WASHINGTON — Some long-shot Republicans have been against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin since last year, but the man she’s been attacking for months is finally going to jump in.
Republican businessman Eric Hovde is planning to announce his campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday. He sought the GOP nomination for the same Wisconsin seat 12 years ago and lost.
“I was looking back [and] he raised about $6 million in 2012, when he narrowly lost the primary. I think he’s self-funded almost all of that,” said Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “I think he’s kind of the candidate that Republicans have kind of gravitated toward, you know, kind of a political outsider who’s got self funding capacity. And so, if he can fund his own race, that’s money that national Republicans don’t necessarily have to kick in.”
Hovde grew up in Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is the CEO of his family’s real estate development company and a billion-dollar holding company that buys and runs banks. Hovde is expected to draw on his wealth to help finance his campaign, which can be both a strength and a drawback for a candidate.
“There’s a difference between money that you raise and money that you have, and raising it means you’re talking to people: You’re talking to voters, you’re talking to interests, you’re talking to people who can help you,” said Sarah Bryner, the director of research and strategy at Open Secrets. “Bringing your own money is great, because you don’t have to do any of that; you don’t have to spend your time on the phone. But it also disconnects you from the voting population.”
Baldwin’s most recent campaign disclosure report shows her campaign had more than $8 million in the bank at the end of last year. That’s about a million dollars more than she had at the same stage of her last re-election campaign six years ago.
“Baldwin is raising the kind of money that she needs to try to win re-election. Again, doesn’t guarantee her anything. But she’s certainly not slacking off in the fundraising department. She’s doing quite well,” Kondik said.
Another businessman, Scott Mayer, and controversial former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke are also mulling runs against Baldwin, but have not yet announced.
Baldwin has used Hovde’s impending announcement as a way to ask online supporters to donate even more money to her campaign.
Baldwin has raised more than $20 million for her campaign so far. She comfortably won re-election in 2018 by nearly 11 percentage points. But because Wisconsin is considered a swing state, she is seen as the favorite in the race, but not a lock.