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.”
Primary night in four states
Minnesota, Connecticut and Vermont also held down-ballot primaries on Tuesday.
In Minnesota’s battleground 2nd District, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig will officially face Marine veteran Joe Teirab in November. Teirab, who had Trump’s endorsement in GOP primary, was the leading Republican candidate after his chief rival dropped out last month.
President Joe Biden won the 2nd District in 2020 by 7 points, while Craig won her third term in 2022 by 5 points.
In another competitive district, Connecticut’s 5th, Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes will once again face off against former Republican state Sen. George Logan after each ran unopposed in their primaries. Hayes defeated Logan by just 1 point in 2022 after Biden carried the district by nearly 11 points two years prior.
Elsewhere in Connecticut, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy ran unopposed in his primary and moves onto the general election as the heavy favorite against Republican bar owner Matthew Corey, whom the senator defeated in 2018.
And in Vermont, Republican Gov. Phil Scott and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders will move onto the general election, where they aren’t expected to face serious competition.
Sanders will face Republican Gerald Malloy, who made an unsuccessful run for Senate two years ago. The Associated Press projects Democrat Esther Charlestin, a former member of the Middlebury Selectboard, won the primary to go up against Scott, who will be a heavy favorite to win another term despite Vermont’s deep-blue hue.
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