All the major news networks have declared Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the victor in her re-election race, but her GOP opponent is refusing to concede. Eric Hovde, a businessman and bank executive, is claiming that because of alleged voting irregularities and the presence of a right-wing, pro-gun third party candidate, the election result was not legitimate.
That third-party candidate, Thomas Leager, had ties to the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. His campaign received some funding from Democratic donors in what Hovde said was an effort to siphon votes from him. While it's a tactic that the GOP has also used to prop up candidates on the opponents' left flank, Democrats have not used that as a basis to challenge an election result.
