Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde sparred over abortion rights and economic issues Friday night during their first and only debate of a hotly contested Wisconsin Senate race that has tightened just weeks before Election Day.
The tenor of the hour-long face-off was mostly civil, but both candidates fired off acidic lines and retorts at times, with Hovde repeatedly accusing Baldwin of lying and Baldwin often accusing Hovde of misrepresenting his positions on an array of issues.
The most tense moments of the evening came when the two candidates tangled over reproductive rights.
Following one of many attacks Hovde fired off at Baldwin’s partner, the two-term incumbent hit back, saying, “Eric Hovde should stay out of my personal life — and I think I speak for most Wisconsin women that he should stay out of all of our personal lives.”
Moments earlier, asked whether Roe v. Wade should be made the “law of the land,” Baldwin replied that, “a woman’s rights and freedoms should not depend upon her zip code or state.”
As they have nationally, Democrats have put the issue at the forefront of politics in Wisconsin, where an abortion ban from 1849 technically took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. While abortion providers in the state resumed care last year after a judge ruled that the 175-year-old law didn’t apply to consensual medical abortions, the state Supreme Court is reviewing a separate case seeking to entirely invalidate the law.
“Look, it’s been brought back to our state,” Hovde said during the exchange. “I believe in the beauty of life … and I agree with exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.”
Hovde, a GOP businessman who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Wisconsin in 2012, had previously said he was “100% pro-life” before changing his position during his current campaign to include support for those exceptions.
He then falsely accused Baldwin of having supported abortion rights “up to the point of delivery, where a healthy baby can be born alive and be terminated.”
“There comes a point in time where a baby can be born healthy and alive, and I think it’s unconscionable to terminate that child’s life,” he said.
Baldwin responded forcefully, saying, “Eric Hovde, that does not happen in America. It’s very clear that he has never read Roe v. Wade.”
Friday’s debate, which took place four days before the start of early in-person voting in Wisconsin and 18 days before Election Day, comes as the race between Baldwin, who is vying for her third Senate term, and Hovde, a multimillionaire businessman and bank owner, has tightened in recent weeks.
The seat has been a top priority for both parties, given Wisconsin’s status as one of the country’s most closely divided battlegrounds.
Baldwin won her 2012 Senate race by more than 5 percentage points and her 2018 re-election contest by nearly 11 percentage points, demonstrating her appeal in rural areas.
While Baldwin has proven to be a strong fundraiser and has led in publicly released polling over the last several months, surveys in recent weeks have shown a closer race. Just last week, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter changed their rating of the race to “toss-up” from “lean Democratic.”
GOP outside groups have also poured more money into the state on behalf of Hovde, who has also contributed millions of his own dollars to his campaign.
During Friday’s debate, Baldwin and Hovde also clashed on immigration, foreign policy — including the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine — and on a long list of economic issues, including child care costs, senior care and drug prices, and Social Security.
On the issue of how to extend the solvency of the entitlement program, Baldwin slammed Hovde for wanting to cut federal spending to fund it.
“He supports spending, just not for you,” she said.
It was one of several attacks that prompted Hovde to fire off exasperated but sharp responses.
“One thing you’ve perfected in Washington is your ability to lie,” Hovde said.
The two rivals also traded barbs over who had stronger Wisconsin credentials.
Baldwin and outside Democratic groups have put at the center of some of their most prominent attacks against Hovde the fact that he’s largely lived in California in recent years, while Hovde has repeatedly attacked Baldwin as an out-of-touch career politician who’s been residing in Washington, D.C., for far too long.
“I’m supposedly the jerk from California. Yet, I’m born and raised here in this state, spent my last 12 years living where you grew up,” Hovde said during one exchange. “I’m a UW grad, you’re not.”
“Yes I am,” Baldwin shot back.
“Law school, not undergrad,” Hovde replied.
Baldwin received her undergraduate degree from Smith College in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Hovde received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.