Human Rights Campaign Inc.

08/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/13/2024 19:34

Wisconsin Deserves Better than Bigoted California Banker Eric Hovde in the U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - Today, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion candidate for U.S. Senate Eric Hovde won Wisconsin's Republican primary. In stark contrast with U.S. Senator and trailblazing equality champion Tammy Baldwin, Hovde's agenda is one that aligns with some of the most dangerous Trump-Vance Project 2025 policies - an agenda that does not support Wisconsin businesses, workers, or families:

  • Hovde is a huge proponent of telling women what to do with their own bodies. He wanted Roe v. Wade overturned and said he was "totally opposed to abortion." It's no wonder he's endorsed by the far-right group Wisconsin Right to Life.

  • Expressing his ignorance and bigotry, Hovde has said being transgender is "insanity" and opposes allowing transgender students to participate in sports with their classmates.

  • In 2018, Hovde endorsed Leah Vukmir for this same senate seat. Vukmir supported a proposed constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality, and said she would not change her positions.

  • Hovde has no issues showing just how out-of-touch he is with Wisconsinites. Despite owning a $7 million mansion in Laguna Beach, California, Hovde claimed low-income people who can't get food stamps are just "another sob story" (Associated Press, 6/21/12).

Jared Todd, HRC Equality Votes PAC Spokesperson, released the following statement:

"Eric Hovde is an arrogant opportunist looking to grab at power and influence wherever he can find it for the sake of his own ego. He has shown time after time that he's completely out-of-touch with Wisconsin voters. Attacking transgender people, stripping Wisconsinites of their reproductive healthcare choices, and proposing nothing to make Wisconsinites better off is not a winning agenda. Wisconsinites, including the one million Equality Voters in the state, will reject Hovde's bigoted elitism at the ballot box and re-elect Tammy Baldwin, a champion for Wisconsin families who puts their needs first."

From now until November, the HRC Equality Votes PAC will work to mobilize 75 million Equality Voters, including one million Equality Voters in Wisconsin, by communicating what's at stake for the LGBTQ+ community and the threats posed to our rights and freedoms by MAGA politicians. Equality Voters are younger, more racially diverse, and more female than the general electorate. Read more about the 75 million Equality Voters here.