'I think it's a good brand': Senate candidate Eric Hovde is owning his mustache look

Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde doesn't seem to be quite the same fiery and uptight guy he was in his unsuccessful 2012 bid.

Just consider:

There are the two bizarre videos he's posted of him swimming shirtless in the nearly frozen waters of Lake Mendota near his Shorewood Hills mansion. There's also the video of him tossing an axe at a bar. Then there are the equally unusual TV commercials in which he dresses up as a sheriff fighting the Big Bankers in a Deadwood-style showdown.

And, finally, there's the stache. Yes, the stache.

When Hovde recently announced that he was running again, his freshly groomed facial hair was the main thing that got people talking.

Social media also took note. Call it the stache in the room.

"Ted Lasso endorses Eric Hovde's mustache," wrote the satirical website The Wisconsin Wasp.

"Mustachioed Wisconsin GOP Senate (candidate) Eric Hovde making the rounds in the Senate today," wrote reporter Burgess Everett of Politico last week.

So, really, why is Hovde changing it up by growing a face duster in such a high-stakes race? Especially when the mustache makes him look like a cross between Magnum P.I.-era Tom Selleck and, uh, your average '70s porn star.

"You know what, it was purely shits and giggles," explained the 59-year-old banking and real estate mogul.

He grew the stache for shits and giggles? This doesn't sound like the uber-intense guy who used to enjoy lecturing anyone and everyone on the intricacies of economic policy.

"You get a little bit more mellow, you get a little bit more lighthearted as you get older," Hovde said. "You know, your time window on life gets a lot shorter, so you know you try to enjoy life a little bit more."

But there's more to the origin story for his salt-and-pepper mustache.

During the pandemic in 2020, just like a lot of men, Hovde grew a beard, as he sometimes does in the winter. After three or four weeks, he decided to do something he'd never done before by shaving off everything but his upper lip to see if he could get a rise out of his wife.

She thought it was funny, and it became something of a joke between the two of them. Hovde then decided to wear it to the office, where he encountered even more laughter.

"I came back that night," Hovde said, "and my wife's looking at me and she goes, 'I really liked the stache.' I said, 'You do?' She goes, 'Yeah, it just gives you a different vibe. I really love your face, but I really liked the stache.'"

With time, Hovde decided to shave it off, but then officials at his California bank decided to run a series of TV ads in which Hovde would act as a sheriff in an Old West setting. That got him thinking again.

"I thought, 'Shit, I should really grow a stache for the cowboy commercials," Hovde said, bringing to mind actor Sam Elliott in his Stetson. "My wife was like, 'Yeah, I'd love to see the stache again.'

"So I grew the stache back, and then they work perfectly for those cowboy commercials. I would probably shave it off, but my wife loves it. And, you know, happy wife, happy life. It's been all good."

Not everyone is on board with the Hovde's lip caterpillar. Three campaign consultants not tied to Hovde's race agreed to speak frankly about his stache in exchange for not being quoted by name.

"The mustache has got to go," said a Democratic consultant. "That's what I've told all of my candidates."

A Republican campaign adviser said Hovde will have to try to win over as many women as possible in a race against Baldwin, but the adviser said he didn't think many female voters would find his facial hair appealing.

In other words, lose it.

Perhaps it's no surprise only two members of the U.S. Senate — Maine Independent Angus King and North Dakota Republican John Hoeven — are rocking mustaches. (Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman sports a version of a goatee, and Texas Republican Ted Cruz has a full-on beard.)

Between elections, Wisconsin Republicans Paul Ryan and Ron Johnson sometimes would grow beards, but they have nary a five o'clock shadow come campaign season. You may recall that former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett also quietly lost his stache when he began running for higher offices.

But, in truth, who among us hasn't made a few mistakes with their facial hair over the years? With a little digging, you can find pictures of me with my Ned Flanders-style mustache during much of the '90s. Our TV writer at the time even frequently asked me to say Flanders' catchphrase, "Okily dokily!"

It didn't happen.

The third campaign consultant had a different take on Hovde's plunge into the waters of the mustachioed.

For some candidates, facial hair just doesn't work because it doesn't often play well under lights and on camera, the consultant said. In addition, staches look better on some men than others.

Yet, at the same time, Hovde is standing out because of his. It's a way of getting people to talk about him and his candidacy.

"Look — we're talking about it," the consultant said. "So maybe it's a name ID thing."

Hovde seems to get this. The issue is one he's discussed with his media team.

"There's some vibe in politics that says it's not good to have facial hair …. So I've heard those comments," he said. "But largely most of the media people were like, 'I think it's a good brand. People will memorize it.'"

He said he's even had people approach him and note that he is the candidate with the mustache.

So is Hovde going to keep it throughout the rest of the eight-month campaign? Or will he go whiskers-free for part of the race?

He's not sure.

"We've even discussed, you know, do I go with it halfway through the campaign and, hey, keep it shaved?" Hovde said. "I don't know. I can go either which way, but a lot of people think it's hilarious. So I'm glad people are having fun with it."

You have to wonder what's next for the guy as he looks to boost his brand during the campaign.

Perhaps a tattoo? Yeah, no.

"I'm not a tattoo guy," Hovde said. "It's just not my style."

Got it. Or as Ned Flanders might say, "Okily dokily!"

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: Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde is owning his mustache look