(WTAQ-WLUK) — Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman defeated Democrat challenger Brad Smith to continue serving as Wisconsin’s representative from the 6th Congressional District.
Grothman, 71, will begin his seventh term this January. He served in the state legislature from 1993-2015.
“We worked hard, and I had a great staff. And if you have a great staff and you work hard, you should be able to win,” said Grothman. “Of course, to a certain extent any feelings of euphoria are dampened by the fact that so many of my Republican colleagues, not only in the state but nationwide, lost.”
The district heavily favors Republicans, electing Grothman with a 23-point margin in 2024. No Democrat has represented this district since John Abner Race from 1965-67, and no statewide or nationwide candidate has won the district since President Barack Obama in 2008, who won by 0.05 percentage points.
Grothman considers his priorities to be cleaning up the welfare system and protecting family values, protecting laws that support employers employing people with disabilities and supporting manufacturing. He’ll now have a tougher job with Democrats flipping many seats nationwide.
Grothman said he’s confident they can work together on two pieces of legislation he’s currently working on — one involving oral chemotherapy drugs and another honoring Hmong people.
He said President Donald Trump’s posture may have to change now, though.
“President Trump will have to become a little more humble,” said Grothman. “I guess my concern is that President Trump likes to get things done, he likes to be the center of attention. And we have to make sure that he doesn’t go overboard in an effort to get just something, anything done. I think that is a valid concern with this president.”
Grothman then added what his biggest concern is.
“We’re $40 trillion in debt, and I think sometimes President Trump is a little bit too eager to spend money, and we can’t let him get talked into all sorts of new spending programs,” said Grothman.
Smith, an IT consultant, was seeking his first political office.
“We’ve run a strong campaign,” said Smith. “We’ve performed better than the numbers have historically, especially considering we are a grassroot campaign.”
He then celebrated the “blue wave” across the state and country.
Grothman is now just one of four Wisconsin Republicans in Congress, along with Scott Fitzgerald (District 5), Michael Alfonso (District 7) and Tony Wied (District 8). Fellow Republicans Bryan Steil (District 1; lost to Democrat Mitchell Berman) and Derrick Van Orden (District 3; lost to Rebecca Cooke) lost their reelection bids.
Mark Pocan (D-District 2) and Gwen Moore (D-District 4) won their reelection campaigns.
