ICYMI: Eric Hovde Attended GOP Dinner Featuring Man Arrested in January 6 Riot

MADISON, Wis. — Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Eric Hovde spoke at an event in Green Bay alongside Brandon Straka, a January 6 insurrection convict who admitted he knowingly illegally entered Capitol grounds and shouted “Take it!” to other rioters trying to steal a police officer’s shield.

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Washington Post: Candidate attended GOP dinner featuring man arrested in Jan. 6 riot
By: Azi Paybarah

• Eric Hovde, a wealthy hedge fund manager seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in a race that could help decide which party holds the majority, attended an event over the weekend that featured as its keynote speaker Brandon Straka, a media influencer who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
   
• The event was the Lincoln Reagan Dinner hosted in Green Bay, Wis., by the Republican Party of Brown County.
   
• A month before the storming of the Capitol, Straka told his 600,000 followers on Twitter, “We are in a civil war.” After the riot Straka admitted in court papers to recording himself in front of a mobbed Capitol entrance urging a crowd to wrest away a riot shield from a police officer and shouting: “Take it! Take it!”
   
• Hovde ran unsuccessfully for the Senate about a decade ago, and his campaign did not immediately return requests for comment Tuesday. He has told voters he is interested in finding “common sense solutions” to problems Washington has not fixed. He is running in the state’s Republican primary for the chance to take on Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) in November. Hovde has also emphasized his charitable giving, and responded to critics questioning his roots in the state by jumping shirtless into an icy lake.
   
• Other Republican candidates and officials who attended the dinner include former congressman Lee Zeldin of New York, who voted against certifying the 2020 election result. A spokesperson for Zeldin and the Republicans Party of Brown County, did not immediately return emails Tuesday seeking comment.
   
• Straka was sentenced in January 2022 to three months’ home detention, three years’ probation and a $5,000 fine for misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Since then he has continued speaking out against liberals and the Democratic Party. He is expected to speak at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on Saturday.

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