Defeated GOP Senate candidate Hovde calls loss 'painful' but refuses to concede to Baldwin

On the same day he referred to his loss to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin as "brutally hard and painful" and a "gut-wrenching punch to the solar plexus" in a radio interview, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde also posted a video leaving open the possibility of requesting a recount.

"The fortunate thing about me is I've been blessed with a lot of energy and very thick skin, and I'm a very resilient person," Hovde said Tuesday on WISN-AM (1130), adding that he will "continue to fight for our wonderful country and state."

"So, yeah, it's the most painful loss I've ever experienced," he said.

Hovde appeared on conservative talk show host Mark Belling's show with guest host Jessica McBride after he released a nearly 5-minute video, posted to X, that included a series of misleading comments about the Milwaukee and Wisconsin election commissions.

He has not conceded the election to Baldwin.

The Milwaukee Election Commission in a statement said it "unequivocally refutes Eric Hovde’s baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process."

"The (Election Commission) celebrates the dedication of Milwaukee residents to participate in the democratic process and is fully confident that Mr. Hovde’s accusations lack any merit," the commission said in the statement. "Milwaukee voters can rest assured: the (Election Commission) conducted a fair, accurate, and secure election that fully protects voter rights and preserves the democratic process."

Baldwin bested Hovde by nearly 29,000 votes, Associated Press said

With 99% of the state's votes counted, Baldwin led Hovde by 49.4% to 48.5% — a margin of 28,958 votes — in a race that drew national attention and massive spending. Baldwin declared victory, and The Associated Press called the race for her the day after the election.

On Tuesday Hovde said: "Once the final information is available and all options are reviewed, I will announce my decision on how I will proceed."

"As a candidate, Eric Hovde has the right to request a recount and pursue legal remedies to address whatever concerns he may have regarding the election," Republican Party of Wisconsin executive director Andrew Iverson said in a statement.

A Republican official told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that John Eastman, one of the architects of former President Donald Trump’s strategy to overturn the 2020 election, and Wisconsin political operative Nathan Trueblood, were advising Hovde on his decisions. Other Republican sources disputed that Trueblood was involved.

On Wednesday, Eastman also denied any involvement.

"That assertion is false, as I am not advising Mr. Hovde or anyone connected with him, or anyone else for that matter, about election issues in Wisconsin," he said in an email.

The Baldwin campaign slammed Hovde for his comments.

"Eric Hovde has stooped as low as a politician can go: sowing doubt about our very democracy," Baldwin campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo said.

"Leaders on both sides of the aisle should condemn the lies he's spreading and the pathetic campaign he continues to run. Tammy Baldwin has won this race and there is only one thing for Eric Hovde to do: concede."

In Wisconsin, candidates who lose by less than one percentage point can demand a recount

In Wisconsin, a candidate can demand a recount if the official tally shows the candidate losing by 1 percentage point or less. If a candidate were behind by less than a quarter of a point, the state would pay for the recount. If the candidate is behind by a quarter of a point to 1 point, the campaign would have to pay a few million dollars to cover the cost of the recount.

In statewide elections, a candidate must wait until all Wisconsin counties are done certifying their results to request a recount.

By Nov. 19, two weeks after Election Day, each county board must certify its general election results and deliver them to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The deadline to request a recount is 5 p.m. on the third business day after the Elections Commission receives the last statement of results from county canvassers, according to the commission's recount manual.

Hovde was 'shocked' by timing of Milwaukee absentee ballot results

Hovde said in his video that he was “shocked” by Milwaukee’s reporting of its absentee ballot results early Wednesday morning, despite the widespread knowledge that the state’s most populous city consistently reports its absentee ballots all at once early the morning after a major election like last week's.

And, a further delay had been expected following the city's decision to restart the counting after more than 30,000 ballots had already been tabulated. That decision — which the city's top election official said was made out of an “abundance of caution" and in consultation with Democrats and Republicans — caused Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming to personally come to the city's downtown absentee ballot counting operation the afternoon of Nov. 5.

“Like many of my supporters, I was shocked by what unfolded on election night,” Hovde said in the video. “At 1 a.m., I was receiving calls of congratulations, and based on the models, it appeared I would win the Senate race.”

Then, hours later, he recounted, the results of the city's 108,325 absentee ballots were added to the city's totals from its polling places.

Under Wisconsin law, absentee ballots cannot be processed before 7 a.m. on Election Day. The Republican-controlled state Senate earlier this year let a bipartisan bill die that would have made it possible for clerks to start processing — and finish counting — absentee ballots earlier.

That means that especially in high-turnout elections like those for president, the city's absentee ballot results are often reported late at night because of the sheer number that must be counted.

The volume of ballots in this heavily Democratic city means those votes can change the course of statewide elections when they are added to the total, often late at night.

"Every aspect of the (Milwaukee Election Commission's) operations was conducted with transparency and in strict adherence to established laws and procedures," the Election Commission said in the statement. "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 claims Milwaukee absentee ballots went 90% to Baldwin. Real number is 82%.

Hovde also sought to sow doubt in the results of Milwaukee's absentee ballot results by saying Baldwin received 90% of those votes.

"Statistically, this outcome seems improbable, as it didn't match the patterns from same-day voting in Milwaukee, where I received 22% of the votes," he said.

In reality, Baldwin received 82% of the absentee ballots to Hovde's 16% — not far from the 75% of the vote Baldwin received on Election Day to Hovde's nearly 22%.

Hovde gives alternate explanation for his loss — a spoiler candidate

Hovde accused Democrats of funding a "phony America First candidate named Thomas Leager … to deceive voters that this candidate was aligned with President Trump, in order to siphon votes from me."

Leager is a former lobbyist for Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc., and has said people call some of his ideas "extreme. He also claimed he was an unindicted co-conspirator in the failed plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 with the hope of overthrowing the state government. The scheme received widespread attention as an example of domestic terrorism.

As he ran for Senate, he was highly critical of Baldwin and Democrats.

"Everything I stand for is completely the opposite of Tammy Baldwin," Leager told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

(This story has been updated with additional information.)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: GOP Senate candidate Hovde calls loss 'painful', but won't concede