Tammy Baldwin was born on February 11, 1962, in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduation from Madison West High School in 1980 she attended Smith College in Northhampton, Massachusetts, where she received her A.B. degree in government and mathematics in 1984. Her political career began with her election to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 1986 on which she served four terms (1986-1994). She also served briefly on the Madison City Council filling a one-year alderman vacancy in 1986. Concurrent with her time on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, she earned a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Wisconsin Law School and practiced law from 1989-1992.
In November 1992, she won a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 78th Assembly district and became the youngest woman elected to the state legislature. While serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly she served on a variety of committees including Criminal Justice and Corrections, Elections and Constitution Law, Housing, Colleges and Universities, Education, and Corrections Facilities. Her special assignments included the State Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Legislative Council Commission on Information Brokering, Computer Technology and Related Issues, and Legislative Council Commission on Americans with Disabilities Act.
In November 1998, Ms. Baldwin won election to the 106th Congress from the 2nd District and became the first woman from Wisconsin to serve in the House of Representatives. With her election she also became the first openly gay person elected as a non-incumbent and the first out lesbian to serve Congress in this nation's history. Ms. Baldwin served on the House of Representatives Budget and Judiciary committees and had additional membership on the Judiciary Sub-committee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, the Judiciary Sub-committee on Commercial and Administrative Law, and headed the Health Care Working Group of the House Democratic Rural Task Force. Her legislative work focuses on health care reform, Social Security and Medicare, senior citizens, and civil rights. She served in the House of Representatives until 2013, when she became the first woman from Wisconsin to serve in the U.S. Senate as well as the first openly gay Senator.
