MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde conceded defeat on Monday to Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin in their U.S. Senate race, saying he will not request a recount after he previously admitted he lost but floated several debunked election conspiracies.
Hovde could have requested a recount because his margin of defeat was less than 1 percentage point, at about 29,000 votes. But Hovde said he would not do that. He would have had to pay for a recount himself.
Baldwin declared victory after The Associated Press called the race for her on Nov. 6. She outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin by about as many votes as Baldwin defeated Hovde.
Hovde last week released a video in which he raised several debunked claims of impropriety during the election, all of which were refuted by Republicans, Democrats and nonpartisan elections officials. Later that day, he admitted in a radio interview that he had lost, but he still didn’t concede.
In a new video Monday in which he conceded, Hovde said getting to the bottom of the concerns raised about the legitimacy of the vote would not have been found during a recount without a court order.
The Baldwin win came in the face of Democratic losses nationwide that allowed Republicans to take control of the Senate.
Her win was the narrowest of her three Senate races. Baldwin won in 2012 by almost 6 percentage points and in 2018 by nearly 11 points.
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 President-elect Donald Trump this year and poured millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign.
Scott Bauer, The Associated Press
