Bice: Eric Hovde would be one of the richest U.S. senators if he wins this fall
If Madison Republican Eric Hovde were to win his Senate bid this fall, he would certainly have no problems fitting into the so-called millionaires' club.
In fact, Hovde would immediately become one of the fattest cats there.
According to a financial disclosure form filed late Sunday, Hovde listed assets worth between $195.4 million and $564.5 million, much of it in Madison and Milwaukee real estate holdings, corporate securities and stock in Sunwest Bank, the Utah-based financial institution for which he is chairman and CEO. His liabilities in mortgages and lines of credit range from $11.6 million to $53.3 million.
Those numbers would appear to put Hovde's net worth ahead of such deep-pocked senators as Florida Republican Rick Scott, Utah Republican Mitt Romney and Virginia Democrat Mark Warner. Hovde is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The disclosure form does not require senators and Senate candidates to list the exact amount for each of their investments but instead has them put the value within a range, such as between $100,001 and $250,000.
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Hovde's Democratic opponent, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, reported in May that she has assets worth between $601,003 and nearly $1.3 million, a tiny fraction of his holdings. She also has a mortgage worth somewhere between $250,001 and $500,000 for a D.C. condo she owns with her partner, Maria Brisbane.
Even Wisconsin's other senator, multimillionaire Ron Johnson, is a relative pauper up against Hovde, his fellow Republican. Hovde holds assets worth in ranges about seven to 10 times as much as that of Johnson.
Democrats immediately pounced in response the disclosure of Hovde's enormous wealth.
"It's no surprise that someone who insults Wisconsinites as much as Eric Hovde is worth upwards of over half a billion dollars, if not more," said Arik Wolk, rapid response director for the Wisconsin Dems. "No wonder Hovde tried to hide his California mega-fortune from Wisconsinites for so long — it's just more proof he's an out-of-touch rich guy who wants to make himself richer."
But Ben Voelkel, a spokesman for Hovde, dismissed the criticism.
Unlike Baldwin, Voelkel said, Hovde has been successful by creating jobs in Wisconsin.
"While Sen. Baldwin has made more than $4 million from Wisconsin taxpayers as a career politician catering to special interests," Voelkel said, "Eric will donate his entire salary to Wisconsin charities every year as he works to repair the damage done by the disastrous Biden-Baldwin agenda."
Obviously, Hovde wouldn't need the $174,000 paid annually to members of the upper house.
He has dozens of individual investments that are worth more than that sum. In addition, he also reported that last year he had income from rent, dividends, interest and capital gains from $18.9 million to $107.4 million.
According to his filing, Hovde's net worth — his assets minus liabilities — is in the neighborhood of $142 million to $552 million.
The wealthiest current member of the Senate, Scott of Florida, has a minimum net worth of $112.2 million and a maximum one of $453 million, according to Finbold, a business and crypto-currency website.
Actually, Hovde may be worth even more than the figures listed above. That's because the financial disclosure form does not have require officials to provide the value of a single holding worth more than $50 million.
In his report, Hovde's said he owned "over $50 million" in H Bancorp's stake in Sunwest Bank, but he doesn't have to say how much more. Sunwest Bank is estimated to have $3.2 billion in assets.
When Hovde ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2012, he didn't have any investment that exceeded $50 million. Indeed, his wealth has grown significantly over the past 12 years, more than doubling during that time.
In 2012, Hovde had assets ranging from roughly $58 million to $240 million, while he reported liabilities of $5.2 million to $25.4 million.
In recent weeks, the Madison real estate and banking mogul has said he will give up his management and board positions with Sunwest if he wins in November. He has not said whether he will divest his holdings in Sunwest, which has branches in five states.
"I don't know," Hovde said in a recent interview. "I will make that decision when that bridge comes."
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bice: Eric Hovde would be one of the richest U.S. senators if he wins
