Republican Eric Hovde to announce bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin next week

WASHINGTON – Madison businessman Eric Hovde will launch his Senate campaign next week, officially kicking off his expected bid to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin.

A spokesperson for Hovde on Thursday confirmed his plans.

Hovde, 59, will enter the race with the support of the national party. The National Republican Senatorial Committee late last year told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Hovde would enter the race and said he had the full support of Senate Republicans' main campaign arm. The group this week reiterated that Hovde has its "full support."

The announcement sets up the prospect for a high-profile race in a battleground state that could prove key in determining which party controls the Senate next year. Senate Democrats this cycle are defending 23 seats, including three held by independents who caucus with Democrats. Just 11 Republicans are up for re-election.

Hovde previously ran for Senate in 2012 but finished a close second to former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in the primary. He weighed a race against Baldwin in 2018 but backed off, and he also briefly considered a run for governor in 2022.

In recent weeks, Hovde started to assemble his campaign team and traveled the state over the last several months speaking at various Republican events. Hovde in some of those speeches, he made inflation and the nation's debt a focus as he railed against the Biden administration's handling of the economy.

Republicans in both Washington and Wisconsin have indicated they do not want a drawn-out primary race ahead of a November matchup with Baldwin. Still, Franklin businessman Scott Mayer told the Journal Sentinel this week he was still seriously considering a run as he attacked Hovde.

But Mayer also gave mixed signals about the status of his nascent campaign, initially saying he was finishing up hiring staff before walking back those claims.

Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. talked for months about potentially running as a Republican but has shown no signs of launching a campaign.

Baldwin, meanwhile, continued to campaign and fundraise as she waited for a big-name Republican to enter the race. She reported raising more than $3 million in the last quarter for 2023 — more than the $2.8 million she raised in the same period ahead of her successful 2018 campaign. She began the year with just over $8 million in cash on hand.

Hovde, a resident of Madison, is CEO of a Madison-based commercial and residential real estate company started by his grandfather and also leads two California-based businesses — H Bancorp and its primary subsidiary, Sunwest Bank. Democrats have attacked him for his 2018 purchase of a $7 million hillside estate in Laguna Beach, California.

A spokesman for Baldwin's campaign on Thursday painted Hovde as a "mega millionaire California bank owner" who will attempt to "buy this Senate seat."

"We look forward to comparing Eric Hovde, a man who was named one of Orange County's most influential people three years in a row, to Tammy Baldwin, a public servant with a proven track record of standing up to the wealthy and well connected on behalf of middle-class Wisconsin families," the spokesman, Andrew Mamo, said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Eric Hovde to announce bid to unseat Tammy Baldwin next week