Video: Tammy Baldwin jumps into Wis. Senate race

Wisconsin  U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin is the first Democrat to officially declare her candidacy in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.

Baldwin made the announcement Tuesday in a YouTube video posted on her Senate campaign site.

“I’ve heard story after story from people across Wisconsin on how their families and communities have been hurt by the economy, they feel like no one cares, like no one’s listening to them,” Baldwin says in the video. “That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate, to stand up for you no matter how tough the odds or how powerful the special interest it means fighting against.”

In the video, Baldwin cites her support for maintaining financial regulations and her opposition to the Iraq War.

Baldwin was the first woman to represent Wisconsin in Congress when she was elected in 1999. She was also the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. If Baldwin were to win the general election, she would be the first openly gay senator in U.S. history.

No other Democrats have entered the race yet, and former Sen. Russ Feingold recently confirmed that he won’t run.

On the Republican side, Rep. Mark Neumann is among those who have declared their candidacy. Neumann drew criticism for a 1996 comment to the New York Times: ”If I was elected God for a day, homosexuality wouldn’t be permitted, but nobody’s electing me God.”

In 1997 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Neumann said he wouldn’t hire an openly gay worker because “the gay and lesbian lifestyle [is] unacceptable, lest there be any question about that.”

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson is also expected to formally the race as a Republican, although special interest groups like the Club for Growth have attacked Thompson, saying he isn’t conservative enough.