Fellow Dem Won't Run Against Tammy Baldwin in Senate Race

Rep. Tammy Baldwin has yet to face a fellow Democrat in her bid for retiring Wisconsin U.S. senator Herb Kohl's seat in 2012.

Politicoreports that Rep. Ron Kind, who represents the state's third congressional district and had been mulling a run for the Senate seat, has declined to enter the race.

"I have been urged by many across Wisconsin to run for Senate. I thank them sincerely for their steadfast support and their trust in my commitment to put solving people's problems first and foremost," Kind told Politico Thursday. "But that commitment has led me to this conclusion: Now is not my time to run for the U.S. Senate."

Baldwin formally announced her candidacy September 6. "I've always believed that having a seat at the table matters," Baldwin told The Advocate last week about the prospect of becoming the first openly gay U.S. senator. "It matters that our legislative bodies are representative of the whole diversity of our country and of my state. Nobody checks their life experience at the door."