Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: June 3, 2024
	Primary: August 13, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Wisconsin
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th; Wisconsin elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Wisconsin 2024 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Congressional special elections • State Senate • State Assembly • Special state legislative • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • All other local • How to run for office

All U.S. House districts, including the 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin, held elections in 2024. The general election was November 5, 2024. The primary was August 13, 2024. The filing deadline was June 3, 2024. The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[1] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[2] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 61.9%-38.1%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 59.2%-39.3%.^[3]

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany defeated Kyle Kilbourn in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tom Tiffany (R)	63.6	273,553
	Kyle Kilbourn (D)	36.4	156,524
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	307

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 430,384
= 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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Kyle Kilbourn defeated Elsa Duranceau in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 13, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kyle Kilbourn	58.0	32,917
	Elsa Duranceau	41.9	23,795
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	63

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,775
= 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 election

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 13, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tom Tiffany	99.4	78,503
	Other/Write-in votes	0.6	449

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 78,952
= 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

Cheryl Ann Runkel (R)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Kyle Kilbourn

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Kyle’s childhood nickname “MacGyver” embodies his approach to life - there is always a way forward. He spent most of his childhood in North Dakota. Being from a small town, Kyle dreamed of exploring the world. Watching his divorced parents juggle 2-3 jobs at a time and tackle debilitating health issues, he believed studying hard would make his dream come true. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, he had a career that took him across the world, and back. Kyle was first in his family to graduate with a four-year and graduate degrees. As an undergrad, he met his now husband, Chris, together since their first date in 1999. Their first adventure saw Kyle moving to Denmark to pursue advanced degrees in design and innovation. Kyle knows and respects the value of work through his many jobs over the years. His first job was a school janitor where he earned his first paycheck and love of cleaning things up. Professionally, has was a researcher at innovation consultancy where he dove deep into how to design better products and services, a university professor of a research group where he taught students how to create better experiences, a research at a medical company where he found collaborative ways of engaging patients and clinicians, and a strategist at a retail company where he worked with business executives to bring new concepts and ideas to market. Kyle excels in listening to find common values and fight for solutions that meet everyone's needs."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

This campaign is about Wisconsinites coming together through common sense solutions. Everyone should see the benefits of a functioning democratic society. I want to break through the partisan divide and ask instead "how might we?" to hope for a better future, while respecting key time-honored traditions that make Wisconsin what it is today.

Politics has made any discussions around healthcare, safety, and mental wellness one-sided rather than conversations. We need to bring viable ideas to life. I am an advocate for making citizens lives better.

Our communities are on the front lines of keeping the environment clean. In Wisconsin, our natural resources are inseparable from the people that live here.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Wisconsin

Election information in Wisconsin: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 16, 2024
Online: Oct. 16, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 3, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 31, 2024
Online: Oct. 31, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Received by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 22, 2024 to Nov. 3, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (CST)

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. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/KyleKilbourn2023.jpg

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

This campaign is about Wisconsinites coming together through common sense solutions. Everyone should see the benefits of a functioning democratic society. I want to break through the partisan divide and ask instead "how might we?" to hope for a better future, while respecting key time-honored traditions that make Wisconsin what it is today.

Politics has made any discussions around healthcare, safety, and mental wellness one-sided rather than conversations. We need to bring viable ideas to life. I am an advocate for making citizens lives better.

Our communities are on the front lines of keeping the environment clean. In Wisconsin, our natural resources are inseparable from the people that live here.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

Healthcare that works for everyone. The healthcare system isn’t broken. It is working as designed. It just isn’t designed for patients. There are too many middle men taking their cut, making it unaffordable for everyone. The good news is this problem has already been solved around the world. We know what it takes to bring down costs and ensure all companies contribute to making healthcare work for everyone, not just for themselves. Keeping America healthy helps everyone pursue the American Dream.

Safe Communities and Homes. America is in a mental health crisis that we are barely mobilizing against. Underlying causes of violence and crime are left unaddressed. Law enforcement is left without the critical tools they need to engage the community as suicides, drug abuse, and violence create a feeling of fear in our neighborhoods and communities. Everyone has the right to be and feel safe in their home and community.

