Rich California banker Eric Hovde is whining in regards to the Senate race he misplaced in Wisconsin to Democrat Tammy Baldwin, posting an embarrassing video to X on Tuesday by which he tried to sow doubt within the consequence of the race by mendacity about “inconsistencies” within the rely.
“Like many of my supporters, I was shocked by what unfolded on election night,” Hovde mentioned within the video. “At 1 AM, I was receiving calls of congratulations, and based on the models, it appeared I would win the Senate race. Then, at 4 AM, Milwaukee reported approximately 108,000 absentee ballots, with Sen. Baldwin receiving nearly 90% of those ballots.”
Hovde is mendacity.
“Hovde’s numbers in this statement are wrong,” mentioned Craig Gilbert, a fellow at Marquette College Legislation Faculty and former Washington bureau chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He says Baldwin got ‘nearly 90%’ of the absentee ballots in city of [Milwaukee]. She actually got just over 80%, which is hardly shocking, since she got 74% of the election day vote in the city. Nothing strange about the [Milwaukee] vote!”
Round 1 AM CT on Nov. 6—i.e., late on election evening—Republicans had been already posting on X that it appeared unlikely Hovde would win.
“It’s going to be close. With Hovde up ~63k, that may not be enough to withstand the Milwaukee/Racine/Green Bay/Oshkosh vote yet to come in,” Joe Handrick, a Republican former member of the Wisconsin state Meeting, wrote in a put up on X. “My numbers suggest a [Democrat] will net more than 63k from those.”
Eric Bott, a Republican operative from Wisconsin, additionally wrote at 12:36 AM CT the evening of the election, “Hovde is up 73k but I’m worried it’s not enough to overcome the dumps coming from [Milwaukee] and Racine. It’s close.”
Sowing doubt in regards to the election outcomes, Hovde additionally mentioned that some precincts reported larger than 100% turnout. Nonetheless, that turnout estimate relies on voters registered earlier than Election Day, and doesn’t embrace those that registered on Nov. 5, as a number of information retailers have famous.
Hovde’s claims are all of the extra absurd on condition that Donald Trump gained Wisconsin. He’s insinuating that Democrats would rig the race in opposition to him but additionally let Trump win the state. Give us a break.
After he posted the video elevating doubts in regards to the equity of the election, he mentioned on an area radio program that he is aware of he misplaced. “It’s the most painful loss I’ve ever experienced,” Hovde mentioned, including that he’ll “pick myself up and move on.”
He mentioned he’s refusing to concede so as to protect the power to request a recount, though a recount is unlikely to vary the end result of the race.
However his resolution to sow doubt within the outcomes by making baseless claims of “inconsistencies” is antithetical to the feedback he was making forward of the election.
On Nov. 4, Hovde mentioned, “Look, I plan to just accept the outcomes of what occurs tomorrow.”
And in early October, Hovde mentioned, “We have to stop every time one side loses an election saying the election was stolen.”
“We have to get confidence in our election process,” he added that very same day. “And if I lose, I lose.”
Baldwin slammed Hovde’s response to his loss.
“Eric Hovde is spreading lies from the darkest corners of the internet to undercut our free and fair elections. Wisconsin voters made their voices heard. It’s time for Hovde to stop this disgusting attack on our democracy and concede,” Baldwin wrote in a put up on X.
Native Wisconsin reporter Emilee Fannon reported that even Republicans are criticizing Hovde, with one unnamed Republican telling her, “What the hell is he thinking?”
This all comes because the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee is attacking Democratic Sen. Bob Casey for not conceding the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Nonetheless, that Senate contest is nearer than Wisconsin’s. As of Wednesday morning, Casey is down 0.43 share factors, whereas Hovde is behind by double that margin. What’s extra, there are an unknown variety of uncounted ballots in Pennsylvania, although final Thursday the state estimated there to be round 100,000 nonetheless uncounted—and in the mean time, they’re breaking Casey’s method. He trails McCormick by solely 29,335 votes.
However the greater distinction right here is that, in contrast to Hovde, Casey will not be sowing doubt within the election course of. Reasonably, he’s merely saying he needs to “count every vote.”
In the end, that is the second Senate race that Hovde has misplaced. In 2012, ran for Senate in Wisconsin however misplaced within the GOP major.
“In his final, disgraceful act, Hovde embarrasses [Wisconsin] with his own election Big Lie,” Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore wrote on X. “Go back to Malibu, CA, and enjoy the beach and your $26 MILLION in cartel-linked cash.”
