Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District

Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District

Incumbent

Tom Tiffany

Assumed office: May 19, 2020

Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Tom Tiffany (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Wisconsin representatives represented an average of 737,184 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 712,279 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Chris Armstrong (D)
		Fred Clark (D)
		Ginger Murray (D)
	Submit photo	Michael Alfonso (R)
		Jessi Ebben (R)
	Submit photo	Kevin Hermening (R)
	Submit photo	Paul Wassgren (R)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) defeated Kyle Kilbourn (D) 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.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Kyle Kilbourn (D) defeated Elsa Duranceau (D) 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.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) 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

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 78,952
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Cheryl Ann Runkel (R)

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) defeated Richard Ausman (D) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany (R)	61.9	209,224
		Richard Ausman (D)	38.1	128,877
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	167

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 338,268
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• George Kellogg (Federalist Party)
• Ken Driessen (Independent Direct Participatory Democracy Party)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Richard Ausman (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Ausman	99.8	43,265
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2%	67

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,332
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) defeated David Kunelius (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany	86.6	80,675
	Submit photo	David Kunelius	13.4	12,456
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	52

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 93,183
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Audun Mikkelson (R)

Special election

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District special election, 2020

General election

Special general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Tom Tiffany (R) defeated Tricia Zunker (D) in the special general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on May 12, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany (R)	57.1	109,498
		Tricia Zunker (D)	42.9	82,135

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 191,633
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Douglas Lindee (Constitution Party)
• Dennis Frank Paulaha (Independent in the Middle Party)
• Robert Schuck (Independent)

Democratic primary

Special Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Tricia Zunker (D) defeated Lawrence Dale (D) in the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on February 18, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tricia Zunker	88.9	35,577
		Lawrence Dale	11.0	4,388
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	34

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,999
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Spencer Zimmerman (D)

Republican primary

Special Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Tom Tiffany (R) defeated Jason Church (R) and Michael Opela Sr. (R) in the special Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on February 18, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany	57.4	43,714
		Jason Church	42.5	32,339
	Submit photo	Michael Opela Sr. (Write-in)	0.0	18
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	29

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 76,100
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Regular election

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) defeated Tricia Zunker (D) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany (R)	60.7	252,048
		Tricia Zunker (D)	39.2	162,741
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	218

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 415,007
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ken Driessen (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Tricia Zunker (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tricia Zunker	99.9	51,139
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	50

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 51,189
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Tom Tiffany (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Tiffany	99.7	62,142
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3%	176

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 62,318
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Sean Duffy (R) defeated Margaret Engebretson (D) and Ken Driessen (Direct Participatory Democracy Party) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Duffy (R)	60.1	194,061
		Margaret Engebretson (D)	38.5	124,307
		Ken Driessen (Direct Participatory Democracy Party)	1.4	4,416
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	3

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 322,7870
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Margaret Engebretson (D) defeated Brian Ewert (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Margaret Engebretson	57.3	27,194
		Brian Ewert	42.7	20,285

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,4790
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• David Beeksma (D)
• Kyle Frenette (D)
• Bob Look (D)
• Dennis Frank Paulaha (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7

Incumbent Sean Duffy (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 7 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Duffy	100.0	60,708

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 60,7080
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Previous election results

2016

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Sean Duffy (R) defeated Mary Hoeft (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Duffy defeated Donald Raihala in the Republican primary, while Hoeft defeated Joel Lewis to win the Democratic nomination. The primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Sean Duffy Incumbent	61.7%	223,418
	Democratic	Mary Hoeft	38.3%	138,643
Total Votes				362,061
Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sean Duffy Incumbent	89.5%	29,501
Donald Raihala	10.5%	3,456
Total Votes		32,957
Source: Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commission

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mary Hoeft	80.7%	27,289
Joel Lewis	19.3%	6,531
Total Votes		33,820
Source: Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commission

2014

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Sean Duffy (R) defeated Kelly Westlund (D) and Lawrence Dale (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Sean Duffy Incumbent	59.3%	169,891
	Democratic	Kelly Westlund	39.4%	112,949
	Green	Lawrence Dale	1.3%	3,686
	Independent	Rob Taylor - Write-in	0%	30
	Republican	John Schiess - Write-in	0%	5
	N/A	Scattering	0%	42
Total Votes				286,603
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

