The Republican Senate hopefuls in some of the most closely watched races in the country are being hit with millions of dollars in ad spending by EMILY’s List, the abortion-rights group that buoys Democratic female candidates.
Its political action committee is pumping $2.65 million against Republican Eric Hovde in Wisconsin and $2.2 million against former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan in Maryland in ads focused on the pair’s abortion records.
Democrats must retain both seats and win another half-dozen competitive races to have a shot at keeping the Senate majority. Hovde is facing Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Hogan is up against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for an open seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
While Baldwin and Alsobrooks maintain advantages over their GOP challengers, their campaigns and Democratic allies have painted Hovde and Hogan as the lynchpin for Senate Republicans to capture the majority and invoke a national abortion ban. Hogan rejects any ban, and Hovde has softened his once hard-line stance.
EMILY’s List President Jessica Mackler accused Hogan of “trying to hide from his anti-abortion track record” and said that voters “cannot trust Eric Hovde with our most personal healthcare decisions.”
The ad on Hogan, a former two-term centrist GOP governor of deep-blue Maryland who despises former President Donald Trump, says not to “let him fool you now.” The 30-second spot says he has been “anti-abortion” his “entire career.”
As evidence, EMILY’s List points to his veto as governor, which state lawmakers later overrode, of a bill to allow nonphysicians to perform abortions. They also cited his decision to withhold state funds to train those new abortion providers, which his office at the time stated would run counter to his veto that was issued over health concerns.
Hogan campaign spokeswoman Blake Kernen slammed the latest criticism on his abortion record as “false attacks and scare tactics” that are the result of Hogan presenting a “threat to the broken status quo politics of Washington.”
“Governor Hogan is committed to protecting our reproductive rights and women’s health — just as he has always been. As governor, he made sure access to abortion was never a question for Maryland women,” Kernan said. “He said in 2019, Roe was rightly decided and has been on the record against a national abortion ban since 1992. The legislation he vetoed threatened to lower the standard of care for Maryland women — it had nothing to do with access to abortion.”
In his Senate campaign, Hogan has vowed to reject any national attempts to restrict abortion, to support codifying Roe into law, and to back the expansion of IVF access.
The ad on Hovde, a wealthy businessman, features medical professionals. One of them says, “Eric Hovde is OK with politicians overruling decisions of doctors like me.” Another states, “A vote for Eric Hovde means we’ll lose even more control over our lives.”
It includes interview clips of Hovde from his 2012 Senate bid saying Roe should be overturned and that he’s “totally opposed to abortion.”
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This go-around, Hovde has softened his stance. He backs exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, and he has indicated support for a ban between 12 and 14 weeks but has said Wisconsin voters should decide.
The Hovde campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
