MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir made it official Thursday that she’s running for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, casting herself as the only true conservative in a primary contest that includes a former Democrat.
Vukmir’s long-expected entry guarantees a Republican primary in the race to take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Former Marine Kevin Nicholson, who was national head of the College Democrats of America in 2000, is already running as a Republican and Madison businessman Eric Hovde is considering getting into the race.
Vukmir made clear in her announcement video Thursday that she intends to point to her long public record as she contrasts herself with Nicholson and Hovde, neither of whom has ever been in office.
“I am the only clear, consistent conservative in this race,” Vukmir said in the video. “I have a track record that people know. They can count on me. I’ve gotten things done.”
Vukmir, 59, is a registered nurse from Brookfield, first elected to the Assembly in 2002 and then the Senate in 2010. She is a member of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee and has been an outspoken supporter of repealing the prevailing wage law, expanding taxpayer-funded vouchers for private school students and those with disabilities and crime victims’ rights.