Clean Water and Environment, Today and Tomorrow. We are starting to feel the effects of previous decisions as we learn about PFAS in our water, invasive species in our lakes, and the rise in respiratory diseases. We have a responsibility to keep our environment pure for the next generation while balancing our need to enjoy and capitalize on the natural beauty that surrounds us in Wisconsin. Clean drinking water, clear skies, and pristine forests respects our past and future generations.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

An elected official must take seriously all the concerns of the constituents. They must be willing to listen to opposing viewpoints and find a way to ensure no one feels left behind or ignored, by explaining their decisions.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

I am a great listener and genuinely want to know what others think and why. I have a background as a researcher where my job was to visit people in their homes to understand their needs and values to help make better products and services. I want to use that quality of deep listening to help remove barriers of Wisconsinites achieving their own American Dream.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

My first job was at 14 years old as a school janitor during the summer. Because of my family's low income, I was able to join a government program that gave kids like me a chance at securing summer employment at an early age.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

It's an dense book (so probably not for everyone) that has a chapter I wrote: "Design Anthropology: Theory and Practice" edited by Gunn, Otto, and Smith. The reason it is a favorite for me, is that it compiles experiences from writers across the world on an emerging field that at its core is understanding the human experience and how to improve it through design.

It is an academic text, but does have examples of how this is brought through life with designers. Instead of being "armchair philosophy" the core is about getting out into real life and people's homes to make a difference.

I think there is parallels in politics, with discussions being held in a vacuum without regards for what it means for citizen's lives.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

Trust. A government not trusted by its people does not have a long future. We need to rebuild that trust in democracy.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

I've heard from many folks about people moving away to find higher paying jobs. Grandparents want to continue living in the district, but they want to be near their grandchildren and ultimately move away to be closer to family. It is heart breaking that people can't continue to live in the place they love because they feel isolated and alone. The vibrancy of the district will continue to decrease until we find solutions to keep young families in the area. On the reverse, we can also attract new families to the area, over 30% of residents in the district were born in another state. These people are choosing to make our part of Wisconsin home. Not everyone is lucky to be born in the place that fits them, but if we can attract the businesses, talent, and money to our area we are more likely to keep current residents.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Kyle Kilbourn (D)

I'm pragmatic. That means for most situations it is about "what works" not true or false, right or wrong. Compromise is another way of saying how do we move forward with the greatest support. We must continue to make progress, and not dwell on perfection.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Tom Tiffany	Republican Party	$1,248,250	$1,411,980	$182,089	As of December 31, 2024
Elsa Duranceau	Democratic Party	$10,147	$9,448	$173	As of July 24, 2024
Kyle Kilbourn	Democratic Party	$233,031	$218,055	$14,976	As of December 31, 2024
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. 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." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

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.^[4]
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.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
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

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Wisconsin in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Wisconsin, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Wisconsin	U.S. House	All candidates	1,000	N/A	6/3/2024	Source

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 2024 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.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	8	8	1	23	16	2	3	31.3%	0	0.0%
2022	8	8	1	22	16	1	5	37.5%	3	42.9%
2020	8	8	1	23	16	3	3	37.5%	1	14.3%
2018	8	8	1	25	16	3	3	37.5%	2	28.6%
2016	8	8	1	23	16	5	3	50.0%	4	57.1%
2014	8	8	1	27	16	3	5	50.0%	3	42.9%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Wisconsin in 2024. Information below was calculated on June 16, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Twenty-three candidates ran for Wisconsin’s eight U.S. House districts, including 11 Democrats and 12 Republicans. That’s an average of 2.88 candidates per district. There were 2.75 candidates per district in 2022, 2.88 candidates per district in 2020, and 3.13 candidates per district in 2018.

The 8th Congressional District was the only open district in Wisconsin in 2024. Since 2014, there has been one open district in Wisconsin in every election year.

The 8th Congressional District became vacant after former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R) resigned from Congress on April 19.

Two congressional districts—the 3rd and the 8th—were tied for the most candidates who ran for a district in Wisconsin in 2024. Four candidates ran in each district.

Five primaries—two Democratic and three Republican—were contested in 2024, the fewest in Wisconsin in the last 10 years. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 6.8 primaries were contested each election year.

No incumbents were in contested primaries in 2024, the fewest in Wisconsin in the last 10 years. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 2.6 incumbents ran in contested primaries.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all eight districts, meaning no seats were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 7th the 118th most Republican district nationally.^[8]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Wisconsin's 7th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
39.3%	59.2%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[9] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
40.3	57.7	R+17.4

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Wisconsin, 2020

Wisconsin presidential election results (1900-2020)

15 Democratic wins
15 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
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	R	R	P^[10]	R	D	D	D	R	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D

See also: Party control of Wisconsin state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Wisconsin's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

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 May 2024.

State executive officials in Wisconsin, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Tony Evers
Lieutenant Governor	Sara Rodriguez
Secretary of State	Sarah Godlewski
Attorney General	Josh Kaul

State legislature

Wisconsin State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	10
	Republican Party	22
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		33

Wisconsin State Assembly

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	35
	Republican Party	64
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		99

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Wisconsin Party Control: 1992-2024
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
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
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
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

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.