Wisconsin businessman Scott Mayer is still ”seriously considering” running for the Republican nomination to take on two-term Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin in November, he told National Review in a brief interview. He also pushed back on the framing of a story published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wednesday morning, which includes quotes from him suggesting he has hired staff in a soon-to-launch Republican campaign against for Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin’s seat in 2024.
“That’s a misquote,” Mayer told NR, even though he had told the Journal Sentinel only yesterday that he is “finishing putting a team together” for a Senate run and is halfway through the hiring process. Mayer walked those comments back in an interview, suggesting that he will hire staff only after he makes a formal decision. “I have people lined up ready to go in the event that I run,” he clarified to NR Wednesday morning. “I am not a declared candidate in any way, shape, or form at this point. I am absolutely considering it and seriously considering it and looking at it but I have hired nobody. I wouldn’t hire anybody until I have an actual campaign.”
If Mayer runs, he is expected to face Wisconsin real-estate developer and banking executive Eric Hovde in the GOP primary. Hovde, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Senate nomination in 2012, has hired staff in preparation for a run and is gearing up for his launch with the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Mayer told NR Hovde’s likely run has “no bearing” on his own decision-making, and said the NRSC’s decision to rally behind Hovde is “immaterial” to him.
Multiple employees with OnMessage Inc. confirm to NR that they will help with Mayer’s polling and media strategy if he decides to run. But speaking with NR Wednesday morning, Mayer appeared to walk back his claim only yesterday to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had already hired Republican strategist Chaz Nichols for a likely Senate run. “Chaz has since yesterday informed me that since I have not made a decision yet he might or his firm might do some stuff for somebody else which would create a conflict of interest,” Mayer said. “So there is no reason in talking to Chaz at this point.”