator Baldwin worked with Democrats and Republicans to spearhead the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act to protect marriage equality and the rights of millions of Americans in same-sex and interracial marriages.
Senator Baldwin serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and is Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Senator Baldwin is also on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, serving as Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness.
Press Kit
Media inquiries should be directed to: press@baldwin.senate.gov
