Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde Finally Concedes His Defeat Against Tammy Baldwin in Senate Race

Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde finally conceded the Senate race he lost against Democrat Tammy Baldwin on Monday, saying that even though he still has reservations about the counting process he will refrain from requesting a formal review.

In a video posted on his X account, Hovde focused on a specific batch of absentee ballots from Milwaukee he says were statistically improbable and tipped the scale against him. "The results from election night were disappointing. Particularly in light of the last minute absentee ballots that were dropped in Milwaukee at 4 AM, flipping the outcome," he said.

Hovde went on to say the voting patterns did not match the in-person voting pattern in the city. Democrats, however, are more likely to vote through absentee ballots than Republicans, and Milwaukee is a traditional Democratic stronghold.

The Milwaukee County Election Commission rejected the claims, saying it "unequivocally refutes Eric Hovde's baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process." With 99% of the votes counted, Baldwin beat Hovde after getting 49.4% of the support compared to the Republican's 48.5%, a difference of almost 30,000 votes.

Regardless, Hovde stood by his claims, saying "there are many troubling issues around these absentee ballots and their timing." "I've heard from numerous supporters urging me to challenge the election results. However, without a detailed review of all the ballots and their legitimacy, which would be difficult to obtain in the courts, a request for a recount will serve no purpose because we'll be recounting the same ballots regardless of their integrity."

"As a result, and my desire to not add to political strife through a contentious recount, I've decided to concede the elections," Hovde added. He went on to heavily criticize state Democrats and Baldwin, saying that "operatives" schemed throughout the campaign to deceive voters and get them to vote against him. Among the examples he gave were protesters sent to my home, "phony lawsuits" against his companies and "millions spent" on "lies" about where he lived and what he has said and done.

Hovde ended his message by pleading for campaign reform to "hold candidates accountable for what they say and to provide better transparency on outside groups' funding and activities."