Republican businessman Eric Hovde has refused to concede his defeat to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and has left the door open to a possible recount in the Wisconsin Senate race.
After remaining silent for nearly a week after the race was called in Baldwin’s favor, Hovde posted a video on social media regarding the defeat in which he questioned the election without providing evidence for such claims. Baldwin beat Hovde 49.4% to 48.5%.
“Once the final information is available and all options are reviewed, I’ll announce my decision on how to proceed,” Hovde said in the video.
Hovde referenced a ballot dump in Milwaukee County, one of the state’s Democratic strongholds. In the video, Hovde claimed he was “shocked by what unfolded on election night” when votes were still being counted in Milwaukee County. He claimed that “based on the models,” it looked like he would defeat Baldwin. Milwaukee County’s results, he said, left him “deeply concerned.”
Milwaukee County does not have so-called “ballot dumps.” The county counts its votes slower than the rest of the state as it is by far the state’s most populous county and many of its residents utilize absentee voting methods. While some states allow absentee ballots to be processed ahead of Election Day, Wisconsin does not.
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.
Hovde also misrepresented some numerical figures in his video. Hovde said that when the final batches of absentee ballots from Milwaukee were reported at around 4:00 a.m., Baldwin received “nearly 90% of those ballots.”
“Statistically, this outcome seems improbable, as it didn’t match the patterns from same-day voting in Milwaukee,” Hovde claimed.
In reality, the true totals from the city of Milwaukee showed Baldwin received about 82% of absentee ballots in Milwaukee, which was close to her 78% winning margin.
The chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, Brian Schimming, acknowledged Hovde’s loss in an interview with NPR. Hovde himself also acknowledged his loss in an interview with WISN-AM.
“It’s the most painful loss that I’ve ever experienced,” he said in the interview.
Before his comments Tuesday evening, Hovde had previously said multiple times that he would accept the result of the election whether he won or lost.
He did not say if he plans to request a recount but said he was leaving his options open. The margin of Hovde’s loss is above 0.25%, meaning Hovde’s campaign, which was largely self-funded, would have to pay for the recount.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Nathan Trueblood, a Wisconsin-based GOP operative, and former Trump lawyer John Eastman have been advising Hovde as he considers his next steps. Eastman was indicted for his actions to overturn the results of the 2020 election. As of Wednesday, Hovde has denied he is working with Eastman.
In response to Hovde’s claims, Baldwin accused Hovde of “spreading lies from the darkest corners of the internet to undercut our free and fair elections.”
“Wisconsin voters made their voices heard,” Baldwin said in a social media post. “It’s time for Hovde to stop this disgusting attack on our democracy and concede.”
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Hovde did receive some sympathy from Republican Kari Lake, who has lost two statewide elections in Arizona and has repeatedly denied the results of the state’s 2022 gubernatorial election. She posted on social media that she was “praying” for Hovde.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 13, 2024
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Hovde campaign for comment but did not receive a response.