2012

See also: Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Sean Duffy won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Pat Kreitlow	43.8%	157,524
	Republican	Sean Duffy Incumbent	56.1%	201,720
	Independent	Dale Lehner	0%	20
	Miscellaneous	N/A	0.1%	405
Total Votes				359,669
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" (dead link)

2010
On November 2, 2010, Sean Duffy won election to the United States House. He defeated Julie M. Lassa (D) and Gary Kauther (Independent No War No Bailout) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Sean Duffy	52.1%	132,551
	Democratic	Julie M. Lassa	44.4%	113,018
	Independent No War No Bailout	Gary Kauther	3.3%	8,397
	N/A	Scattering	0.2%	423
Total Votes				254,389

2008
On November 4, 2008, David R. Obey won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dan Mielke (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David R. Obey incumbent	62.6%	212,666
	Republican	Dan Mielke	37.4%	126,938
	Scattering		0.1%	233
Total Votes				339,837

2006
On November 7, 2006, David R. Obey won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Nick Reid (R) and Mike Miles (Wisconsin Green Party) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David R. Obey incumbent	62.2%	161,903
	Republican	Nick Reid	35%	91,069
	Green Party	Mike Miles	2.8%	7,391
	Scattering		0%	65
Total Votes				260,428

2004
On November 2, 2004, David R. Obey won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Miles (Wisconsin Green) and Larry Oftedahl (Constitution Party) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David R. Obey incumbent	85.6%	241,306
	Green Party	Mike Miles	9.4%	26,518
	Constitution Party	Larry Oftedahl	4.6%	12,841
	Scattering		0.4%	1,087
Total Votes				281,752

2002
On November 5, 2002, David R. Obey won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Joe Rothbauer (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David R. Obey incumbent	64.2%	146,364
	Republican	Joe Rothbauer	35.8%	81,518
	Scattering		0%	73
Total Votes				227,955

2000
On November 7, 2000, David R. Obey won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Sean Cronin (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 7 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David R. Obey incumbent	63.3%	173,007
	Republican	Sean Cronin	36.7%	100,264
	Scattering		0.1%	189
Total Votes				273,460

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin after the 2020 census

Wisconsin enacted its congressional districts on March 3, 2022, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved congressional proposals submitted by Gov. Tony Evers (D). Evers vetoed a legislatively-approved congressional district map on November 18. Those maps had passed the state Senate on November 8, 2021, by a 21-12 vote split along party lines, with all Republicans in the chamber voting for the proposal and all Democrats voting against it. They had passed the House on November 11 by a 60-38 party-line vote.

After Evers' veto, the Wisconsin Supreme Court assumed control of the drafting process, as the court had agreed in September to decide new districts if the legislature and governor failed to do so. On November 30, the court announced it would seek to make as few changes as possible to the current legislative and congressional maps adopted in 2011. Evers submitted a congressional district map proposal to the supreme court on December 15.

On January 10, 2022, the court issued a 4-3 ruling in which it denied congressional Republicans' request to submit an additional, amended map for the court's consideration and granted Evers the ability to make corrections to the map he submitted. On March 3, 2022, the court adopted Evers' proposal. This map took effect for Wisconsin's 2022 congressional elections.



How does redistricting in Wisconsin work? In Wisconsin, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Wisconsin State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.

The Wisconsin Constitution requires that state legislative districts be compact and "that they be bounded by county, precinct, town, or ward lines where possible." The state constitution further stipulates that state legislative districts should be contiguous.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Wisconsin State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

In redistricting, The Hill published a list of the Top Ten House Members who were helped by redistricting. Duffy ranked 7th on the list. The article notes that Republican state legislators traded some of the Democratic leaning areas with Republican areas, "making the district a toss-up and giving him a better chance of holding on to the seat."

District analysis

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

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+11. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 11 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 7th the 112th most Republican district nationally.

2024

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.

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%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 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 121st most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 39.3% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 59.2%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District the 167th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.02. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.02 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2024
• Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2022
• Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
• Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 7

Footnotes

[show]

Wisconsin's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Baldwin (D)

Ronald Johnson (R)

Representatives

District 1

Bryan Steil (R)

District 2

Mark Pocan (D)

District 3

Derrick Van Orden (R)

District 4

Gwen Moore (D)

District 5

Scott Fitzgerald (R)

District 6

Glenn Grothman (R)

District 7

Tom Tiffany (R)

District 8

Tony Wied (R)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (3)