—Released a campaign ad calling challenger Tammy Baldwin “radical” and “too extreme for Wisconsin families” for supporting equal access for transgender people in sports. “Not only is that dangerous,” the ad claims, “it’s wrong.”
—Accused Sen. Tammy Baldwin of attempting to “redefine” what family means. “President Trump and I, what do we want to do? We want to protect the traditional family, support traditional values,” said Hovde. “What do Harris and Baldwin want to do? Just, yeah, they want to redefine the family. They can’t even agree what a woman is and a man is. You talk about insane.”
—Called for the closure of the U.S. Department of Education, a common talking point former President Trump addresses on the campaign trail and in his agenda, and that has been repeated by down-ballot candidates. Calling it “one of the worst monstrosities that’s ever been created,” Hovde said, “if I get to the U.S. Senate, one thing I’m going to say, ‘hey, there’s a spot to save a lot of money and do America a lot better’ [is] closing that thing for good.”
—Claimed without evidence that the suicide rate of transgender youth, the highest in the United States, stems from regret over transitioning. During a radio interview on The Regular Joe Show, a nationally syndicated radio broadcast out of Green Bay, WI, Hovde said: “They wake up and realize that this did not cure their underlying mental health problems, and now they’re even more messed up and they commit suicide at the highest rate of any group in our society.” CDC data shows transgender youth face dramatically higher rates of bullying, “violence, poor mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and unstable housing, and a lower prevalence of school connectedness than their cisgender peers.” The CDC urges schools to create supportive environments and resources to address these disparities.
—Joined by anti-LGBTQ political commentator Ben Shapiro for a series of campaign events. At a roundtable discussion with Moms for Liberty, Hovde spoke out against Title IX protections for transgender students. Community members also used the opportunity to express their discomfort. Said one panelist: “The boys in that locker room were very uncomfortable having her (a transgender student) stare at them while they were taking off their clothes.” Hovde said that schools are “pushing social agendas” rather than teaching the basics like reading and writing. Speaking with a local CBS affiliate after the event, Hovde suggested transgender students’ rights should not come at the expense of others. “Just because you have one boy who is transitioning to a girl it doesn’t outweigh all the rights of all the females.” Speaking later in Oshkosh, WI, Hovde compared the Biden-Harris Administration’s America to The Twilight Zone, and said, “We have literally flipped the moral compass upside down.”
—Called Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Tammy Baldwin “extreme” and suggested they support “transgender therapy for minors without parental consent.
—Released campaign ads calling Tammy Baldwin’s record “radical” for “funding a Madison clinic where minors get transgender therapy without parents’ consent” and “allowing” transgender participation in sports.
—Slammed Vice President Harris, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for supporting “transgender ideology for kids.” Terms like “transgender ideology” are used only by opponents of transgender people to diminish their authentic identity.
—Delivered remarks at the Log Cabin Republicans Big Tent Event, during the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee. Hovde reiterated many of the same anti-transgender talking points brought up by RNC speakers, noting that he believes: “Men shouldn’t be playing girls sports — period.”
—Spoke at the RNC, and in an appearance on the right wing Dan O’Donnell Show from the RNC, described other RNC speakers as “the grandfather,” “the Black woman,” and “the Hispanic woman.”
—Answered questions from Gays Against Groomers, an extremist organization that uses false and harmful language to demonize transgender people and their allies. Said Hovde, “I do not agree with men competing in female sports.… To think that we’re gonna allow males to go into female bathrooms, I think it’s fundamentally wrong.” At another event, Hovde said, “We don’t allow our children to drive an automobile until they’re 16.… We don’t allow our young people to vote until 18. We don’t allow our young people to drink alcohol until 21. And yet we’re allowing children 11, 12, 13… to be transgendered [sic]? Do you realize the highest rate of suicide in our country today are young people that went through a transgender [sic]?” However, The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People shows that LGBTQ youth who are threatened or subjected to conversion therapy are more likely to commit suicide.
—Used staffers from his real estate company, without disclosure, in a campaign ad. In the video, staffers complained that “progressive lefties are really messing up our country with their crazy ideas,” like “letting boys play in girls’ sports.”
—Restoration PAC, a financial supporter of Hovde’s campaign and extremist anti-LGBTQ groups, ran a false ad against Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s health care record, claiming she had used cuts to Medicare funding to establish electric vehicle subsidies. Restoration PAC “is funded by megadonor Richard Uihlein,” owner of ULINE packaging, and his wife.
—Attacked incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin on her efforts to secular federal funding aimed at providing counseling services for homeless youth. “She actually earmarked, in the last budget, $400,000 for a transgender-affirming clinic that doesn’t even tell parents that they’re doing that, with their own kids,” said Hovde. “Now think of that, I mean, this is how far out there she is.” Baldwin’s office previously noted this is not the case, and that the earmarked $400,000 “can only be used for mental health services and counseling for kids experiencing homelessness.”
—Endorsed former President Donald Trump in his bid for a second term in the White House. Throughout his Presidency and in the years that followed, Trump has pushed an anti-LGBTQ platform. He has and continues to use charged rhetoric that consistently puts the LGBTQ community, and especially transgender and nonbinary people, at risk.
—Spoke alongside Scarlett Johnson, founder of Moms for Liberty’s Ozaukee chapter, at a 2023 “Pints & Politics” event. Johnson has used her social media platforms and speaking appearances to call for book bans and paint the LGBTQ community in a negative light. A lawsuit was filed against Johnson in May, after she criticized a school for hiring a social justice coordinator.
—Endorsed and provided funding for Leah Vukmir, who challenged Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s seat in the U.S. Senate in 2018. Vukmir had “a history of trying to dismantle gay rights including through sponsoring a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage and civil unions.”
—Labeled the Madison Metropolitan School District a “train wreck” while disparaging gender-neutral bathrooms. “We got to such an absurd level at the end of Obama’s presidency that the big issue was transsexual bathrooms, what?” he said. “You are talking less than .4% of the public, and you’re talking about forcing every municipality and school district to create a unisex bathroom.”
—Described marriage as “between a man and a woman.” In a 2012 interview, Hovde said, “if you look at the history of marriage, it comes from the church, and I don’t think it’s the government’s position to come in and impose upon religion and tell them how they should believe or what they have to accept. I mean, that’s our First Amendment. It’s freedom of religion, it’s not freedom from religion, it’s freedom of religion. So, when people get married, they’ve always, through history, in front of God in a church. That is the church right to dictate and decide on what they feel is acceptable. So, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And saying that, I don’t believe in discriminating against anyone, whether you’re gay or whatever. I don’t believe in any form of discrimination. But I do fundamentally marriage is between a man and a woman.”