Republican Eric Hovde concedes defeat to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, repeats false claims
MADISON — Republican businessman Eric Hovde on Monday conceded his race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in a video posted to X, continuing to level false claims related to the processing of absentee ballots in Milwaukee.
"I have heard from numerous supporters urging me to challenge the election results. However, without a detailed review of all the ballots and their legitimacy, which will be difficult to obtain in the courts, a request for a recount would serve no purpose, because you will just be recounting the same ballots, regardless of their integrity," Hovde said in the six-minute video. "As a result, and my desire to not add to political strife through a contentious recount, I've decided to concede the election."
Shortly after he posted the video, a Baldwin spokesman said Hovde had not yet called the senator to discuss his concession.
"Now that he's finally conceded, I wish Eric Hovde a safe trip back to California," said Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Arik Wolk in a statement, reinforcing the party's efforts to cast Hovde as out-of-touch with Wisconsinites over his ties to California, where he owns a $7 million-dollar home in Laguna Beach.
In a video posted last week, Hovde said he was “shocked” by Milwaukee’s reporting of its absentee ballot results in the early morning hours the Wednesday after Election Day, despite the widespread knowledge that the state’s most populous city consistently reports its absentee ballots all at once early the morning after a major election.
Under Wisconsin law, absentee ballots cannot be processed before 7 a.m. on Election Day. The Republican-controlled state Senate earlier this year let a bipartisan bill die that would have made it possible for clerks to start processing absentee ballots the day before the election and therefore finish counting all of the votes earlier on Election Day.
The Milwaukee Election Commission said in a statement last week that it "unequivocally refutes Eric Hovde’s baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process."
"The (Election Commission) celebrates the dedication of Milwaukee residents to participate in the democratic process and is fully confident that Mr. Hovde’s accusations lack any merit," the commission said in the statement. "Milwaukee voters can rest assured: the (Election Commission) conducted a fair, accurate, and secure election that fully protects voter rights and preserves the democratic process."
In his video, Hovde once again accused Democrats of funding a "phony America First candidate" to "siphon off … votes." He was referring to Thomas Leager, a former lobbyist for Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc., who has said people call some of his ideas "extreme." Leager has also claimed he was an unindicted co-conspirator in the failed plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 with the hope of overthrowing the state government.
A small group of out-of-state Democratic donors helped finance a group masquerading as advocates for Donald Trump that recruited Leager to run and helped him get on the ballot, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
With 99% of the state's votes counted, Baldwin led Hovde by 49.4% to 48.5% — a margin of 28,958 votes — in a race that drew national attention and massive spending. Baldwin declared victory, and the AP called the race for her the day after the election. Leager received 28,717 votes according to unofficial totals, 241 less than the margin between Hovde and Baldwin.
In a wide-ranging post-election interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Baldwin attributed her narrow victory to her efforts in rural Wisconsin, characterized ads leveled against her as homophobic and said Vice President Kamala Harris suffered under a lack of familiarity with Wisconsin voters.
Baldwin, who won a third term in the Senate after a tight race with businessman Eric Hovde, outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris in 65 of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican Hovde concedes defeat to Democratic U.S. Sen.Tammy Baldwin