WISCONSIN — Republican businessman and U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde said he will not yet concede the Senate race to incumbent Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin. The Associated Press declared her the winner of the race last Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the polls closed in Wisconsin.

On Tuesday, Hovde posted a video to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, claiming that Wisconsin — specifically Milwaukee — saw alleged “voting inconsistencies.” There is no evidence of wrongdoing.

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

“I will definitely pick myself up and move on and fight for our wonderful country and state, which is why I got into this whole thing," Hovde said. "It’s the most painful loss I’ve ever experienced.”

The results of the election are still being reviewed by counties before they submit the canvassed totals to the state by Nov. 19 for certification by Dec. 1.

In the video, which lasts over four minutes, Hovde said he was “shocked” by the results, in part because results reported by Milwaukee early Wednesday morning put Baldwin in first place.

Ann Jacobs, chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, posted on X that “a late night release of absentee ballots in Wisconsin was literally expected.”

“It’s the known result of not being allowed to start opening envelopes until 7 am election day,” she continued. “Everyone knew the ballot totals from central counts, particularly Milwaukee, would come early on 11/6. People claiming otherwise are just making things up.”

According to the Associated Press, as of Nov. 8 at 6 p.m., with 99% of votes counted, Baldwin earned 49.4% of the vote while Hovde earned 48.5% of the vote. Since the difference falls within a 1% margin, Hovde may request a recount, but would have to pay for it.

“Many people have reached out and urged me to contest the election,” Hovde said. “While I'm deeply concerned, asking for a recount is a serious decision that requires careful consideration. Further, there are meaningful limits on a recount because they don't look at the integrity of a ballot.”

Democrats, and even some Republicans, immediately called out Hovde for what they said was a perpetuation of lies about the integrity of the election.

“Stop trying to erode trust in our elections (and I say that as someone who supported Hovde),” said Jim Villa, a longtime Republican who previously worked in the Legislature and Milwaukee county executive's office under Scott Walker before Walker became governor.

“That grift needs to stop!” Villa posted on X.

Andrew Mamo, a spokesperson for Baldwin’s campaign, responded to the video.

“Eric Hovde has stooped as low as a politician can go: Sowing doubt about our very democracy,” he said in a statement. “Leaders on both sides of the aisle should condemn the lies he’s spreading and the pathetic campaign he continues to run. Tammy Baldwin has won this race and there is only one thing for Eric Hovde to do: Concede.”

Baldwin herself also took to X to call on Hovde to concede. 

John D. Johnson, a Marquette University researcher and data scientist, reacted to Hovde's video on X by saying, “Reckless disregard for the actual facts here."

In the video, Hovde said the America First Party Candidate, Thomas Leager, was a “phony” who Democrats funded to “siphon votes from me.” He also claimed Democrats used the Independent candidate, Phil Anderson, to “again draw votes away from me.” In an interview with Spectrum News last week, Charles Franklin, head of the Marquette Law School poll, said “rarely do third parties tip the balance.”

“And in the end, we can never know for sure what those third party voters would have done if [those candidates] hadn't been there,” Franklin said.

Hovde said while he wants to bring closure surrounding the election for the state, he is waiting to make any decisions for now.

“Once the final information is available and all options are reviewed, I will announce my decision on how I will proceed,” Hovde said.

Although there is no evidence of wrongdoing in the election, many Hovde supporters have questioned a surge in votes for Baldwin that were reported by Milwaukee around 4:30 a.m. the morning after the election. Those votes put Baldwin over the top.

The votes were the tabulation of absentee ballots from Milwaukee. Those ballots are counted at a central location and reported all at once, often well after midnight on Election Day. Elections officials for years have made clear that those ballots are reported later than usual because of the sheer number that have to be counted and the fact that state law does not allow for processing them before polls open.

Republicans and Democrats alike, along with state and Milwaukee election leaders, warned in the days and weeks leading up to the election that the Milwaukee absentee ballots would be reported late and cause a huge influx of Democratic votes.

The reporting of those absentee ballots swung the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, fueling baseless conspiracy theories that the election had been stolen from Donald Trump.

This year, the number of Democratic absentee votes in Milwaukee was not enough to sway the race for Vice President Kamala Harris, but it did put Baldwin over the top.

Hovde said before those ballots arrived that it “appeared” he had won and since last Wednesday, “numerous parties” had reached out to him about alleged inconsistencies.

But on election night, Republican strategists posted on X that Hovde was likely to fall behind Baldwin once the absentee votes from Milwaukee and other Democratic-heavy cities were posted. That is what happened.

Craig Gilbert, retired Washington Bureau Chief and national political reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Marquette University Law School's Lubar Fellow, took to X to say that the numbers Hovde cited in the video were incorrect. 

Hovde would have to pay for a recount himself. The Wisconsin Republican Party has not been asked to pay for a recount, state party executive director Andrew Iverson said.

To seek a recount, Hovde would have to request one within three days after the last county completed its canvass of the vote. Those are due by Nov. 19, but counties could complete the task sooner.

Hovde, a multimillionaire bank owner and real estate developer, first ran for Senate in 2012 but lost in the Republican primary. He was backed by Trump this year and poured millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign.