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Baldwin breaks barrier, becomes first openly lesbian House member
Democrat also is Wisconsin's first woman representative
(AllPolitics, November 3) -- State Rep. Tammy Baldwin has made history by becoming the first openly gay first-time candidate ever elected to Congress, winning Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district seat over Josephine Musser.
While four openly gay men have served in the House, all disclosed their sexual orientation after first being elected to their posts. Baldwin also becomes the first lesbian to win a House election.
The 2nd district seat was vacated by moderate Republican Scott Klug. He successfully held onto this Democratic-leaning district, which includes Madison, for four terms by veering from his party's orthodoxy and working hard.
His retirement was expected to hand this seat to the Democrats, but that was thrown into some doubt as Baldwin's liberal politics and sexual orientation were expected to be a hard sell in conservative rural and suburban areas of the district.
A GOP primary that drew six hopefuls was won by state insurance commissioner Musser, a moderate who has Klug-like appeal.
On the campaign trail, Baldwin tried to focus the spotlight on the issues rather than her sexual orientation. She stuck with traditional Democratic themes such as universal health coverage.
Musser portrayed her opponent as a single issue candidate. But Baldwin denied the charge, pointing to her work on prisons, health and campaign finance reform issues.
A former nurse and health care consultant, Musser also spoke about health care reform. Like her Democratic challenger, she is pro-choice.
Musser diverged dramatically with the more conservative side of her party on several key issues: She said she supports a ban on some types of late-term abortions only if there are exceptions for the life and health of the mother; she opposes a constitutional amendment barring flag desecration; and she would not support legislation to ban gay marriage.
The Republican candidate was known during the campaign as being blunt and a self-described "difficult person to manage," having gone through four campaign managers over the course of the race.
The race for Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district was one of the few match-ups this year between two women.
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