Baldwin, Hovde Debate in Close Wisconsin US Senate Race

Democrat Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican challenger Eric Hovde squared off in an Oct. 18 debate less than three weeks before Election Day.

The one-hour exchange marked the first and only planned debate of the contest over Baldwin’s U.S. Senate seat, and both candidates traded barbs throughout.

During the debate, a panel of journalists from broadcasters across the state asked questions of the two candidates, while career broadcaster Jill Geisler moderated. Baldwin and Hovde typically had about a minute to respond to each question and Geisler closely enforced the time cut-offs.

Health Care and Social Security

The first question focused on the candidates’ views of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as Obamacare.

Hovde said that the ACA hadn’t lived up to three key promises: to lower health care costs, increase access to health care, and allow families to stick with their preferred doctors.

“I’m a believer in results. If you look at the results, every one of those promises has failed. Costs of health care have only skyrocketed higher. Access to care has declined, and declined significantly, particularly for a lot of people in our rural communities. And lastly, the family doctor has all but disappeared,” Hovde said.

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The Republican challenger said that as someone who has dealt with multiple sclerosis (MS), he did appreciate the ACA’s provisions on health care for people with preexisting conditions. Still, he said, “We need a significant restructuring of our health care system.”

Responding, Baldwin charged Hovde for attacking another ACA provision that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance policies.

“He also opposes efforts to negotiate with the big pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of prescription drugs, saving patients and Medicare money,” Baldwin said. “We need to build upon the Affordable Care Act, and we need to build upon our efforts to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.”

Hovde said his prescription costs for his MS medication are too high and that he supports the government negotiating prices with private pharmaceutical companies.

“I’m the one who’s against Big Pharma,” Hovde said, accusing Baldwin of taking “massive amounts of money from Big Pharma” for her reelection campaign.

Later, questions focused on the candidates’ positions on Social Security benefits and how to keep the federal retirement program’s solvency.

“Right now, multimillionaires like my opponent, Eric Hovde, pay minute amounts. They’re not doing their fair share. And if we lifted that income cap, the solvency would be extended for many years,” Baldwin said.

Hovde said he supports keeping Social Security benefits for current beneficiaries and said the solvency issues stem from runaway debt spending, noting the national debt has risen from about $5.5 trillion when Baldwin entered Congress in 1999 to nearly $36 trillion currently.

Abortion

As the debate continued, questions turned to the issue of abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, concluded states should regulate abortion law, overturning the court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

The candidates were asked whether the abortion standards articulated in Roe should be codified as federal law.

“I’m trying to lead the way to restore Roe so that we don’t see prosecution of women who have miscarried or doctors who are providing health care,” Baldwin said. “Women are dying because of the current situation.”

Hovde said the Dobbs ruling is an opportunity for the states to decide their own abortion restrictions and exceptions.

“I agree with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother, and I think women should have a right to decide early on in their pregnancy,” he said, accusing Baldwin of supporting late-term abortion.

Immigration

As the debate turned to the topic of immigration, questioner Aditi Debnath framed the discussion around whether the two candidates would revive a border and immigration reform proposal that failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year. Debnath described the proposal as a bipartisan measure that would’ve “added tougher standards to qualify for asylum, allow for partial shutdowns at the border, and open new avenues for legal immigration.”

While some Republicans supported the Senate proposal, Hovde noted most congressional Republicans opposed the plan.

“That bill was dead on arrival. The House had already rejected it. It was masquerading as a border bill, while really funding Ukraine, and every senator once they found out what was in it was opposed to it,” he said.

The Republican candidate said the proposal would’ve codified into law the acceptance of around 5,000 daily illegal border crossings. Hovde criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for retracting key immigration and border control executive orders and presiding over millions of illegal border crossings annually.