Wisconsin will have just one new face in its eight member delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Madison Democrat, state Representative Mark Pocan, defeated Republican Chad Lee for the 2nd District seat vacated by Tammy Baldwin. Baldwin defeated former Governor Tommy Thompson in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Herb Kohl.
Elsewhere it was a story of incumbents beating back challengers. In northern Wisconsin, first-term Republicans Sean Duffy in the 7th District and Reid Ribble in the 8th District defeated Democrats Pat Kreitlow and Jamie Wall. It was the second loss to Diffy for Kreitlow, who hoped to reclaim the seat which had been held previously by veteran Democrat Dave Obey.
In southeastern Wisconsin, Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Janesville retained his seat in the 1st District, defeating Kenosha Democrat Rob Zerban, a former Kenosha County supervisor. “This fight did not end tonight,” Zerban told his supporters. “This fight was never about a single election or a single person. This campaign was always about the middle class, working people, and the American dream itself.”
Milwaukee Democrat Gwenn Moore easily fended off Dan Sebring to retain her seat representing the 4th District. Veteran Republicans Jim Sensenbrenner in the 5th District and Tom Petri in the 6th District brushed aside Democrats Dave Heaster and Joe Kallas. Petri and Sensenbrenner are the most senior members of the state’s congressional delegation, first elected in the late 1970s.
And in southwestern Wisconsin’s 3rd District, Democrat Ron Kind defeated Ray Boland, a retired Army colonel and Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “I was very much in favor of change from where we are and reform in many things, and it’s obvious that people in Wisconsin and across the country are not ready for that,” said Boland.
