National Republicans’ favored candidate to challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in the fall will launch a Senate run next week, according to a campaign spokesman.

The decision by Eric Hovde, a wealthy businessman who will partially self-fund his campaign, is a major win for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is expected to back him after a monthslong recruitment effort.

Hovde launched a 2012 bid to challenge Baldwin when she was still a member of the House but narrowly lost to Tommy Thompson, the former governor of the state, in the Republican primary.

Hovde, a real estate and bank CEO, may not have an open field this time around either. Scott Mayer, a businessman who could pour millions of his own money into the race, told the Washington Examiner as recently as last week that he is still considering a run. However, he walked back his Tuesday claims to a Wisconsin outlet that he had hired half of his campaign staff.

Democrats relish the idea of a contested primary, which could leave the eventual Republican nominee bruised heading into the general election. GOP operatives blame such divisions for their loss in last cycle’s governor’s race.

And as Hovde’s decision drew closer, national Republicans mounted an intensifying pressure campaign on Mayer to reconsider given the financial backing Hovde will have.

“There are a few consultants trying to convince Scott Mayer to walk into a buzz saw because they stand to make a couple hundred thousand dollars. Scott seems like a nice guy, so I feel bad that these guys are taking him for a ride,” said one Republican strategist involved in the Wisconsin Senate race.

Nonetheless, Democrats have signaled they view Hovde as their greatest threat, spending months counterprogramming his expected entrance into the race. 

Baldwin’s campaign welcomed Hovde’s announcement with shots at his Washington backing and ties to California.

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“Mitch McConnell can try to bring a mega millionaire California bank owner to Wisconsin to buy this Senate seat, but voters in this state know who will really fight for them,” Baldwin campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo said in a statement. “We look forward to comparing Eric Hovde, a man who was named one of Orange County’s most influential people three years in a row, to Tammy Baldwin, a public servant with a proven track record of standing up to the wealthy and well connected on behalf of middle-class Wisconsin families.”

Hovde, a third-generation native of Madison who owns a California bank, has dismissed those attacks as smacking of desperation. But he will regardless face a tough battle against Baldwin, a two-term senator, should he advance to the general election. She won her 2018 race by 11 points.