MADISON, Wis. — College newspapers across Wisconsin have exposed Eric Hovde for his offensive comments about young people and disastrous policies for college students.
Eric Hovde wants a national abortion ban, has called college-aged women “single issue” voters on abortion, and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, including the provision that allows young people to stay on their families health plans until age 26, which Tammy Baldwin wrote.
See below for highlights of what college students are reading about Eric Hovde:
Advance Titan: Baldwin respects students, Hovde hates college students, but Baldwin doesn’t
- Eric Hovde has said on record that college students are “so stupid” and that college students don’t have a strong work ethic anymore. He couldn’t be farther from the truth. College students don’t always get full ride scholarships or a fat check from their moms and dads.
- I was fourteen when I got my first part-time job, and nearly every dime I’ve made since then has gone towards a savings account for college tuition. I know many full-time students at UW Oshkosh work alongside going to class to keep up the insane cost so they won’t be in thousands of dollars of debt. The cost of college keeps rising with inflation, so we need to work even harder to afford it. We also aren’t guaranteed a job with our college degrees.
- Hovde has also said if he becomes a senator for Wisconsin, he wants to undo the provision Baldwin has set in place to guarantee health insurance coverage to students under the age of 26.
- Students need this provision because the last thing we have is extra money laying around to cover the high cost of health insurance. Most of us that get jobs right out of college won’t have great benefits that will ensure health insurance, so the provision allows us to have time to get on our feet before smothering us in more debt.
- Hovde believes that women in college are single-issue voters only focusing on abortion. While this is one of the issues being tackled this election it is definitely not the only one I care about. LGBTQ rights, our economy, healthcare and so much more are all important topics to consider when voting. Don’t let Hovde put words in your mouth.
- “Between insulting young people by saying they don’t work hard and are ‘so stupid,’ and saying that college women are single issue voters on abortion, it’s clear Eric Hovde doesn’t respect Wisconsinites,” spokeswoman for Tammy Baldwin for Senate, Laine Bottemiller said. “Tammy Baldwin actually respects our state and has a record of fighting for young people, including writing the provision that makes sure young people can stay on their families’ health plans until age 26. The choice for the Senate is clear.”
- Candidate for U.S. Senate Eric Hovde, R-Wis., who is running against Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., attended a Republican Women of Dane County luncheon Sept. 20, 2023 and was audio recorded stating that many college students cannot “write properly” or “understand a good work ethic.”
- “I hire a lot of young people,” Hovde said in the recording. “… The amount of them that can’t write properly and understand a good work ethic — I literally have to take a lot of these young people and start training them right when they come out of college.”
- In an email statement, Tammy Baldwin for Senate spokeswoman Laine Bottemiller said his comments are not surprising and that he has a reputation for making comments targeting single mothers, farmers and senior citizens.
- “As a recent college graduate, I know my fellow graduates and I can read and write just fine, regardless of what an arrogant California bank owner has to say about it,” Bottemiller said in the email. “Are there any Wisconsinites that this guy actually respects?”
Daily Cardinal: Exclusive: Eric Hovde criticized young people in past talks, recordings show
- Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde has repeatedly accused young people of poor work ethic, drug use and crime, recordings from Hovde’s former speaking engagements show.
- Minutes later, he labeled college students who protested as “so stupid” and said students cannot respectfully debate on college campuses anymore.
- “They’re so stupid they don’t even understand they’re behaving exactly — ‘we’re stopping you because you’ll create violence.’ Wait, so you’re creating violence because you think what I say may create violence?” Hovde said. “And then they say we’re fascists? Wait, you’re doing exactly what fascists did.”
- Hovde again criticized young people in 2021 remarks at a Sunwest Bank Economic Forum held at Newport Beach, California. Hovde is chairman and CEO of Sunwest Bank.
- He said young people are not as incorporated into the labor force as people in the Baby Boomer generation as a result of drug use and poor work ethic.
- “There’s something going on with our younger people not entering into the labor force, but they have in the past. I fear part of it could be the big chronic drug problem that our country has had with opiates,” Hovde said. “I think part of it is kids haven’t been taught the same work ethic that the Baby Boom generation has.”
- At the 2023 Sunwest Bank Economic Forum, Hovde criticized young people for being “less productive” and “less resilient” than the generations before them.
- “There’s some wonderful, strong young people out there, don’t get me wrong. But as a whole, how could 77% not qualify for military service?” Hovde said. “What made them less productive? What made them less resilient, less grit?”
Badger Herald: Eric Hovde says many ‘young college-aged girls’ are ‘single-issue’ voters
- U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde traveled to West Bend, Wisconsin Tuesday to host an early vote rally and was recorded answering a question from an audience member.
- “[How do you] convince the literally hundreds of 1000s of young women who are single-issue voters this year to give you a chance?” the audience member asked Hovde.
- In response, Hovde said many of these women are “single-issue” voters.
- “I don’t know how many young college-age girls that are going to vote for me because they — a lot of them are single-issue [voters],” Hovde responded.
- Hovde’s comments come after previous remarks at a 2023 luncheon where he was recorded saying that many college students cannot “write properly” or “understand a good work ethic.”
- In an email statement, Tammy Baldwin for Senate spokeswoman Laine Bottemiller said Hovde’s comments signify his threat to women’s rights.
