It's too early to talk about a Senate race between the Trump-backed millionaire and the incumbent Democratic president

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – It was too early to declare a winner Wednesday in the closely fought battle for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, pitting Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin against Republican Eric Hovde, a millionaire businessman backed by former President Donald Trump and poured millions of his own money into the contest.

Baldwin ended her planned victory celebration in downtown Madison without taking the stage. Republicans continued to huddle near Hovde’s party as they awaited a race call.

Republicans seized control of the US Senate late Tuesday after flipping Democratic seats in Ohio and West Virginia.

Democrats were hoping for a Baldwin win to prevent the state’s two Senate seats from falling to Republicans.

Senator Baldwin’s campaign is set up for a viewing party Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theater in Madison.

Senator Baldwin did not vote on Tuesday because she voted weeks ago. Baldwin met with students earlier in the day at UW-Madison’s Library Mall, as well as in Milwaukee with Gov. Tony Evers.

She is counting on the council’s vote to give her another term.

“What we need to do tonight is bring out those voters who know that I may agree with Tammy Baldwin on some, almost all issues, but I trust that she respects me, I respect her, and I want to see her back in the Senate,” he said. said Baldwin campaign communications manager Andrew Mamo.

Hovde is doing his best to reach undecided voters. He said it is up to the citizens to get up and go to the local polls. He encouraged anyone who has not yet voted to bring someone with them to the polls.

“It’s quite surreal that I took part in this race nine months ago. I have been running from morning to night, I have given it my all and I feel good, and I have received so many positive comments and feedback, and I hope the voters decide to show up and vote for me,” said Hovde.

Hovde voted with his wife in Shorewood Hills on Oct. 22.

During the final weeks of his campaign, he held a bus tour called “Time For Change,” making more than 20 stops in six days. He spent the day earlier Tuesday campaigning at a phone bank in Sun Prairie and in Waukesha talking to voters.

Although Baldwin’s voting record is liberal, she emphasized bipartisanship during the campaign. Baldwin became the first Democratic candidate in the entire state to receive endorsements from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization, in more than two decades.

WMTV’s Camberyn Kelley reports live from U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s election watch party.

Her first television commercial noted that her American Sales Act had been signed by Trump. In July, she praised the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of a bill she co-authored with Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, that would ensure taxpayer-funded inventions are made in the United States.

Hovde tried to portray Baldwin as an excessive liberal career politician who did not do enough to fight inflation, illegal immigration and crime.

About four in 10 Wisconsin voters say the economy and jobs are the most important issues facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationally, including more than 3,400 voters in Wisconsin. About 2 in 10 Wisconsin voters said immigration is the most pressing issue, and more than 1 in 10 cited abortion.

Nearly half of voters said they had a very or somewhat positive view of Baldwin. A similar percentage said they had a very or somewhat positive view of Hovde. About four in 10 Wisconsin voters said party control was the most important factor in their vote.

Hovde’s wealth, mainly his management of Utah-based Sunwest Bank and ownership of a $7 million estate in Laguna Beach, California, has been a major line of attack for Baldwin, who has sought to portray him as an outsider who does not represent Wisconsin . values.

Baldwin also attacked Hovde for his opposition to abortion rights.

Hovde said he supported the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but said he would not vote for a federal law banning abortion, leaving it up to the states to decide. That marks a change in position from his last run for Senate in 2012, when he was “completely against” abortion.

Baldwin’s television advertisements had a consistent theme: Hovde insulted farmers, elderly residents, parents and others. Hovde, a native of Madison who owns a home there, accused Baldwin of distorting his comments, lying about his record and misleading voters.

Baldwin won her first Senate race in 2012, against popular former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson, by nearly 6 percentage points. Hovde lost to Thompson in that year’s primary.

Hovde attacked Baldwin for serving in elected office since 1987, including the past 12 years in the Senate and 14 years in the House of Representatives before that.

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Associated Press writer Cora Lewis contributed to this report.