After staying quiet for a week after the election results pointed to his defeat, Hovde last week said without evidence that ballot fraud in Milwaukee County resulted in his loss and that he was exploring his options. He conceded the election Monday and said he would not request a recount. 

“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. 

“As a result, and my desire to not add to political strife through a contentious recount, I’ve decided to concede the election,” he continued.

Thank you for your support. It’s time to move on. pic.twitter.com/XiO4XVVcaP

— Eric Hovde (@EricHovde) November 18, 2024

The Associated Press called the race for Baldwin the day after the election on Nov. 6. Baldwin outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin by around as many votes as Baldwin defeated Hovde. A Baldwin spokesperson said Hovde had yet to call Baldwin to offer his concession as of Monday afternoon.

Despite the concession, Hovde still pushed baseless claims that he lost the election because of “ballot dumps” in Milwaukee County, one of the state’s Democratic strongholds. These so-called ballot dumps are not what he describes them to be. 

Each Wisconsin county must begin counting all ballots on Election Day, so results from absentee ballots come in slowly as they are counted. Milwaukee is by far Wisconsin’s most populous county, which means votes take time to be counted as many of the county’s residents utilize absentee methods. State lawmakers from both parties have tried to change this system, but the Republican-controlled state Senate has blocked those efforts since the 2020 election. 

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson posted a statement from the city commission “unequivocally” rejecting “Hovde’s baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process.” The Milwaukee Elections Commission called Hovde’s claims “baseless.”

“It is both expected and routine that absentee ballots — over 100,000 in this case — are counted and reported in the late hours of election night due to Wisconsin’s high voter turnout and the rigorous verification standards the MEC upholds,” the statement said.

In Monday’s video, Hovde also said requesting a recall would “serve no purpose” because the recount would “just be recounting the same ballots regardless of their integrity.” There has been no evidence of widespread election fraud in Milwaukee County or the state of Wisconsin during the 2024 election.

Hovde lost the election to Baldwin by a little more than 29,000 votes, which is within the margin that would’ve allowed Hovde to seek a recount. Because the margin of Hovde’s loss is below 0.25%, he would have to cover the cost of the recount. A recount can cost millions of dollars and rarely changes the outcome of an election, according to FairVote.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Hovde, who owns a large bank in Southern California, repeatedly faced accusations from Democrats of being a carpetbagger during his campaign due to his strong out-of-state ties.

In response to his concession, Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Arik Wolk said, “Now that he’s finally conceded, I wish Eric Hovde a safe trip back to California.”