MADISON, Wis. — Multiple voting rights groups gathered on the steps of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) Thursday to call on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde to concede to Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin.

“Donald Trump won, Tammy Baldwin won, Kamala Harris lost, and Eric Hovde lost,” Scott Thompson, staff counsel with Law Forward, said. Thompson and others raised concerns about how Hovde’s actions could undercut election integrity and security.

What You Need To Know

  • Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, All Voting Is Local, and Law Forward all raised concerns Thursday about how Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde's reaction to the race could undercut election integrity and security

  • Earlier this week, Hovde posted a video to social media in which he claimed Wisconsin, specifically Milwaukee, saw alleged “voting inconsistencies”

  • So far, Hovde has not conceded to Tammy Baldwin and is considering whether to pursue a recount

The press conference was called after Hovde posted a video to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday claiming that Wisconsin, specifically Milwaukee, saw alleged “voting inconsistencies”

“If you are serious about being a man of your word, you would do us all a favor and concede—concede with dignity,” Nick Ramos, who serves as Executive Director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said. “Our elections and our election administrators can’t continue to be under fire because you lost an election.”

In an interview on 1130-AM radio Tuesday, Hovde called the race "the most painful loss I ever experienced,” seemingly admitting he lost but continued to say he was not conceding and still considering a recount. 

Those who raised concerns Thursday welcome that option but are confident the numbers won’t change.

“Wisconsin went for President Trump, and we reelected Tammy Baldwin,” Sam Liebert, Wisconsin State Director for All Voting Is Local, explained. “We saw in Nevada, Nevada went for Trump, but they reelected their Democratic incumbent senator.”

During Thursday’s press conference, voting rights advocates also stressed there is no such thing as a so-called “ballot dump” in Milwaukee, and pointed out that ballots cannot be counted until Election Day because state lawmakers did not act on a bipartisan early processing bill this year.

What would happen in a possible recount scenario?

In Wisconsin, for races with more than 4,000 votes, which the U.S. Senate race has, the trailing candidate can ask for a recount if the margin isn’t more than 1% of the votes cast.

If that margin were less than 0.25% percent, the state would pay for the recount. However, if it’s not, the candidate has to cover the costs.

Timing is also a factor. Hovde would have to request a recount within three days of the last county completing its canvass. The deadline for counties to do that is Nov. 19, but the process could always wrap up sooner.

How did Hovde lose when President-elect Trump won the state?

Hovde lost by about 29,000 votes, which happens to be roughly the same margin Trump won the state. The interesting part is that Baldwin performed a little better than Vice President Harris but had similar vote totals. Hovde, on the other hand, lagged Trump by about 54,000 votes.

Ultimately, it is the reverse outcome of what happened in 2020 when Trump ran about 51,000 votes behind the eight Republican House candidates.

Though uncommon in other places, these outcomes happen in purple states, including Wisconsin. In 2022, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was reelected on the same statewide ballot that Republican Sen. Ron Johnson won another term.

Given that outcome, it is likely some Wisconsinites voted for Trump and Baldwin, while Hovde may have lost some votes to third-party candidates too. Additionally, about 30,000 fewer people voted in the U.S. Senate race for whatever reason, which impacted vote totals.

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