After reports came out showing that his real-estate firm benefitted from tobacco subsidies, Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde said his firm would drop the payments, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The Republican, who was recently endorsed by the Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks, has campaigned heavily against federal farm subsidies ahead of the August 14 Senate primary in Wisconsin.
Hovde's firm took in $8,000 worth of tobacco subsidies, the Associated Press reported. The realty firm received the money through the Tobacco Transition Payment Program, a program established in 2004 to mollify the effects of the government abandoning its longtime quota and price support system regulating the tobacco industry. Hovde, whose family has been involved in real estate for three generations and leases farmland, said that he didn't even know his firm had applied for the subsidies until he was contacted by the press.
Hovde's campaign website rails against farm subsidies, saying "we ... need to ... fight against subsidies that benefit only million-dollar mega farms at the expense of family farms." As the AP report also notes, Hovde has attacked one of his GOP primary challengers, Mark Neumann, for allowing his solar energy businesses to take in $500,000 in federal stimulus money.
Hovde is facing off against Neumann, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald in the August 14 primary.
10 more election stories from beyond the presidential field:
McMahon, Shays Clash For Final Time Before Primary [Connecticut Mirror]
In Six Months, Elderly Billionaire In New York Doles Out Over $900,000 In Political Donations [Times Union (Albany)]
Mega-Fundraiser For California Candidates Aims To Boost GOP in House [Sacramento Bee]
Three Races Make Colorado A Congressional Battleground [The Denver Post]
Penn St. Controversy Becoming Part Of Pennsylvania Attorney General Race [The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)]
"MamaPAC" Off The Air In Washington, But Mail Offensive Continues In House Race [Seattle PI]
Allen West Dominates Fundraising Race In Florida [The Miami Herald]
Joe Kennedy Comes To New Jersey For Fundraiser [PolitickerNJ]
Same-Sex Marriage Supporters In Maryland Raise $250,000 At Single Event [Baltimore Sun]
N.Y. State Senator Has Spent $41,000 In Campaign Donations On Travel From China To Palm Beach [Daily News]