Republican Eric Hovde admitted he lost his U.S. Senate race to incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Tuesday, but stopped short of conceding, expressing concerns about the integrity of Milwaukee’s election results.
In a video posted on X, Hovde questioned the results, citing a surge in absentee ballots from Milwaukee of which he said 90% were for Baldwin, tipping the race in her favor. He said he would review all available options before making further decisions to either concede or request a recount.
Hovde is eligible to request a recount since his margin of defeat was under 1 percentage point, approximately 29,000 votes. He would need to request a recount within three days after the final county finishes canvassing the vote. The deadline for counties to complete this process is November 19, though some may finish earlier, according to Wisconsin state law.
Following the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump made false allegations of a “vote dump” in Wisconsin after Milwaukee completed its count of absentee ballots and swung the statewide vote total in President Joe Biden’s favor.
Hovde later acknowledged his defeat, without conceding, in an interview with WISN-AM.
“It’s the most painful loss I’ve ever experienced,” Hovde said in the interview.
In a post on X, Baldwin criticized Hovde’s response, accusing him of promoting misinformation that could erode trust in Wisconsin’s election system.
“Wisconsin voters made their voices heard,” Baldwin said in the post.“It’s time for Hovde to stop this disgusting attack on our democracy and concede.”
Democrats and some Republicans, including Milwaukee Elections Commission officials, dismissed Hovde’s allegations as baseless, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
