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Mark Pocan continues his undefeated electoral record in 2026 midterms
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The gay Democrat has won all of his general and primary elections since he first ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1998.
Mark Pocan is one of the longest-serving living LGBTQ+ people in Congress.
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Rep. Mark Pocan, one of the longest-serving out LGBTQ+ members of the U.S. House of Representatives, will extend his service.
The Democratic U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 2nd congressional district had run unopposed for an eighth term. He won reelection on Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, which was able to call the race early in the night due to his lack of an opponent. In the 2022 and 2024 elections, Pocan had defeated Republican challenger Erik Olsen by over 40 percentage points.
Related: Gay Dem who represents district of Wisconsin school shooting demands action, not just ‘thoughts and prayers’
The out gay Democrat has proudly represented the state capital of Madison and the surrounding area for over 13 years. Alongside California Rep. Mark Takano and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who also took office in January 2013, Pocan is one of the longest-serving living LGBTQ+ people in U.S. Congress.
A long-standing leader within the Congressional Equality Caucus, he served as chair for the 118th Congress and now serves as a co-chair. In this leadership role, he has been a primary face of the House’s push for the Equality Act, which seeks to explicitly amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He continues to advocate for the codification of LGBTQ+ protections and reproductive freedoms into federal law.
Related: Out Rep. Mark Pocan lambastes Trump's trade war, misguided priorities
In 2023, he penned an op-ed for The Advocate criticizing conservative politicians for attacking transgender rights, especially trans youth health care, after losing the fight on marriage equality. “Health care decisions should be made between a patient and their healthcare providers—and in the case of youth, among the patient, their parents, and their healthcare providers,” Pocan wrote. “It’s as simple as that.”
Pocan first ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1998, serving there from 1999 to 2013 before moving to Congress. He has won all of his general and primary elections. By combining his 14 years in the state legislature with his 13 years in Congress, his total time in politics spans nearly three decades.
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