- “Eric Hovde has insulted young women, wants to enforce an extreme agenda on us, and is a threat to our reproductive freedom,” Bottemiller said in the email. “Young women can take their pick of the reasons we won’t be voting for Hovde on Election Day. What’s wrong with this guy?”
Marquette Wire: Senate campaigns prep for election
- “Even if you’re voting in your home state, staying engaged in Wisconsin’s election is crucial because this November, Wisconsin is going to be the battleground state that’s going to decide who controls the Senate, the White House and the future of our country,” Baldwin said in an email.
- She then detailed why college students should vote for her, stating she is hoping to make education less expensive with the “America’s College Promise Act,” a partnership between the federal and state governments with Native American tribes and minority serving institutions to help lower tuition for some students in certain types of colleges.
- “Education opens so many doors for students but it’s too expensive, plain and simple. I support common-sense solutions so students can get a college degree without taking on backbreaking debt,” Baldwin said in an email.
- Baldwin said she is fighting Big Pharma by attempting to pass the “FAIR Drug Pricing Act,” a bipartisan solution to the rising cost of medical drugs
- “I won’t stop fighting until no one has to decide between buying their medication or their groceries,” Baldwin said in an email.
- In regard to women’s healthcare, Baldwin said that she is working to codify Roe v. Wade through her “Women’s Health Protection Act” and is also working to pass the “Right to Contraception Act,” which would keep access to all forms of birth control legal.
- Baldwin said if reelected, she wants to continue making positive, lasting changes for Wisconsin families. […]
- “My singular focus is on working for Wisconsin and I’ll work with anyone to do it. Over 70% of my votes as a U.S. Senator have been bipartisan because that’s what it takes to get things done,” Baldwin said in an email.
Badger Herald: Latest Hovde attack ad crosses the line
- Attack ads are common in American politics. It is a way for one candidate to attack another based on their failed policies, past scandals or other negative aspects of their campaign. But, Hovde’s latest ad crosses the line by examining Baldwin for her sexuality.
- While it doesn’t seem too strange at first glance, it raises the question — would they have portrayed Baldwin in this light if she had a husband or boyfriend? The answer is most likely not. The Hovde campaign intentionally drew attention to Baldwin’s sexuality to try and alienate her from Wisconsinites and tap into homophobia.
- The opening image of the two women together and the comment about Brisbane being Baldwin’s “life partner” is simply an attempt to alienate her from Wisconsinites. By focusing on her sexual identity, the Hovde campaign is drawing attention to and attacking Baldwin for something that isn’t wrong or bad — it is simply who she is.
- This is a new low for the Hovde campaign. It has long been acceptable in political campaigns to attack an opponent for their lies, unfulfilled promises, or their stances and policies. Drawing attention to someone’s sexuality is wrong and unnecessary. If the Hovde campaign is trying to capitalize on homophobia to win the campaign, they need to reflect on what went wrong with their own.
- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde advocated for closing the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), describing it as “one of the worst monstrosities that’s ever been created” during an interview with conservative speaker Ben Shapiro on Oct. 4.
- “[The DOE] tries to tell you how to educate your kids from Washington, D.C.,” Hovde said. “The way you educate your kids in a small town in Wisconsin may be very different than in Chicago or Miami or L.A. or someplace else.”
- Hovde, running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the Nov. 5 election, has painted the agency as a source of youth indoctrination and an entity with too much bureaucratic overreach.
- Hovde told Shapiro he believes in localized education and that students are better off not having bureaucrats and politicians decide what children learn in schools. He further advocated for educational decisions to be handled on the state and local level. But that is how the current education system primarily works.
- Contrary to Hovde’s claims, state and local taxes go to state and local schools, which are run by procedures decided by a board of elected or appointed officials. What information is disseminated in schools is also not typically decided by the federal government.
- The DOE is in charge of allocating federal funding for K-12 schools and administering federal student loans and aid for college and university students. It also helps disabled children and children from low-income families have equal access to educational resources through its various programs.
Badger Herald: UW student Democrats defend young people against Eric Hovde’s controversial comments
- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin held a press conference Oct. 11, at the former location of the Silver Dollar Tavern to speak on comments made by U.S. senate candidate Eric Hovde, R-Wis.
- College Democrats Community Outreach Chair Jeff Messer spoke on why the former location of the Silver Dollar Tavern was chosen for the press conference. As Madison’s oldest post-prohibition tavern, it was a prominent historical establishment, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- Hovde Properties of Madison recently bought the property after a decades long battle for it, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The tavern officially closed Feb. 3, and the demolition of the building began Jun. 17, according to WMTV 15 News. After describing his personal connection to the bar, Messer spoke on the implications of the Silver Dollar Tavern’s destruction.
- “He didn’t care about the history of the bar, the patrons, the owners and the Wisconsinites who loved it,” Messer said. “He just wanted to make a quick buck off of the Silver Dollar’s property, and that comes as no surprise that Eric Hovde is out of touch with Wisconsinites.”
- While advocating for Baldwin, College Democrats Graphic Design Director Grace Florence denounced Hovde’s positions. With a 65-year-old working father, Florence said she disagrees with Hovde’s stance on raising the retirement age. Additionally, Florence expressed concern over her freedom to use contraceptives if Hovde was elected.
- Florence also said there is a stark distinction between Hovde and Baldwin.
- “Tammy Baldwin is the counter to everything that is Eric Hovde,” Blank said. “Eric Hovde is an extremist… Tammy is working for college students and everything contrary to everything Eric has ever said.”
