Hovde won’t run for governor

Republican businessman Eric Hovde will not run to be Wisconsin’s next governor, clearing speculation on if he would enter the already-crowded race. Hovde, the CEO of a real estate development company, announced his decision in a video Wednesday. He said that the time wasn’t right for him to step back into the political arena. Hovde would have entered a Republican primary field that, while not quite as crowded as the Democratic primary, is still somewhat packed. A race for governor would have been Hovde’s second statewide campaign within three years. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2024, losing by nearly 30,000 votes to incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.