2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin

November 4, 2008
All 8 Wisconsin seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 5 3 Seats won 5 3 Seat change Popular vote 1,383,536 1,274,987 Percentage 49.85% 45.94% Swing 1.23% 4.47%
Democratic   50-60%   60-70%   70–80%   80-90% Republican   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   >90%

The 2008 congressional elections in Wisconsin were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives. Representatives were elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the 2008 U.S. presidential election and other Wisconsin elections.

Wisconsin has eight seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of five Democrats and three Republicans. That remained unchanged after the 2008 congressional elections in Wisconsin as all incumbent candidates won re-election, although CQ Politics had forecasted Wisconsin's 8 district to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

As of 2024, this is the last time the Democrats won a majority of congressional districts from Wisconsin. However, they would still go on to win the popular vote in several subsequent House elections.

Results summary

Party		Candi- dates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Democratic Party	7	1,383,536	49.85%	5		62.50%
	Republican Party	7	1,274,987	45.94%	3		37.50%
	Independent	2	103,809	3.74%	0		0%
	Libertarian Party	2	12,842	0.46%	0		0%
Total		18	2,775,174	100%	8		100%

Popular vote Democratic   49.85% Republican   45.94% Independent   3.74% Libertarian   0.46%

House seats Democratic   62.50% Republican   37.50%

District 1

See also: Wisconsin's 1st congressional district

In this relatively moderate district in southeast Wisconsin, incumbent Republican Congressman Paul Ryan has enjoyed popularity and faced no serious challenge from Democratic nominee, Marge Krupp, a chemist. Despite Barack Obama's strong performance in Wisconsin that year in the presidential election, Ryan was re-elected overwhelmingly.

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Ryan (inc.)	231,009	63.97
	Democratic	Marge Krupp	125,268	34.69
	Libertarian	Joseph Kexel	4,606	1.28
	Write-ins		224	0.06
Total votes			361,107	100.00
	Republican hold

District 2

See also: Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district

In this very liberal district based in the Madison metropolitan area, incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, the first openly lesbian member of the House, easily turned away a challenge from Republican candidate Peter Theron and won her sixth term with nearly seventy percent of the vote.

Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tammy Baldwin (inc.)	277,914	69.33
	Republican	Peter Theron	122,513	30.56
	Write-ins		414	0.10
Total votes			400,841	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 3

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district

In this relatively liberal district based in western Wisconsin, incumbent Democratic Congressman Ron Kind easily won a seventh term over Republican challenger Paul Stark.

Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Kind (inc.)	225,208	63.19
	Republican	Paul Stark	122,760	34.44
	Libertarian	Kevin Barrett	8,236	2.31
	Write-ins		196	0.05
Total votes			356,400	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 4

See also: Wisconsin's 4th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore, running for her third term, faced easy re-election prospects in this very liberal district based in Milwaukee; no Republican candidate even filed to run against her. Moore crushed independent candidate Michael LaForest in a landslide.

Wisconsin's 4th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gwen Moore (inc.)	222,728	87.63
	Independent	Michael D. LaForest	29,282	11.52
	Write-ins		2,169	0.85
Total votes			254,179	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 5

See also: Wisconsin's 5th congressional district

In the wealthiest and most conservative district in Wisconsin, based in the northern suburbs of Milwaukee, long-serving incumbent Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner easily defeated his only challenger, independent candidate Robert R. Raymond, to win a sixteenth term in Congress.

Wisconsin's 5th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Sensenbrenner (inc.)	275,271	79.58
	Independent	Robert R. Raymond	69,715	20.15
	Write-ins		913	0.26
Total votes			345,899	100.00
	Republican hold

District 6

See also: Wisconsin's 6th congressional district

This traditionally conservative district based in the Oshkosh-Neenah, Metropolitan Statistical Area was narrowly won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the 2008 election, but long-serving Republican incumbent Congressman Tom Petri held a tight grip on his seat. Petri sought and won a sixteenth term against Democratic candidate Roger Kittelson, winning handily.

Wisconsin's 6th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Petri (inc.)	221,875	63.71
	Democratic	Roger A. Kittelson	126,090	36.21
	Write-ins		299	0.09
Total votes			348,264	100.00
	Republican hold

District 7

See also: Wisconsin's 7th congressional district

Long-serving incumbent Democratic Congressman Dave Obey held an iron grip on this district based in northwestern Wisconsin for forty years. Seeking a twenty-first term in Congress, Obey was overwhelmingly re-elected again over Republican challenger Dan Mielke despite the centrist nature of the district.

Wisconsin's 7th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dave Obey (inc.)	212,666	60.79
	Republican	Dan Mielke	136,938	39.14
	Write-ins		233	0.07
Total votes			349,837	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 8

See also: Wisconsin's 8th congressional district

Incumbent Congressman Steve Kagen faced off against former Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker John Gard for a second time in this Republican-leaning district that is based in northeastern Wisconsin and that includes the cities of Green Bay and Appleton. Seeking a second term, Kagen defeated Gard by a larger margin than he did in 2006, allowing him to keep this swing district under Democratic control.

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Kagen (inc.)	193,662	54.00
	Republican	John Gard	164,621	45.90
	Write-ins		364	0.10
Total votes			358,647	100.00
	Democratic hold

External links

• State of Wisconsin Congressional Districts
• Elections Division from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
• Wisconsin U.S. House Races from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions for Wisconsin congressional races from OpenSecrets
• Politics Plus State and Local Elections from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper

Preceded by 2006 elections

United States House elections in Wisconsin 2008

Succeeded by 2010 elections