Hovde raises claims of 'voting inconsistencies' in loss to Baldwin

Following a week of silence over his loss to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Republican candidate Eric Hovde took to social media to post a video in which he questioned the election results by repeating several of the long-debunked criticisms Donald Trump made about votes in Milwaukee after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden in the state.

Over the course of the roughly 41⁄2-minute video, Hovde listed a number of concerns about "voting inconsistencies" in the state's Nov. 5 presidential election that also saw Trump defeat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

In the video , which marks Hovde's first public statement since the election, the Madison business owner said he was "shocked by what happened on election night."

"At 1 a.m. I was receiving calls of congratulations, and based on the models, it appeared I would win the Senate race," he said. "Then at 4 a.m., Milwaukee reported approximately 108,000 absentee ballots, with Sen. Baldwin receiving nearly 90% of those ballots. Statistically this outcome seems improbable."

Hovde's complaint echoed previous GOP criticisms over the late tally of absentee ballots at the state's central count sites like in Milwaukee. Counting of ballots typically goes into the early hours of the day after Election Day but this year took even longer than usual because some election workers forgot to lock the doors on ballot tabulator machines.

The issue meant workers had to run roughly 30,000 ballots bake through the machines, which officials at the time said would delay the count several hours longer than it would've taken otherwise.

All of Wisconsin's 72 counties are still completing their official canvasses of the results, which involves clearing out any invalid ballots or other discrepancies in the unofficial results.

In his video, Hovde questioned same-day voter registrations in Milwaukee County, which he said "surged by almost 50% on a rainy day," and he repeated a claim made first on social media on Election Night that some precincts in Milwaukee had "turnout of over 100% of registered voters."

The discrepancy can be explained by the fact that Wisconsin has same-day voter registration. The number of registered voters municipalities reported were the figures prior to Election Day; the number of same-day registrations had not yet been counted.

One municipality in Milwaukee County that reported more votes than registered voters the night of the election, Oak Creek, was carried by Hovde. The city of West Bend also saw more than 100% turnout, with Hovde securing 60% of the vote.

"Eric Hovde has stooped as low as a politician can go: sowing doubt about our very democracy. Leaders on both sides of the aisle should condemn the lies he's spreading and the pathetic campaign he continues to run," Baldwin's campaign spokesperson Andrew Mamo said in a statement. "Tammy Baldwin has won this race and there is only one thing for Eric Hovde to do: concede."

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, described Hovde's comments as "unfortunate."

"I don't know what candidate Eric Hovde is trying to drum up," Hesselbein said. "It's unfortunate that he's not choosing to concede. It's clear that Tammy Baldwin won and it's unfortunate that he's playing games."

At 49.4% to 48.5%, Baldwin's margin over her Republican rival was within the 1 point needed to qualify for a recount. But because it's more than a quarter of a percentage point, Hovde's campaign would have to pay for any recount. He has until three days after the official canvass is complete, which is projected to finish around Nov. 19, to decide.

"Once the final information is available and all options are reviewed, I will announce my decision on how I want to proceed," Hovde said in the video.

As for the late-reported votes Wednesday morning, according to Milwaukee County Election Director Michelle Hawley, there were 107,568 absentee votes cast in the Senate race, with 88,229, or 82.02%, for Baldwin and 17,699 for Hovde. On Election Day, there were 243,543 votes cast in the Senate race, with 190,827, or 78.35%, for Baldwin and 47,273 for Hovde.

Historically, absentee voters tend to be more Democratic than those who turn out on Election Day.

In a statement posted on the social media site X , Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the Milwaukee Election Commission "unequivocally refutes Eric Hovde's baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process."

"Every aspect of the MEC's operations was conducted with transparency and in strict adherence to established laws and procedures," the statement continues. "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."

Hovde has also railed against a "fraudulent candidate" on Tuesday's ballot, in reference to America First Party candidate Thomas Leager, a far-right candidate who was recruited by Democratic operatives and donors to run as a conservative. Hovde repeated those criticisms in the Tuesday video.

More than 71,000 votes went to third-party candidates in the U.S. Senate race, with Leager bringing in just over 28,700. Libertarian candidate Phil Anderson secured more than 42,000 votes.

"Is this the democratic process we want? Confidence in our elections is essential to a functioning democracy," he said, later adding, "What happened in this election does not inspire confidence in our process, and that is wrong."

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State Government Reporter

Mitchell Schmidt | Wisconsin State Journal