Mark Pocan

Mark Pocan has a long record as an effective progressive leader. In 2013, Mark took his 14 years of experience in the Wisconsin State Assembly to Congress where he has continued to fight for progressive values. Mark’s political roots took hold in blue-collar Kenosha, Wisconsin where he got his start at age eight delivering campaign literature door- to-door for his father, a long-time city alderman.

Mark came to Madison to attend college and shortly after earning a degree in journalism in 1986, opened up his own small business – a union printing company he continues to own and run today. His active years at UW- Madison in College Democrats led to his election in 1991 to the Dane County Board of Supervisors where he served Madison’s downtown community for three terms. In 1998, he was elected to succeed his long-time friend and ally Tammy Baldwin as the State Representative from the 78th District, when she left for Congress. He again succeeded Tammy Baldwin in the House of Representatives after she was elected to the United States Senate in 2012.

Wisconsin’s families deserve an economy that puts workers’ interests first, and Mark supports strengthening the social safety net programs that so many American families count on. These include unemployment compensation, higher education assistance, strong worker rights and pension protections, health care for the most vulnerable in our society, and Medicare and Social Security-to provide dignity and certainty to senior citizens. Mark believes we must embrace the challenge of ensuring that illness, job loss, old age or disability does not mean a life sentence of poverty.

Mark has a strong reputation, even among his opponents, as a legislator who fights hard, but fair. He knows how to bridge political divides and set aside ideology to achieve key victories without compromising his progressive values. This unique combination earned him the Congressional Progressive Caucus Newcomer of the Year Award in 2014.

Mark and his husband Phil married in Canada in 2006. They live in Dane County, Wisconsin.