Political Profile of Second Congressional District of Wisconsin - Essay Example

Module Political Profile of Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District Political History. Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional district is located in the southern parts of Wisconsin. The district covers the Green County, Columbia County and Dane County. It also extends in parts of Sauk County, Jefferson County and a small portion of Walworth County. The capital city of the district is known as Madison whose coverage extends to the surrounding areas and suburbs. The district is currently represented in the House of Representatives by Tammy Baldwin who is a Democratic Party candidate. She is a lesbian and one of the four publicly-proclaimed gay public figures in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district is a Democratic Party stronghold. For instance, the 2004 presidential aspirant in the Democrat party ticket, John Kerry, scooped 62% of the total votes while Barrack Obama clinched 69% of the vote compared to John McCain’s 30% in 2008. The table below outlines the list of representatives since the district inception to date. Representative Party Date Note District created June 9, 1848 Mason C. Darling Democratic June 9, 1848 – March 3, 1849 Orsamus Cole Whig March 4, 1849 - March 3, 1851 Ben C. Eastman Democratic March 4, 1851 - March 3, 1855 Cadwallader C. Washburn Republican March 4, 1855 - March 3, 1861 Luther Hanchett Republican March 4, 1861 - November 24, 1862 Died Vacant November 24, 1862 - January 26, 1863 Walter D. McIndoe Republican January 26, 1863 - March 3, 1863 Redistricted to the 6th district Ithamar Sloan Republican March 4, 1863 - March 3, 1867 Benjamin F. Hopkins Republican March 4, 1867 - January 1, 1870 Died Vacant January 1, 1870 - February 23, 1870 David Atwood Republican February 23, 1870 - March 3, 1871 Gerry Whiting Hazelton Republican March 4, 1871 - March 3, 1875 Lucien B. Caswell Republican March 4, 1875 - March 3, 1883 Daniel H. Sumner Democratic March 4, 1883 - March 3, 1885 Edward S. Bragg Democratic March 4, 1885 - March 3, 1887 Richard W. Guenther Republican March 4, 1887 - March 3, 1889 Redistricted from the 6th district Charles Barwig Democratic March 4, 1889 - March 3, 1895 Edward Sauerhering Republican March 4, 1895 - March 3, 1899 Herman B. Dahle Republican March 4, 1899 - March 3, 1903 Henry Cullen Adams Republican March 4, 1903 - July 9, 1906 Died Vacant July 9, 1906 - September 4, 1906 John M. Nelson Republican September 4, 1906 - March 3, 1913 Redistricted to the 3rd district Michael E. Burke Democratic March 4, 1913 - March 3, 1917 Redistricted from the 6th district Edward Voigt Republican March 4, 1917 - March 3, 1927 Charles A. Kading Republican March 4, 1927 - March 3, 1933 Charles W. Henney Democratic March 4, 1933 - January 3, 1935 Harry Sauthoff Progressive January 3, 1935 - January 3, 1939 Charles Hawks, Jr. Republican January 3, 1939 - January 3, 1941 Harry Sauthoff Progressive January 3, 1941 - January 3, 1945 Robert Kirkland Henry Republican January 3, 1945 - November 20, 1946 Died Vacant November 20, 1946 - April 22, 1947 Glenn Robert Davis Republican April 22, 1947 - January 3, 1957 Donald Edgar Tewes Republican January 3, 1957 - January 3, 1959 Robert Kastenmeier Democratic January 3, 1959 - January 3, 1991 Scott L. Klug Republican January 3, 1991 - January 3, 1999 Tammy Baldwin Democratic January 3, 1999 - Present Incumbent Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin%27s_2nd_congressional_district The incumbent is heading to the senate, paving the way for a new Democrat contestant to battle it out with the Republican opponent. These will be the first elections that the voters will be using new district boundaries based on the 2010 census. The Democrat candidate for the state representative 2012 is Mark Pocan while that of the conservative is Chad Lee. The third party candidate could have been Joe Kopsick although he did not collect enough signatures to appear in the ballot. According to Spicuzza and Barbour, Democrat nominations were highly contested between Roys and Pocan owing to the current ratings that place the party ahead of the Republicans. Geographical and Demographic Orientation. According to the United States’ Census Bureau, the district has an approximate area of 3,511.41 m2. The census report affirms that the district possess a population of 670, 457 people. 75.65% of the people inhabit urban areas while the rest reside in the rural areas. In terms of ethnicity, 3.6% are black, 2.4% Asian, 90.6% white, 0.4% Native American, 3.4% Hispanic and 0.4% represents other groups. The occupation of the population varies widely ranging from those who occupy blue collar to gray collar jobs i.e. 15.4% occupy blue collar, 19.8 occupy gray collar and 64.8% occupy white collar jobs. The district has been affected by redistricting whereby the Wisconsin legislature has sought to resize the districts. Resizing has been done in relation to the 2010 census information on the demographic and geographical size of the districts. This involved making the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts smaller and enlarging the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th. Political Players. The prominent political players of the district include the congress lady, the Democratic Party nominee and the Republican nominee. The incumbent, Tammy Baldwin, has served as the U.S. Representative for the district since 1999 in a Democratic Party ticket. According to Ancestry.com, she has been nominated for 2012 U.S senate elections to