Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde discussed abortion rights and economic issues Friday evening in their first and only debate in a hotly contested Senate battle in Wisconsin that intensified just weeks before Election Day.
The tenor of the hour-long confrontation was mostly civil, but both candidates occasionally fired off sharp statements and responses, with Hovde repeatedly accusing Baldwin of lying and Baldwin often accusing Hovde of misrepresenting his positions on a range of issues set.
The most tense moments of the evening occurred when the two candidates argued over reproductive rights.
After one of several attacks Hovde fired at Baldwin’s partner, the two-term incumbent president hit back, saying, “Eric Hovde needs to stay out of my personal life — and I think I speak for most Wisconsin women that he must stay out of all matters. our personal lives.”
Moments earlier, when asked whether Roe v. Wade should be made the “law of the land,” Baldwin responded that “a woman’s rights and freedoms should not depend on her zip code or state.”
As they have done nationally, Democrats have brought the issue to the forefront of politics in Wisconsin, where an 1849 abortion ban technically took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. While abortion providers in the state resumed care last year after a judge ruled that the 175-year-old law did not apply to consensual medical abortions, the state Supreme Court is reviewing a separate case to invalidate the law entirely.
“Look, it’s been brought back to our state,” Hovde said during the exchange. “I believe in the beauty of life… and I agree with exceptions for rape, incest and maternal health.”
Hovde, a Republican businessman who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Wisconsin in 2012, had previously said he was “100% pro-life” before changing his position during his current campaign to include support for those exceptions.
He then falsely accused Baldwin of supporting abortion rights “to the point of childbirth, where a healthy baby can be born alive and then put to death.”
“There comes a time when a baby can be born healthy and alive, and I think it’s unconscionable to end that child’s life,” he said.
Baldwin responded strongly, saying, “Eric Hovde, that doesn’t happen in America. It is very clear that he has never read Roe v. Wade.”
Friday’s debate, which took place four days before the start of in-person voting in Wisconsin and 18 days before Election Day, comes as the race between Baldwin, who is vying for her third term in the Senate, and Hovde, a multimillionaire businessman and bank. owner, has been tightened in recent weeks.
The seat has been a top priority for both parties, given Wisconsin’s status as one of the most divisive battlegrounds in the country.
Baldwin won her 2012 Senate race by more than 5 percentage points and her 2018 reelection contest by nearly 11 percentage points, demonstrating her rural appeal.
While Baldwin has proven to be a strong fundraiser and has led in publicly released polls in recent months, surveys in recent weeks have shown a closer race. Just last week, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter changed their assessment of the race from “lean Democratic” to “toss-up.”
Outside GOP groups have also poured more money into the state on behalf of Hovde, who has also contributed millions of his own dollars to his campaign.
During Friday’s debate, Baldwin and Hovde also clashed over immigration, foreign policy – including the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine – and a long list of economic issues, including the cost of child care, the prices of elderly care and medicine, and social security.
As for how to expand the entitlement program’s solvency, Baldwin criticized Hovde for wanting to cut federal spending to fund it.
“He supports the spending, just not for you,” she said.
It was one of several attacks that prompted Hovde to fire off exasperated but sharp responses.
“One thing you perfected in Washington is your ability to lie,” Hovde said.
The two rivals also exchanged arguments over who had stronger credentials in Wisconsin.
Baldwin and outside Democratic groups have focused in some of their most prominent attacks on Hovde on the fact that he has lived largely in California in recent years, while Hovde has repeatedly attacked Baldwin as an outrageous career politician who has lived in the US. Washington, DC, for far too long.
“I’m supposedly the jerk from California. Yet I was born and raised here in this state and have lived where you grew up for the past twelve years,” Hovde said during an exchange. “I graduated from UW, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I am,” Baldwin shot back.
“Law school, not a bachelor’s degree,” Hovde replied.
Baldwin received her bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Hovde received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
