This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin was June 1, 2026.

This year has the highest number of candidates since 2014. Thirty-one candidates — 19 Democrats and 12 Republicans — are running for Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. That’s 3.9 candidates per district. There were 2.9 candidates per district in 2024, 2.8 in 2022, 2.9 in 2020, 3.1 in 2018, 2.9 in 2016, and 3.4 in 2014.

Not among those candidates is incumbent Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-7th), who is running for governor of Wisconsin rather than for re-election. As a result, the 7th Congressional District is open this year. There has been one open district each year since 2014.

The 7th Congressional District has attracted the most candidates. Eight candidates — three Democrats and five Republicans — are running for the district.

Of the incumbents who are running for re-election, Reps. Mark Pocan (D-2nd) and Gwen Moore (D-4th) are running in contested primaries. There were no incumbents in contested primaries in 2024, three in 2022, one in 2020, two in 2018, four in 2016, and three in 2014.

In total, nine primaries — seven Democratic and two Republican — are contested this year. In total, there were five contested primaries in 2024, six in 2022, six in 2020, six in 2018, eight in 2016, and eight in 2014.

The 2nd Congressional District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans will appear on the ballot. Democrats filed to run in all eight districts, meaning none are guaranteed to Republicans.

Wisconsin and four other states — Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Vermont — are holding U.S. House primaries on Aug. 11, 2026.

In Wisconsin, primary elections are determined via plurality vote, meaning that the candidate with the highest number of votes wins even if they did not win an outright majority of votes cast.