After sitting quietly for a week after election results indicated Hovde’s defeat last week said without evidence that election fraud in Milwaukee County led to his loss and that he was exploring his options. He conceded Monday’s election and said he would not seek a recount.

“I have heard from numerous supporters urging me to contest the election results. However, without a detailed review of all the ballots and their legitimacy, which will be difficult to obtain in the courts, a recount request would serve no purpose, as you will be recounting the same ballots, regardless of their integrity.” , Hovde said. .

“As a result, and my desire not to contribute to political strife through a controversial recount, I have decided to accept the election,” he continued.

Thank you for your support. It’s time to move on. pic.twitter.com/XiO4XVVcaP

— Eric Hovde (@EricHovde) November 18, 2024

The Associated Press called the race for Baldwin the day after the November 6 election. Baldwin edged out Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin by about as many votes as Baldwin beat Hovde. A spokesman for Baldwin said As of Monday afternoon, Hovde had not called Baldwin to offer the concession.

Despite the concession, Hovde continued to make baseless claims that he lost the election because of “vote dumps” in Milwaukee County. one of the state’s Democratic strongholds. These so-called ballot pits are not what he describes them as.

Each county in Wisconsin must begin counting all ballots on Election Day, so results from absentee ballots come in slowly as they are counted. Milwaukee is by far the most populous county in Wisconsin, which means votes take time to be counted because many of the county’s residents use absentee methods. State lawmakers from both parties have tried to change that system, but the Republican-controlled state Senate has blocked those efforts since the 2020 election.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson POSTED a statement from the city commission that “unequivocally” rejects “Hovde’s baseless claims about the integrity of our election process.” The Milwaukee Election Commission called Hovde’s claims “baseless.”

“It is both expected and common for absentee ballots — more than 100,000 in this case — to be counted and reported late on election night because of Wisconsin’s high voter turnout and rigorous verification standards on which the MEC supports,” the statement says.

In Monday’s video, Hovde also said that calling for a recall “will do no good” because the recount would “only count the same ballots, regardless of their integrity.” There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Milwaukee County or the state of Wisconsin during the 2024 election.

Hovde lost the election to Baldwin by just over 29,000 votes, which is within the margin that would have allowed Hovde to seek a recount. Because Hovde’s loss margin is under 0.25%, he should cover the cost of the recount. A recount can cost millions of dollars and rarely changes the outcome of an election, according to FairVote.

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Hovde, who owns a large Southern California bank, has faced repeated accusations from Democrats of being a doormat during his campaign because of his strong connections outside the state.

In response to his concession, Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman Arik Wolk said, “Now that he’s finally admitted, I wish Eric Hovde a safe trip back to California.”