Eric Hovde lost the election. It’s time for him to concede.

Tammy Baldwin won Wisconsin with a nearly identical margin to Donald Trump’s victory in the state, and yet, Hovde has not conceded defeat and has been completely silent for nearly a week.

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This column is from The Recombobulation Area, a weekly opinion column and online publication from Dan Shafer, now part of the Civic Media network. Learn more about The Recombobulation Area and subscribe here.

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Tammy Baldwin won the race for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. It was a very close race, decided by a less than 1% margin, but she won. She will be serving another six years in the U.S. Senate.

So, why hasn’t her opponent, Eric Hovde, conceded defeat?

The Republican challenger has gone completely silent since the Wednesday morning following the election. His last public comment came at 9:11 a.m. on Nov. 6. TheAssociated Press called the race for Baldwin at 12:42 p.m. Central Time. 

That was six days ago, and in that time, the results have not been in dispute. Baldwin delivered a victory speech in Madison the morning of Thursday, Nov. 8. The weekend passed, another week began, and still, complete silence from the Hovde campaign, on all fronts.

Baldwin’s margin of victory was slim, but Wisconsin is used to close elections. In fact, her margin of victory was identical to Trump’s in the state. Both candidates won by an 0.86% margin. No serious person is claiming that Harris won Wisconsin, either. 

In fact, Baldwin’s final vote total margin over Hovde was remarkably similar to the total Ron Johnson won re-election by in 2022. Baldwin’s margin over Hovde is by about 29,000 votes, and Johnson’s margin over Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes was by about 27,000 votes. Barnes gave a concession speech in Milwaukee the day after the election. 

The presence of third-party candidates is the one factor that’s different from 2022, but nearly 29,000 people voted for Thomas Leager and more than 42,000 people voted for Phil Anderson. Hovde can play the what-if game all he wants regarding where those votes might have gone, but those votes aren’t being changed. Even if those candidates were not on the ballot, it would be wrong to assume those votes would automatically go to Hovde; it’s just as possible they would not have made a selection in the race at all. 

Now, Hovde’s refusal to concede defeat in this race is beginning to create real problems. Conspiracy theories are running wild on social media with posts in the millions of views about the “vote dump” from Milwaukee. 

Anyone paying attention to elections in Wisconsin knew that was going to be how votes from absentee ballots in Milwaukee would be reported — all at once, late into the night (as we explained here). This is the process that the GOP-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature has allowed for, since bipartisan efforts to reform the process were blocked by Republicans in the State Senate. 

Chaos loves a vacuum. Now, the vacuum Hovde is creating through his continued silence is leading to more chaos, with conspiracy theories spreading like wildfire — boosted and questioned by none other than Elon Musk himself, on the platform he owns. 

Anyone paying attention to elections in Wisconsin knew that was going to be how votes from absentee ballots in Milwaukee would be reported — all at once, late into the night (as we explained here). This is the process that the GOP-controlled Wisconsin State Legislature has allowed for, since bipartisan efforts to reform the process were blocked by Republicans in the State Senate. 

Chaos loves a vacuum. Now, the vacuum Hovde is creating through his continued silence is leading to more chaos, with conspiracy theories spreading like wildfire — boosted and questioned by none other than Elon Musk himself, on the platform he owns. 

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Wisconsin has endured too much election denial nonsense over the past four years. From the Gableman mess to endless pushes from right-wing actors to “decertify” the 2020 presidential election (not a thing!) to the state’s central role in the fake electors plot to overturn the election, this has brought a great deal of political turmoil to the state. We cannot have more of this after the 2024 election in Wisconsin.

Enough is enough. It’s time for Eric Hovde to concede defeat in this race. It’s long past time, really.

Hovde is within his rights to request a recount. He would have to shoulder the cost, with the margin being more than 0.25%, but with the margin being less than 1%, it’s something he has the option to do, per the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s Recount Manual. He has time to do so, as well. But if he were to take that path, why the continued silence? 

Perhaps it’s because Eric Hovde lost this election. A recount would not change that simple fact. It’s. Over. 

Wisconsin needs to move on from election denialism that’s plagued the state for years. Our democracy will be healthier when candidates who lost do the honorable thing and admit defeat. This is not a partisan issue. If a Democrat were similarly avoiding the public and refusing to concede, similar criticisms would apply. 

For the best interests of Wisconsin, to not invite additional toxicity into the state’s political environment, and to respect the results of a free and fair election, it’s time for Hovde to break his silence, come forward and concede this race. 

This column is from The Recombobulation Area, a weekly opinion column and online publication from Dan Shafer, now part of the Civic Media network. Learn more about The Recombobulation Area and subscribe here.