Republican Scott Mayer staffs up, takes aim at Eric Hovde as he considers Senate run

WASHINGTON – Scott Mayer says he’s still seriously considering a run for Senate in Wisconsin, and he’s taking aim at his potential primary rival in the process.

Update: Republican Scott Mayer walks back claims about hiring staff for Senate run. Here’s his explanation.

Mayer, a businessman from Franklin, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he is continuing to hire campaign staff and waiting for another potential Republican candidate, Eric Hovde, to make his move. But he is also questioning the Madison banking mogul’s viability as a candidate and connections to Wisconsin.

“I don’t know that Wisconsin voters are keen on having a Wisconsin senator that lives in California,” Mayer said of Hovde this week. “So that would be one of my bigger concerns.”

“He’s said he’s going to do it before and he hasn’t,” he added at another point. “And I’m also concerned if he comes out, is he going to run a good campaign? There’s a lot of stuff with Eric that everybody in Wisconsin has concerns about.”

The comments come as both Mayer and Hovde continue to weigh a challenge to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin with less than nine months until the November election. No big-name Republican has formally announced a run, but Hovde is poised to enter the race. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in December that Hovde is “gonna get in that race” with support from national Republicans.

Mayer’s attack echoes those launched by Wisconsin Democrats who have attempted to paint Hovde as an out-of-state millionaire by pointing to a multi-million dollar house in Laguna Beach, California, and Hovde’s California-based businesses.

A spokesperson for Hovde declined to comment on Mayer’s remarks.

More: Bice: Tammy Baldwin bought pricey new D.C. pad with partner in 2021

Mayer, meanwhile, said he’s “finishing putting a team together” for a potential run. He’s about halfway to his goal of hiring 40 people, he said, noting his nascent campaign is “full speed ahead putting the team together and preparing as if we’re going to do something.”

He claimed he hired Chaz Nichols, formerly of Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch’s gubernatorial campaign, as campaign manager, but Nichols on Wednesday said that was not the case. Nichols said he had done consulting with Mayer last year but had no plans to join his team.

Mayer also claimed Juston Johnson, who ran Sen. Ron Johnson’s first campaign, will be a consultant. Among the other hires is Curt Anderson, who is in charge of polling, Mayer claimed.

Mayer told the Journal Sentinel that he’s waiting to see whether Hovde will in fact run. He noted Republicans don’t want a “bloody primary” but added Hovde’s decision is “certainly not going to be the deciding factor” in whether he makes his own bid.

“There’s still a strong possibility we’re doing this,” Mayer said.

And he attacked his potential primary competition.

“I’ve gotten to know Eric. I like him. He’s a genuinely nice guy, but he lives in California,” Mayer said in an interview. “That I think is a little bit problematic. He posts about his $20 million home in Laguna Hills (sic).”

Hovde, 59, was born in Wisconsin, attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a home in Madison. He is CEO of a Madison-based commercial and residential real estate company started by his grandfather but also leads two California-based businesses — H Bancorp and its primary subsidiary, Sunwest Bank.

In 2018, Hovde paid nearly $7 million to buy a hillside estate in Laguna Beach, the Journal Sentinel found. That price is more than three times what Hovde paid for his Madison house on Lake Mendota. Democrats have focused on the home in an attempt to portray Hovde as a California millionaire, not a Wisconsinite.

While Hovde declined to respond to Mayer's comments, a spokesman for the NRSC reiterated Daines’ “full support” for Hovde in a statement: “We are confident Eric Hovde is going to run and that he will be a tremendous candidate,” he said.

Hovde hired Lexi Ardis, who worked on Johnson’s 2016 reelection campaign, as campaign manager. David Rexrode, former director of the Republican Governors Association, will be a general consultant, and Ben Voelkel, who worked on Johnson’s 2022 campaign, will aid in communications.

Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has also floated a potential run for Senate but has shown no signs of potential campaign activity. Clarke, who has railed against his party for recruiting millionaires like Hovde and Mayer who can self fund campaigns, said last year he would make an announcement in the New Year but has made no mention of a potential run in recent speeches.

Mayer, however, insisted he is “not trying to mislead anybody” about his own intentions. “This is new to me, and it’s a bigger task than I ever realized,” he said. “But I’m learning quick and I’m trying to put the pieces and parts together.”

But Mayer, who has previously refrained from attacking Hovde, appeared to change his tone this week.

He referenced a speech Hovde gave last fall during an event both men attended at the Racine County fairgrounds.

Hovde during his remarks said “Joe Biden and the Democrats have racked up more debt in our country in three years than we did in the first 230 years in our country’s history” — a statement Mayer noted was false.

(The U.S. accumulated $12.86 trillion worth of debt by 2006, according to the Treasury Department. The debt increased from $31.76 trillion in 2020 to 33.17 trillion in 2023.)

“I’m concerned about his ability to relate to voters and to have an accurate message,” Mayer said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican Scott Mayer staffs up in possible run against Tammy Baldwin