OP-ED: Eric Hovde Opposes Wisconsinites’ Freedoms

Over the weekend, California mega-millionaire Eric Hovde provided yet another stunning display of just how out of touch he is with average Wisconsinites and our Badger State values as he shared a stage with convicted January 6 insurrectionist Brandon Straka and MAGA faction former Congressman Lee Zeldin at a Brown County Republican Party event.

Straka was arrested and pleaded guilty in 2021 to criminal charges stemming from his participation in the violent events of January 6 and was sentenced to 36 months probation – and while in office, Zeldin supported a lawsuit that would have thrown out Wisconsinites’ votes in the 2020 Presidential election.

By choosing to stand proudly alongside Straka and Zeldin, Hovde is showing support for a MAGA faction that engaged in a violent attack on our national Capitol and a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of an election they overwhelmingly lost. If they had succeeded, it would have been a devastating blow to our freedom to vote, as the votes of millions of Wisconsinites would have been thrown out.

But this weekend’s event is not the first, or the only, example of Hovde’s dangerous views on Wisconsinites’ freedoms.

Hovde has a long and documented record of opposing Wisconsinites’ freedom to make their own private decisions about reproductive health care, including an interview in which he said he supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that opened the door to dangerous abortion bans in Wisconsin and nationwide.

In a prior failed bid for U.S. Senate, Hovde was even endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life, an extreme anti-abortion group that supports banning abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, and threatens doctors and nurses with criminal charges for providing abortion care.

Hovde also took a very public stance in favor of banning the sale of alcohol, opposing our freedom to even buy a drink in Wisconsin. He recently put this opposition to alcohol sales into action as Hovde’s family business bought up the Silver Dollar Tavern building and shut down the oldest family owned bar in Madison.

To associate with known participants in an attempt to illegally overturn an election and oppose basic freedoms like making our own medical decisions, having our voices heard in our elections, or just buying a beer at your neighborhood’s most cherished bar raises serious questions about Eric Hovde’s judgment, his ethics, and his values.

Call Eric Hovde today at 714-730-4444 and remind him that Wisconsinites deserve leaders who will uphold all of our freedoms, no matter their own personal or partisan agendas.