succeed the retiring Wisconsin senator Herb Kohl. Mark Pocan, the Democratic Party nominee for 2012 U.S. House race, is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 1999, representing the 78th district. According to Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, Mark Pocan outsmarted his opponents in the Democrat Party primaries Roys, Silverman and Hall where each one of them attained 21.9%, 4.0% and 1.9% of the total votes against his convincing lead by attaining 72.2% of the votes. The candidate is openly gay. He purports that his duties as a congressman will include improving the economy through the use of his budget writing skills, creation of more jobs, and improving access to healthcare. Virginia Clinton, a research assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, claims that she voted for Pocan in the primaries because he proved to be more interested in working with people compared to other candidates (Greenbaypressgazette.com). The republican candidate for 2012 U.S. House race is Chad Lee who was unopposed in the primaries. The candidate emerges as a force to reckon because more voters would prefer change in party leadership since 1999. Most of his supporters affirm that the candidate has won their support due to his campaign promises. Such include pushing for reduction in the government spending, preserving the Medicare for the future and ending the bail outs among others. Voting System. The district possesses an open primary voting system whereby any registered voter can freely decide on any primary party to vote for without necessarily being a member of that party. According to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board directive on registration and voting, the voters with a valid identity card should be provided with provisional ballots during elections. However, the voter registration is not subject to the directive and normally varies by municipality. Voter Needs. Most of the voter opinions related to the 2012 elections indicates many would not vote for candidates due to their party affiliations; support will be based on plans they will be having related to addressing their welfare. One of the factors that will decide the results of the Congressional elections between the Democrat and Republican Party candidates include the focus on the women’s rights. According to Jones, majority women vote will only benefit the candidate who will convince them that he plans to fight for their rights. The district residents would favor the candidate capable of promoting access to health care, creating more jobs, rebuilding the economy and ensuring fairness in tax. Other sectors of focus include investing in training and education, pushing for financial reform and improving administrative structures to accommodate the enhancement of trade and labor and housing reform. The diverse population inhabiting the district implies that the candidate should have the capability to fight for the equality of every American as well as reforming the foreign policy to include the interests of all people. The candidate should push for the implementation of policies that enhances the conservation of the environment. Competitiveness Level. The results of the study by Smart Politics established that the new district maps for the Wisconsin states are the Second least competitive in the history of the states (Ostermeier Para 1). Only 6.3 per cent of the U.S. House elections have been determined by a figure less than ten points. However, lack of competitiveness has not always been the case. The trend has been observed in the 2nd congressional district whereby both the Republicans and Democrats have equally squared it out in the election outcomes during the 17 decades that the state has been involved congressional elections. Competiveness has been noted in the 25.1% of the U.S. House since the inception of the state. According to Smart Politics analysis of the U.S. elections, the peak of competitiveness was noted in 1852-1860 and 1882-1890 during which the races across the district were decided by less than 10 points (Ostermeier Para 6). Competiveness was exceedingly notable during the 1930s with the entry of the progressive party. In conclusion, the political profile and the progressive leadership changes have made the 2nd Wisconsin District leave a mark in both the senatorial and national political circles. The most prominent of the impacts is the nomination of the former congress member for senate on defeating all the other candidates from the eight districts. Works Cited “Canvass Results for 2012 Partisan Primary on August 14, 2012". Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. September 22, 2012.Web. October 9, 2012. “Pocan wins Dem primary, Petri cruises in GOP race” Greenbaypressgazette.com, Aug 15, 2012. Web. 0ctober 9, 2012. “Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin". Ancestry.com. July 1, 2009. Web. October 9, 2012. Jones,Tony. The Five Biggest Problems Facing America. September 13, 2011. Web. October 9, 2010. Ostermeier, Eric. Wisconsin's Current Congressional District Maps 2nd Least Competitive in State History. Smartpolitics.com. September 24, 2009. Web. October 9, 2012. Spicuzza, Mary & Barbour, Clay. “State representatives Kelda Helen Roys and Mark Pocan to run for congress” Wisconsin State Journal. September 07, 2011. Web. October, 9, 2012. United States Census 2000. Census 2000 Briefs and Special Reports. United States’ Census Bureau. Web. October 9, 2012. Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. Registration and Voting. July 27, 2012. Web. Oct. 9, 2012. Read More