Wisconsin's Senate race appears to be close enough to allow for a recount

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's hotly contested race for U.S. Senate between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde, who was backed by President-elect Donald Trump, appeared to be close enough early Wednesday for a recount to be requested.

Baldwin, a two-term incumbent, declared victory early Wednesday over Hovde, a multimillionaire businessman who poured millions of his own money into race. The Associated Press has not called the race.

Baldwin declared victory after the tally of absentee ballots from Milwaukee was reported around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. Baldwin had a lead of 0.9% based on the unofficial results, just within the 1% margin that would allow for Hovde to request a recount if he pays for it.

“The people of Wisconsin have chosen someone who always puts Wisconsin first, someone who shows up, listens, and works with everyone to get the job done,” Baldwin said in a statement. “And they rejected the billionaires and the special interests who want to come to our state, spread hate and division, and buy their way into power.”

In his own statement Wednesday, Hovde didn't concede or say whether he would request a recount.

“We’re watching the final precinct results come in,” he said. “We’re certainly disappointed that the Democrats’ effort to siphon votes with a fraudulent candidate had a significant impact on the race, with those votes making up more than the entire margin of the race right now.”

The “fraudulent candidate” Hovde referred to is Thomas Leager of the America First Party. Leager, a far-right candidate who was recruited by Democratic operatives and donors to run as a conservative, finished a distant fourth but got more votes than the margin between Baldwin and Hovde.

“It’s unfortunate if the Democrats wouldn’t have put a plant, this probably would have been called some time ago,” Hovde told his backers before sending them home. “But you know what? It is what it is.”

Baldwin ran ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost Wisconsin to Republican Donald Trump by less than a percentage point. That marks the fifth time in the past seven presidential elections that a presidential election in Wisconsin has been decided by less than a point.

A Baldwin win would come despite Republicans seizing control of the U.S. Senate by flipping Democratic-held seats in Ohio and West Virginia.

Democrats were hoping for a Baldwin win to prevent Republicans from holding both of Wisconsin's Senate seats.

Although Baldwin’s voting record is liberal, she emphasized bipartisanship throughout her campaign. She became the first statewide Democratic candidate in more than 20 years to win an endorsement from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

Hovde tried to portray Baldwin as an out-of-touch liberal career politician who hadn't done enough to combat inflation, illegal immigration and crime.

Baldwin won her first Senate race in 2012, against popular former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, by almost 6 percentage points. Hovde lost to Thompson in that year’s primary. Baldwin won reelection in 2018 by nearly 11 points.