House Republicans maintained a majority in Wisconsin and nationwide, an unsurprising result in an otherwise volatile election season.
All of Wisconsin’s eight House races were either considered likely races or uncontested.
In the only race without an incumbent candidate, Republican businessman Mike Gallagher defeated Outagamie County executive Tom Nelson to represent Wisconsin’s eighth congressional district.
Republican incumbents preserving their seats include House Speaker Paul Ryan of the first, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of the fifth, Glenn Grothman of the sixth and Sean Duffy of the seventh.
Representative Mark Pocan, who represents Madison and Wisconsin’s second congressional district, is among three state Democrats to keep their seat. He joins Ron Kind of the third and Gwen Moore of the fourth to maintain a seat in the House.
Pocan beat Madison College professor Peter Theron, and Moore won against Libertarian Andy Craig and Independent Robert Raymond. Kind was uncontested.
Flipping control of the House was an unlikely scenario for Democrats this time around. They needed to win 30 seats to regain a majority, which would have meant a landslide victory in all competitive congressional districts.
Like in Wisconsin, most House districts across the nation will remain under control of the 114th Congress’ reigning party. According to the Cook Political Report, 18 U.S. House races were close enough to be considered a toss-up going into Election Day, and only a handful of others were slightly competitive but leaned left or right.
Though far-fetched, a Democratic coup of the House was still possible. With an essentially maxed-out House majority, Republican leaders were expecting some losses. Following the 2014 midterms, they reached 247 seats—the most held by the party since 1928. Additionally, voter turnout in presidential election years historically favors Democrats.
