The 2006 congressional elections in Wisconsin were held on November 7, 2006, to determine who would represent the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Representatives were elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

from January 3, 2007, until January 3, 2009. The election coincided with the 2006 U.S. senatorial election and the

2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election The 2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jim Doyle ran for re-election to a second term in office. Doyle was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and he faced U.S. Representative M ...

. Wisconsin has eight seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

. Its 2006-2007 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and four

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. That changed after the 2006 congressional elections in Wisconsin when the open 8th congressional district formerly held by Republican Mark Green, was won by Democratic Representative

Steve Kagen Steven Leslie Kagen (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 by Reid Ribble ...

Overview

District 1

Incumbent Republican Congressman

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...

has represented this swing district in southeast Wisconsin since his initial election in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. Though this district only barely went to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, defeating Congressman Ryan was not a priority for the Democratic Party, and the Democratic nominee was former Janesville City Councilman and perennial candidate Jeff Thomas, whom Ryan was able to handily beat, even in an unfavorable election year for Republicans.

District 2

Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...

, the only openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

member of Congress, has represented this deep-blue district located in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and vicinity since 1999. This year, Baldwin was able to win a fifth term in a rematch from 2004 against Republican candidate Dave Magnum.

District 3

Democratic Congressman Ron Kind has represented this western Wisconsin-based district since he was first elected in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and sought a sixth term this year against Republican nominee Paul Nelson. Congressman Kind was successful and won another term in Congress.

District 4

Freshman Democratic Congresswoman

Gwen Moore Gwendolynne Sophia Moore (born April 18, 1951) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2005. In 2016, Moore was elected to serve as caucus whip of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 115th United States Congres ...

ran for a second term in this district based in the city of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

. Congresswoman Moore faced Republican candidate Perfecto Rivera, whom she was easily able to dispatch with to return to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

for another term.

District 5

Incumbent Republican Congressman

Jim Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

, who has represented this solidly conservative district based in the northern suburbs of

since 1979, ran for a fifteenth term this year. Congressman Sensenbrenner faced Democratic candidate Bryan Kennedy, who was able to perform surprisingly well in this district, though he ultimately fell to Sensenbrenner in the general election.

District 6

Facing no major-party opposition, incumbent Republican Congressman

Tom Petri Thomas Evert Petri (born May 28, 1940) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1979 to 2015; he is a member of the Republican Party. Early life Petri was born in Marinette, Wisconsin. When he was a toddler, his fat ...

was easily able to retain his seat for a fourteenth term in this heavily conservative district located in the cities of Oshkosh and

Neenah Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the East North Central States, north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Wiscon ...

District 7

Long-serving Democratic Congressman

Dave Obey David Ross Obey ( ; born October 3, 1938) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1969 to 2011. The district includes much of the northwestern portion of the st ...

, a high-ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee and the dean of Wisconsin's congressional delegation, ran for a twentieth term in Congress against Republican candidate Nick Reid and Green Party candidate Mike Miles. Obey has represented northwest Wisconsin for decades, and retained his seat by a large margin.

District 8

When incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Green declined to seek a fifth term, instead opting to run for Governor, an open seat was created. Physician

defeated business consultant Jamie Wall and former Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum in the Democratic primary, while the Speaker of the State Assembly

John Gard John G. Gard (born August 3, 1963) is an American lobbyist and former politician. A Republican, he was the 75th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly (2003–2007) and was a member of the Assembly for 19 years. Gard also ran unsuccessful ...

defeated fellow

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Terri McCormick Terri McCormick (born October 24, 1956) is a former Wisconsin State Representative. McCormick was born in Waupun, Wisconsin on October 24, 1956. She began college at the two-year University of Wisconsin–Fond du Lac then attended the Universi ...

in the Republican primary. Gard and Kagen duked it out in this marginally conservative district, with the election becoming the most expensive congressional election in Wisconsin state history. Ultimately, Kagen was able to take advantage of the Democratic wave sweeping the country and defeated Gard to seize the seat for the Democrats.

References

External links

Wisconsin State Elections Board

Fall 2006 Election Cycle Page
*

Wispolitics.com Wispolitics.com, sometimes styled as WisPolitics.com, is an online magazine and news service covering political and governmental news in Wisconsin. It issues hourly updates on daily events, political press releases, and political news. WisPolitics ...

Wisconsin's political reportThe Wheeler Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States House Of Representatives Elections In Wisconsin, 2006

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2006 Wisconsin elections