Wisconsin Republican candidate and businessman Eric Hovde took several opportunities Friday night in his only Senate debate with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to decline to disclose his partner's finances. They called it a confrontation and criticized him. Interesting.
“Her partners on Wall Street, Wall Street executives, invest in Big Tech and Big Pharma,” he claimed.
Mr. Baldwin's longtime partner, Maria Brisbane, is a private wealth advisor at Morgan Stanley who works with “ultra-high-net-worth” clients, according to the Brisbane Group's website.
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Mr. Hovde and Mr. Baldwin are competing for a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate. (Reuters)
However, the Brisbane client remains unknown due to confidentiality set out in Morgan Stanley's code of conduct and the fact that she and Baldwin are not married.
Brisbane and Baldwin have been dating since 2018 and share a home in Washington, D.C., but the senator is not required to disclose his partner's finances, only to his spouse.
Amid questions about health policy, child care policy and ethics, Mr. Hovde drew attention to Mr. Baldwin's “Wall Street partners.”
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Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) speaks at the WisDems 2024 State Convention on June 8, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images, Democratic Party of Wisconsin)
“I'm not going to receive special interest like Sen. Baldwin,” he said. “In fact, her partner is making money off of it. And she doesn't even disclose the profits she's getting.”
It's unclear what investments Brisbane is making, but her previous roles have included working with biotech companies and funds.
According to one source, Baldwin's partner previously served as a manager of a biotechnology investment trust. progress report Since 2017, we have been donating to the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund (CR&T).
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Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde speaks at a rally hosted by President Donald Trump on April 2, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Additionally, Brisbane listed her company as a public company. Previous archived website Under Merrill Private Wealth Management, she “manages a bespoke equity portfolio with an emphasis on large-cap growth stocks to drive performance through smaller biotech and technology companies.” said.
Hovde specifically singled out Baldwin's role on the committee, saying it potentially conflicts with her partner's work representing high-net-worth clients.
Baldwin serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
“They have not disclosed those investments and how much profit they are making from them,” Hovde said of Baldwin and Brisbane. “That's fundamentally wrong, and partners need to disclose what investments they're making.”
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A woman wears a cheese hat with an American flag on it in Wisconsin. (Reuters)
The senator said he would not be forced into the opposition's insistence on revealing Brisbane City's finances and said it would be better “to stay out of his private life”.
At another point, Baldwin criticized Hovde for targeting his partner, saying she was rather interested in his “professional life.”
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Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) attended the battleground state debate on Hovde's behalf. He claimed that Baldwin was “upset” and that his Democratic colleagues “would have been much happier with Malia in Manhattan tonight than here in Madison, Wisconsin.”
In three weeks, the two will face off in a closely contested Wisconsin Senate race, which the top political handicapper, the Wisconsin senator, views as a “toss-up.” cook political report.
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