Nicole Schneider won't run for Senate against Tammy Baldwin

MADISON - Nicole Schneider ruled out a run for U.S. Senate Tuesday, thinning the crowded field of potential GOP challengers to Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin.

Schneider is the daughter-in-law of the late Donald Schneider, who built Schneider National Inc., and was a notable potential candidate because she has the potential to self-fund a campaign.

A Republican source familiar with Schneider's decision said she had decided that a run for Senate would have left her with no time for her children.

"She's not running because she wants to continue spending time with her family. She has a very young family," the GOP source said. 

Schneider had faced some questions about her credentials as a conservative but was watched closely because of her family's wealth. 

Democratic Party spokeswoman Gillian Drummond said that the GOP primary amounted to a "yacht sale" among wealthy contenders.  

"Millionaire Nicole Schneider knows Tammy Baldwin's record of fighting for a Wisconsin economy that works for everyone and standing up to special interests in Washington is too daunting to challenge in next year's election," Drummond said in an email.

Schneider has a doctorate in social policy from Brandeis University and is a part-time research officer at Green Bay Area Catholic Education System.

Recently, Schneider National, long a privately held company, filed documents for an initial public offering. Members of the Schneider family will get around $230 million from the sale of stock, documents indicate.

In a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in March, Schneider sounded like someone interested in exploring the possibility of making a run. She also criticized Baldwin.

"As a life-long Green Bay-area resident and the mother of four children, I care deeply about the people of Wisconsin and the challenges facing our state and our country," she said.

"I believe America’s biggest challenges continue to be neglected... Senator Tammy Baldwin has spent her entire life advancing her own political career first in Madison and then in Washington. Clearly, Washington is broken and I believe Senator Baldwin is part of the problem."

Other potential GOP challengers to Baldwin include Madison businessman Eric Hovde, who finished behind former Gov. Tommy Thompson in a 2012 Republican primary for Senate; state Sen. Leah Vukmir of Brookfield; state Rep. Dale Kooyenga of Brookfield; U.S. Marine veteran and Milwaukee-area businessman Kevin Nicholson; and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.