Eric Hovde, a Republican Senate candidate in Wisconsin, is claiming he “can’t be bought” and will donate his Senate salary to charities if elected as he pushes back against Democratic attacks calling him an out-of-touch millionaire.
In a 30-second ad released Friday and shared with the Washington Examiner, Hovde said he will not take money from special interest groups, framing his wealth as an asset instead of a pitfall.
“Career politicians sell themselves to special interests and end up working for them instead of you,” Hovde said. “I’ve worked hard, been fortunate. I don’t need their special interest money, and I won’t take it.”
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Hovde, a real estate and bank CEO, has come under fire from Democrats for his fortune and ownership of California’s Sunwest Bank, which controls more than $3 billion in assets. His $7 million estate in Laguna Beach has also received scrutiny.
Democrats have been quick to label him a wealthy carpetbagger since he entered the Senate race in February despite his family ties and upbringing in Madison. The Senate Majority PAC, a leading Democratic outside group, dropped a $2 million ad buy in early March emphasizing his time spent in California.
In response, Hovde, who mounted an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2012, has used his wealth to bolster his image as a political outsider, saying in the ad that he will not take money from corporate PACs and will donate his entire Senate salary to Wisconsin charities each year. His charity, the Hovde Foundation, will not be a recipient.
“I can’t be bought, and I’ll put you and our country first,” Hovde said.
The Republican and his allies have also blasted the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), as hypocritical, claiming she has corruptly amassed wealth since being elected to Congress in 1998.
The Democratic senator’s net worth was estimated at $1.1 million as of 2018, according to OpenSecrets, and the campaign has highlighted a $1.3 million condo in Washington, D.C., she reportedly bought with her partner, private wealth adviser Maria Brisbane.
“Between a million-dollar D.C. penthouse and growing her net worth 600%, Sen. Baldwin has benefited richly from her 25 years in Washington,” Ben Voelkel, spokesman for Hovde, told the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, while Sen. Baldwin lined her pockets playing politics, Wisconsinites are stuck with crushing inflation and a border crisis that hits closer and closer to home every day.”
In response, the Wisconsin Democratic Party pointed to Hovde’s net worth being between $52.8 million and $214.6 million as of 2012, as well as a Politico report that found a Hovde asset management firm invested tens of millions of dollars in insurance companies that operated in the United States but were based in Bermuda, allowing him not to have to pay U.S. corporate taxes. In a statement to Politico, Voelkel called the inquiry into Hovde’s investments part of “ridiculous attacks” on behalf of liberals “because Sen. Baldwin can’t run on her own record as a nearly 40-year career politician and rubber stamp for the Biden agenda.”
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“Wisconsin voters will see Eric Hovde for who he is: a megamillionaire, California bank owner who doesn’t share our values and can’t be trusted to fight for us,” Arik Wolk, spokesperson for Wisconsin Democrats, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Hovde’s campaign video, which features him inside a Madison bar and supper club, is part of a seven-figure ad buy that will run for five weeks and air on broadcast, satellite, and cable networks.
