WASHINGTON — Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin and Republican businessman Eric Hovde sparred on the debate stage Friday evening in their only scheduled face off.
“I mean, it’s one lie after another,” Hovde said at one point in the hour-long debate.
“Eric Hovde is lying,” exclaimed Baldwin in another.
Throughout the campaign, Baldwin has painted Hovde as an out-of-touch multimillionaire who spends more time on the west coast than Wisconsin, while Hovde has said she is a career politician and it’s time for change. After a question about misleading attack ads about farmers and transgender therapy for minors, Hovde – unprompted – tried to prove his Wisconsin roots, but in doing so falsely claimed Baldwin wasn’t a UW graduate.
“I vote here. I live here. I was raised here. I'm a UW grad. You're not,” Hovde said.
“Yes I am,” Baldwin responded.
“Law school, not undergrad,” Hovde said.
Hovde also tried to dispel the attack line about his California connection, though he has a home in Laguna Beach, CA.
“You claim I live in California, and that's where I am, and I'm not a Wisconsinite, even though, as I said, I live in the neighborhood you grew up,” Hovde said. “You know, there's such a thing as a way to prove it. It's called the utility bill. I have my utility bill.”
The two argued over Social Security and its future. Baldwin has accused Hovde of wanting to cut the benefit, while he says that’s not true.
“Multimillionaires, like my opponent Eric Hovde, paid minute amounts. They're not doing their fair share, and if we lifted that income cap, the solvency would be extended for many years,” Baldwin said. “The Hovde plan that reverts and resets spending levels to levels from the last decade would cut Social Security by 28%, an average of $500 per month. That's $6,000 per year.”
“Man, the one thing you have perfected in Washington is your ability to lie,” Hovde snapped back. “I can't even believe you have the ability to stand here and say something like that. Look, I believe we need to protect Social Security and keep it sacrosanct for everybody who is on Social Security or getting ready to retire… So, if we would have kept Social Security in a trust and not pilfered from it, like you have for the last 26 years as a politician, Social Security would be in a much better place."
Another point of contention: The Affordable Care Act. While Hovde said it has failed except for helping those with pre-existing conditions, Baldwin said she was proud of the provision she wrote to allow young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26.
“Cost of health care has only skyrocketed higher. Access to care has declined and declined significantly, particularly for a lot of people in our rural communities. And lastly, the family doctor has all but disappeared,” Hovde said. “We need a significant restructuring of our health care system.”
“I went throughout my youth without health insurance because of a preexisting condition, and I grew up believing that was wrong,” Baldwin said. “I had the honor of serving on a panel when I was in the House of Representatives that wrote the Affordable Care Act… We need to build upon the Affordable Care Act.”
Baldwin’s campaign is centered on restoring abortion access, and she leaned into that messaging. Baldwin said she’d like to make abortion legal nationwide, while Hovde said it should be left up to the states.
“A woman’s rights and freedoms should not depend upon her zip code or state… We have services accessible in three out of our 72 counties. That means 69 counties, there is no access, and harrowing things are happening to women in this state,” Baldwin said. “That's why I'm so proud to lead the Women's Health Protection Act, which would restore Roe nationwide.”
“I agree with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother… I am not for a national abortion ban. I never have been,” Hovde said. “I think we as a state should resolve this issue with a referendum where everybody gets a right to vote… I believe that women should have a right to choose early on in their pregnancy, but there comes a point in time where a baby can be born healthy and alive, and I think it's unconscionable to terminate that child's life.”
While the campaigns are both claiming victory, Election Day is in just about two weeks, and we’ll see who wins the battle at the ballot box.