A financial adviser from Madison was in Superior Friday to announce he's running for U.S. Senate, joining an already crowded field of conservative candidates.
Eric Hovde, president and chief executive officer the asset management firm Hovde Capital Advisors LLC and private equity firm Hovde Private Equity Advisors LLC, said he is running for office because the nation is in trouble financially.
"Our country is in trouble, and our government is broken," Hovde said.
With a national debt of $15.5 trillion dollars, he said the nation is borrowing about 40 cents of every dollar it spends, leaving future generations to carry the burden if the nation doesn't act now.
"I'm getting involved in this to try to get our country's fiscal house in order because if we don't it will be devastating," Hovde said. "That means you're going to have to work with anybody that wants to achieve that goal, whether it's Independent, Republican or Democrat."
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One of his goals during the campaign is to inform the public, irrespective of their political persuasion, about how serious the nation's financial problems are.
"If we fail to elect leaders with the courage to make tough decisions, our children and grandchildren will be saddled with crushing amounts of debt they can't pay off," Hovde said. "Years of out-of-control spending and short-sighted policies have left the future of our nation in doubt."
The conservative businessman and Madison native said it's leading to the destruction of the American living standards and too many people cannot reach the American dream no matter how hard they work because the cards are stacked against them.
"I've spent the last 25 years in the private sector," Hovde said. "I've created hundreds of private sector jobs."
He said, what the nation needs now are citizen legislators, not career politicians beholden to special interests, who will set realistic and fiscally responsible goals to move the nation forward.
Hovde will face Republican challengers that include State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, former Congressman Mark Neumann, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, Physical Therapist Kip Smith and John Schiess, a retired delivery driver and former teacher from Rice Lake in September.
Too much time is spent on politics and too little time on setting policy that will move the country forward, Hovde said.
"I've never been in politics," Hovde said. "I'm sick and tired of the partisan wrangling."
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Today, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Tammy Baldwin, will be in Superior.
