Democrat Tammy Baldwin held onto her Wisconsin Senate seat after being given a run for her money by Republican businessman Eric Hovde.
The Associated Press projected that Baldwin won, holding back the strong Republican challenge by Donald Trump-backed Hovde.
It was a nail-biting race that had the candidates neck-and-neck leading into Election Day.
Republicans had hoped to flip the seat red this cycle as the GOP works to take back control of the Senate.
Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Eric Hovde, reacts during a campaign for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. October 30, 2024
Polls had indicated that Baldwin held a one-point advantage going into Election Day.
She was polling ahead in the race for nearly the entirety of the cycle except a few surveys here and there that found Hovde with a lead.
However, in the waning summer months Hovde began to surge.
Around that time Baldwins team began airing ads slamming the Republican for comments he made in 2012 about single motherhood leading to detrimental effects like higher rates of poverty, incarceration and drug use.
The Democrats attack ad on this topic featured a man raised from a single mother questioning What is wrong with this guy?
Wisconsin Senate candidates Republican Eric Hovde and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin shake hands before a televised debate Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin
This screen shot from cell phone video provided by Eric Hovdes campaign shows the candidate for U.S. Senate shirtless in the cold waters of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wis. on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. He was hoping to show hes more of a hardy Wisconsinite than a soft Californian. He also challenged his Democratic challenger, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, to take a cold plunge as well
But the Republicans wife, Sharon, whom Hovde wed when she was a single mother, later came out on the attack against the ad, accusing Baldwin of running a dirty campaign.
Sen. Baldwin, your dirty campaign has gone too far, Sharon Hovde says in the ad.
Your latest attack on my husband is about single mothers? I was a single mom when I met Eric. It was hard. Eric saw the difficulty I faced just trying to afford child care.
Following the ad the race began to narrow and just weeks in early October a Cook Political Report shifted the U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin from lean Democrat to a toss up.
The analysis found Baldwin held a two-point lead over Hovde, showing that the incumbent had lost major ground.
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin delivers remarks at a campaign rally for Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 20, 2024
Hovde is an entrepreneur who was born in Madison, Wisconsin
Baldwin had reliably polled much better than Hovde this entire campaign cycle.
Baldwin has maintained at minimum a 3.5 point lead over Hovde at all times, some polls even showed her up close to eight points, the RealClearPolitics Poll Average showed in early October.
For example, a survey done by Marquette University at the end of September found that Baldwin led Hovde 53 percent to 46 percent, a seven point cushion for the Democrat.
A spokesperson for her campaign told DailyMail.com then Baldwin was not worried about her lead being erased.
This race was always going to be a toss up, that’s why Tammy Baldwin is working every day to unite Wisconsinites of all stripes and win, the spokesperson said.
Next month, voters will reject California bank owner Eric Hovdes insults, lies, and extreme policy positions and send Tammy Baldwin to the US Senate to keep fighting for them.
Wisconsin has been at the center of a contentious fight between the Republicans and Democrats now for years as it is one of the most closely politically divided states in America.
Voters there sided with President Joe Biden by a narrow margin in 2020.
In fact, the race was so close it was decided by roughly 20,000 votes in the state.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens as Senator Ron Johnson speaks during a rally at Dodge County Airport on October 6, 2024
Eric Hovde speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee
Senator from Ohio and 2024 Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance (R) gives a thumbs up as he shakes hands with ex-president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024.
In the last 30 years only one Republican has won a Senate seat in Wisconsin, that being Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has served since 2011.
Johnson won reelection in 2022 by around 27,000 votes, squeaking out a victory with a one point margin ahead of his challenger.
Signifying the states growing importance to the GOP, the Republican National Convention was held in Milwaukee in July.
Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, have also countless campaign stops in the state, including last week.
Trump traveled to Green Bay and Milwaukee with under a week left until the November 5 contest.