Wealthy businessman Eric Hovde on Tuesday announced his long-awaited campaign against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a declaration that finally gives Republican Senate leaders the recruit they want in Wisconsin. But while Hovde is the first serious Republican to launch a campaign, he may still have a battle on his hands in the Aug. 13 primary.
That's because fellow rich guy Scott Mayer has spent months saying he's interested in running even if he needs to get past Hovde, telling NBC News on Friday that he expects to decide within "one month."
A spokesperson for former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke also informed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just before Hovde's kickoff that his own decision would be "coming within weeks." The candidate filing deadline isn't until June 3, so it may be a while before the field fully takes shape.
Last week, Mayer also previewed the strategy he might use against Hovde when he told the paper, "I don't know that Wisconsin voters are keen on having a Wisconsin senator that lives in California."
Hovde, the Journal Sentinel reported in May, paid close to $7 million in 2018 for a "luxurious hillside estate" in Orange County, California; starred in ads for his bank that were filmed in California and even featured the would-be candidate dressed in Old West garb; and had the honor of being designated by the Orange County Business Journal as one of the 500 most influential people in the county in 2020.
