Rep. Mark Pocan re-elected in 2nd Congressional District race in Wisconsin 2024 election

MADISON - Mark Pocan will remain the representative for Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District.

Pocan, 60, was reelected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Erik Olsen.

Olsen, of Madison, also ran against Pocan in 2022, but lost by 44 points. He has worked as a constitutional law attorney for nearly 20 years, and described himself as a pro-Donald Trump Republican focused on border security and gun rights.

Pocan, who lives in the Town of Vermont, has represented the District since 2012. Before that, he served as a member of the state Assembly for 13 years. During his campaign, Pocan emphasized his background as a small-business owner and said he fights for liberal causes like strengthening social safety net programs.

During his time in Congress, Pocan has pushed back on efforts to ban or force a sale of the popular social media app Tik Tok and was quick to address last year's attack on Israel by Hamas, which drew him into a feud with a pro-Israel group. Pocan, along with Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District Rep. Gwen Moore, skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress earlier this year.

He currently serves on the Committee on Appropriations.

Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District covers areas of southern Wisconsin including Dane, Iowa, Lafayette, Sauk and Green counties, as well as portions of Richland County and Rock County.

Laura Schulte can be reached at [email protected] and on X at @SchulteLaura.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mark Pocan takes 2nd Congressional District race in Wisconsin election