2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 to elect the eight U.S. Representatives from the state of Wisconsin, one from each of the state's eight congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States and U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin
November 8, 2016
All 8 Wisconsin seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 5 3
Seats won 5 3
Seat change
Popular vote 1,270,448 1,379,998
Percentage 45.81% 49.76%
Swing 6.55% 2.95%
Popular vote by congressional district. As this is a first-past-the-post election, seat totals are not determined by total popular vote in the state, but instead by results in each congressional district.
Elections in Wisconsin
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The primaries were held on August 9.

District 1
See also: Wisconsin's 1st congressional district

Republican Paul Ryan had represented the district since being elected in 1998. From October 29, 2015 until his retirement in 2019 he sat as the Speaker of the House.

Republican primary
Declared

Campaign

Nehlen filed campaign papers to run against Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on April 1, 2016, and officially launched his campaign on April 14, with the opening of his first campaign office in Kenosha, Wisconsin.[2] Nehlen claims to have been a Paul Ryan supporter and worked for his election in earlier campaigns but at least one conservative media report has questioned that claim.[3] Nehlen indicated he decided to run against Ryan in 2016 because he felt betrayed by Ryan's positions on immigration and the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty. He accused Ryan of "cronyism and corruption".[4]

According to a Janesville Gazette report about his campaign launch, "Nehlen declined to talk about issues such as abortion and would not say what presidential candidate he supports or whether he would support a Republican running for the presidency."[5] Nehlen ran on a platform calling for secure borders, enforcement of existing immigration laws, and reduced government spending, and he opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty.[6] On May 5, 2016, Nehlen pledged to support Donald Trump for the presidency.[7]

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on July 14, 2016, that Nehlen had hired Dan Backer as his campaign treasurer.[8][9] Backer is nationally known for his fundraising activities.[10][11][12][13]

In an August 2016 radio interview, Nehlen suggested that the United States should "have a discussion" about the possibility of deporting Sharia-adherent Muslims living in the country.[14] The remark occurred when Nehlen was asked about his thoughts regarding the dispute between 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of Humayun Khan, an American Muslim Army captain who died in a suicide bombing while serving in Iraq in 2004. During the interview, Nehlen also said that every mosque in the United States should be monitored for signs of potential radicalization.[15]

Because of Nehlen's support for Trump, Trump publicly thanked him on Twitter and later told The Washington Post that Nehlen was "running a very good campaign", even though he did not endorse him.[16][17][18] On August 5, 2016, Trump endorsed Ryan's re-election after pressure from fellow Republican leaders.[19]

Nehlen lost the Republican Party primary to Ryan.[20] Ryan received 84 percent of the votes, while Nehlen received 16 percent.[21]

Endorsements
Paul Nehlen

Individuals

Organizations

Paul Ryan

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Ryan (incumbent) 57,364 84.1
Republican Paul Nehlen 10,864 15.9
Republican Write-ins 15 0.0
Total votes 68,243 100

Democratic primary
Declared
Declined

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ryan Solen 14,639 58.9
Democratic Tom Breu 10,142 40.8
Democratic Write-ins 86 0.3
Total votes 24,867 100.0

Libertarian primary

Jason Lebeck, I.T. technician, ran as a Libertarian.[30]

Results
Libertarian primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Jason Lebeck 195 97.5
Libertarian Write-ins 5 2.5
Total votes 200 100.0

Independents
  • Spencer Zimmerman, appears on the ballot as "Trump Conservative"[31]

Results
Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Ryan (incumbent) 230,072 64.9
Democratic Ryan Solen 107,003 30.2
Independent Spencer Zimmerman 9,429 2.7
Libertarian Jason Lebeck 7,486 2.1
n/a Write-ins 255 0.1
Total votes 354,245 100.0
Republican hold

District 2
See also: Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district

Democrat Mark Pocan had represented the district since being elected in 2012.

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Pocan (incumbent) 71,461 99.5
Democratic Write-ins 395 0.5
Total votes 71,856 100

Republican primary
Declared

Peter Theron, the Republican nominee in 2008 and 2014, announced he would run again as a Republican in 2016.[28]

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Peter Theron 12,866 99.4
Republican Write-ins 79 0.6
Total votes 12,945 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Pocan (incumbent) 273,537 68.7
Republican Peter Theron 124,044 31.2
n/a Write-ins 479 0.1
Total votes 398,060 100.0
Democratic hold

District 3
See also: Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district

Democrat Ron Kind had represented the district since 1996.

Democratic primary
Declared

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ron Kind (incumbent) 33,320 81.2
Democratic Myron Buchholz 7,689 18.8
Democratic Write-ins 7 0.0
Total votes 41,016 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ron Kind (incumbent) 257,401 98.9
Republican Ryan Peterson (write-in) 169 0.1
n/a Write-ins 2,800 1.0
Total votes 260,370 100.0
Democratic hold

District 4
See also: Wisconsin's 4th congressional district

Democrat Gwen Moore had represented the district since being elected in 2004.

Dan Sebring, the GOP nominee every cycle since 2008, announced he would not run again in 2016.

Democratic primary
Declared

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gwen Moore (incumbent) 55,256 84.5
Democratic Gary George 10,013 15.3
Democratic Write-ins 128 0.2
Total votes 65,397 100.0
Declared

Results
Libertarian primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Andy Craig 127 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gwen Moore (incumbent) 220,181 76.7
Independent Robert Raymond 33,494 11.7
Libertarian Andy Craig 32,183 11.2
n/a Write-ins 1,051 0.4
Total votes 286,909 100.0
Democratic hold

District 5
See also: Wisconsin's 5th congressional district

Republican James Sensenbrenner had represented the district since being elected in 1978.

