Businessman Eric Hovde won the Wisconsin Republican primary for Senate, NBC News projects, setting up a critical battleground state race against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Hovde, who was backed by former President Donald Trump and other national Republicans, easily fended off two lesser-known primary opponents, while Baldwin ran unopposed as she seeks a third term.
Baldwin’s seat is a top priority for both parties in the battle for control of the closely divided Senate. She has worked to build up a sizable campaign war chest and leverage her appeal in rural parts of the state.
In 2018, Baldwin won re-election by 11 points, following a 5-point win in 2012. By comparison, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump each carried the state by less than 1 percentage point in the last two White House contests. Baldwin has also fared better than the top of the Democratic ticket in some recent Wisconsin polling.
An independently wealthy businessman, Hovde, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2012, has already loaned his campaign $13 million. But Baldwin has maintained a financial edge in the race, spending more than $30 million so far with $6.4 million left in her campaign account as of July 24, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Hovde’s campaign has reported spending $13.6 million so far, and had $3.1 million on hand as of July 24.
With Hovde long viewed as the favorite to win the GOP nomination, the two candidates have already been trading barbs.
One of Baldwin’s most recent ads features children of single mothers, highlighting audio of Hovde saying that children “born out of wedlock” are on “a direct path to a life of poverty.”
“That just shows Eric Hub is ignorant,” one person says in the ad, with another person later adding, “What is wrong with this guy?”
Hovde has pushed back against Baldwin’s negative ads, launching a TV spot where he says, “The false attacks are going to keep coming because she has nothing to run on. Her record has failed us on inflation, the border and crime.” He later adds, “It’s time for change.”