Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) announced on Friday that he’ll seek reelection in the House of Representatives rather than challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in 2024, a blow to Senate Republicans who had hoped the Wisconsin congressman could flip the seat.
The 39-year-old former Marine who has been widely viewed as a rising star in the Republican party said he wants to focus on his position as the chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
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“I have a rare, bipartisan opportunity in the 118th Congress to help restore American strength, prevent war in the Pacific, and defend our basic freedoms from communist aggression,” Gallagher said in a statement Friday morning. “Accomplishing this mission and serving Wisconsin’s 8th District deserve my undivided attention. Therefore, I will not run for the Senate in 2024 and will pursue re-election to the House.”
Gallagher’s decision to pass on the contest is a disappointment for Wisconsin Republicans who have been eager to find a candidate who can attract independent and centrist Republican voters in the suburbs who broke with former President Donald Trump in 2020 and several of his endorsed candidates in 2022. Baldwin is a battle-tested incumbent Democrat who is a prolific fundraiser.
Gallagher, who beat his last Democratic challenger by 30 points in a swing district in the state, was a top recruit for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. National Republicans concluded he would be their strongest candidate. NRSC commissioned a poll in late May that found Gallagher trailing Baldwin by 1 point, 46% to 47%, with 7% undecided.
“It’s obviously disappointing, but it would have been political malpractice not to try to recruit Mike Gallagher,” NRSC spokesman Tate Mitchell said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “We will have a strong candidate in Wisconsin.”
The NRSC has focused its playbook on ousting incumbent centrist Democrats in red states such as West Virginia, Montana, and Ohio. But Wisconsin was on its radar after President Joe Biden won the state by less than a point in 2020.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a statement, claiming Baldwin’s strength as a candidate likely influenced Gallagher’s decision not to run for the seat.
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“Senate Republicans’ top potential candidates are refusing to run because they know they cannot beat strong Democratic Senators like Tammy Baldwin,” DSCC spokeswoman Amanda Sherman Baity said. “Even the most sought after GOP recruits know their party’s toxic agenda and their vicious primaries will lead their campaigns to defeat in the general election.”
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and business leaders Scott Meyer and Eric Hovde are considering mounting campaigns to challenge Baldwin.