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican James Sensenbrenner (incumbent) 34,203 99.7
Republican Write-ins 100 0.3
Total votes 34,303 100.0

Democratic primary

Khary Penebaker ran as a Democrat.[37]

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Khary Penebaker 19,353 99.4
Democratic Write-ins 115 0.6
Total votes 19,468 100.0

Libertarian primary

John Arndt ran as a Libertarian.[38]

Results
Libertarian primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian John Arndt 243 98.4
Libertarian Write-ins 4 1.6
Total votes 247 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican James Sensenbrenner (incumbent) 260,706 66.7
Democratic Khary Penebaker 114,477 29.3
Libertarian John Arndt 15,324 3.9
n/a Write-ins 337 0.1
Total votes 390,844 100.0
Republican hold

District 6
See also: Wisconsin's 6th congressional district

Republican Glenn Grothman had represented the district since being elected in 2014.

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Glenn Grothman (incumbent) 29,795 99.6
Republican Write-ins 105 0.4
Total votes 29,900 100.0

Candidates
Declared
  • Sarah Lloyd, farmer[39]
  • Michael Slattery, farmer[40]

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah Lloyd 19,652 75.1
Democratic Michael Slattery 6,459 24.7
Democratic Write-ins 43 0.2
Total votes 26,154 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 6th congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Glenn Grothman (incumbent) 204,147 57.1
Democratic Sarah Lloyd 133,072 37.3
Independent Jeff Dahlke 19,716 5.5
n/a Write-ins 248 0.1
Total votes 357,183 100.0
Republican hold

District 7
See also: Wisconsin's 7th congressional district

Republican Sean Duffy had represented the district since being elected in 2010.

Candidates
Declared

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sean Duffy (incumbent) 29,501 89.4
Republican Don Raihala 3,456 10.5
Republican Write-ins 24 0.1
Total votes 32,981 100.0

Candidates
Declared
Withdrew
  • Kirk Bangstad, political consultant[42]
  • Ethel Quisler, independent contractor[43]
Declined
  • Kelly Westlund, 2014 nominee[44]

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mary Hoeft 27,289 80.6
Democratic Joel Lewis 6,531 19.3
Democratic Write-ins 50 0.1
Total votes 33,870 100.0

Results
Wisconsin's 7th congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sean Duffy (incumbent) 223,418 61.6
Democratic Mary Hoeft 138,643 38.3
n/a Write-ins 210 0.1
Total votes 362,271 100.0
Republican hold

District 8
See also: Wisconsin's 8th congressional district

Republican Reid Ribble had represented the district since being elected in 2010. On January 30, 2016, Ribble announced he would retire at the end of his third term, opening the seat for the 2016 election.[45]

Candidates
Declared
Withdrew
Declined

Endorsements
Mike Gallagher
Individuals
Organizations
  • Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund[61]
  • Midwest Growth PAC[62]
Terry McNulty
Organizations
  • Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund[61]
Frank Lasee
Organizations
  • Wisconsin Family Action PAC[63]

Results
Republican primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Gallagher 40,322 74.5
Republican Frank Lasee 10,705 19.8
Republican Terry McNulty 3,109 5.7
Republican Write-ins 16 0.0
Total votes 54,152 100.0

Candidates
Declared
Declined

Results
Democratic primary results[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tom Nelson 20,914 99.9
Democratic Write-ins 28 0.1
Total votes 20,942 100.0

Independent
  • Wendy Gribben, part-time grocery store employee[66]
  • Robbie Hoffman, artist and psychologist[67]

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Mike
Gallagher (R)		 Tom
Nelson (D)		 Undecided
NMB Research October 16–18, 2016 400 ± 4.9% 52% 41% —
Public Opinion Strategies (R-Gallagher) August 22, 2016 400 ± 4.9% 52% 36% 12%

Results
Wisconsin's 8th congressional district, 2016[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Gallagher 227,892 62.6
Democratic Tom Nelson 135,682 37.3
Green Wendy Gribben (write-in) 16 0.0
Democratic Jerry Kobishop (write-in) 2 0.0
n/a Write-ins 188 0.1
Total votes 363,280 100.0
Republican hold

References
  1. Tatge-Rozell, Jill. "Delavan businessman to challenge Ryan". Kenosha News. March 31, 2016.
  2. "Republican businessman challenges Paul Ryan for congressional seat". Wisconsin State Journal. April 9, 2016.
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  4. Madden, Nate. "Meet Paul Nehlen". Conservative Review. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  5. "Challenger hopes to oust Rep. Paul Ryan in primary". Janesville Gazette. April 12, 2016.
  6. Nehlen, Paul. "Issues". Paul Nehlen. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  7. Nolan McCaskill (May 5, 2016). "Paul Ryan's primary opponent: I'll support Trump". Politico. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  8. "Master of 'scam PACs' now targeting 'establishment' Paul Ryan". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  9. Binversie, Kevin (July 15, 2016). "Is Paul Nehlen Nothing More than a ScamPAC Stooge?". Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  10. Lipton, Eric; Steinhauer, Jennifer (October 23, 2015). "'Fire Paul Ryan'? Rebel PACs Hit Republicans, and It Pays". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  11. Lewis, Matt (May 7, 2015). "The 'Conservative' PACs Trolling for Your Money". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
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  13. Vogel, Kenneth (January 26, 2015). "The rise of 'Scam PACs'". Politico. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  14. Tom LoBianco. "Ryan challenger seeks debate on deporting all Muslims". CNN. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
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