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Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026
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← 2024
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| Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District |
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| General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: June 1, 2026 |
| Primary: August 11, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026 |
| See also |
1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th Wisconsin elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 |
All U.S. House districts, including the 2nd Congressional District of Wisconsin, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.
Candidates and election results
Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:
- Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
- Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan and Erik Olsen are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Mark Pocan (D) | ||
| Erik Olsen (R) | ||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Candidate profiles
There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Wisconsin
Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.
You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Pocan | Democratic Party | $466,194 | $413,302 | $1,055,109 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Erik Olsen | Republican Party | $2,840 | $3,415 | $0 | As of September 12, 2025 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[1]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[2][3][4]
| Race ratings: Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| 12/16/2025 | 12/9/2025 | 12/2/2025 | 11/25/2025 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Decision Desk HQ and The Hill | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week. | |||||||||
Ballot access
This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.
District history
The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) defeated Erik Olsen (R) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan (D) | 70.1 | 320,317 |
| | Erik Olsen (R) | 29.8 | 136,357 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1% | 583 | ||
| Total votes: 457,257 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan | 99.8 | 149,581 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2% | 316 | ||
| Total votes: 149,897 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Erik Olsen (R) defeated Charity Barry (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erik Olsen | 56.1 | 23,035 |
| | Charity Barry | 43.6 | 17,897 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3% | 110 | ||
| Total votes: 41,042 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) defeated Erik Olsen (R) and Douglas Alexander (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan (D) | 71.0 | 268,740 |
| | Erik Olsen (R) | 26.9 | 101,890 | |
| | Douglas Alexander (Independent) ![]() | 2.0 | 7,689 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1% | 218 | ||
| Total votes: 378,537 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan | 99.8 | 106,595 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2% | 198 | ||
| Total votes: 106,793 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Erik Olsen (R) defeated Charity Barry (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erik Olsen | 49.8 | 21,774 |
| | Charity Barry ![]() | 49.7 | 21,711 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5% | 225 | ||
| Total votes: 43,710 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) defeated Peter Theron (R) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan (D) | 69.7 | 318,523 |
| | Peter Theron (R) | 30.3 | 138,306 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1% | 376 | ||
| Total votes: 457,205 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Bradley Burt (Independent)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Incumbent Mark Pocan (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Pocan | 99.6 | 120,353 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4% | 488 | ||
| Total votes: 120,841 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2
Peter Theron (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 2 on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Peter Theron | 99.7 | 18,812 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3% | 50 | ||
| Total votes: 18,862 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jeffery Heller (R)
District analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.
- District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
- Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
- State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 2nd the 55th most Democratic district nationally.[5]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.
| Kamala Harris |
Donald Trump |
|---|---|
| 69.0% | 29.0% |
Presidential voting history
- See also: Presidential election in Wisconsin, 2024
Wisconsin presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 15 Democratic wins
- 16 Republican wins
- 1 other win
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | R | R | P[6] | R | D | D | D | R | D | R | R | R | D | R | R | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | D | R |
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Wisconsin's congressional delegation as of October 2025.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Wisconsin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Republican | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 8 | 10 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in Wisconsin's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.
| Office | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Secretary of State | |
| Attorney General |
State legislature
Wisconsin State Senate
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 15 | |
| Republican Party | 18 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | |
Wisconsin State Assembly
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 45 | |
| Republican Party | 54 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 99 | |
Trifecta control
Wisconsin Party Control: 1992-2025
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | R | R | R | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
- ↑ Progressive Party
= candidate completed the