Longtime GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner announced Wednesday that he would not seek another term representing Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District. Sensenbrenner, who was first elected in 1978, is the second-most senior member of the entire House after Alaska Rep. Don Young, who joined Congress in a 1973 special election.
Sensenbrenner's suburban Milwaukee seat, which includes most of Waukesha County, tightened slightly from 61-38 Romney to 57-37 Trump as the state as a whole was moving hard in the opposite direction. However, it's unlikely that this constituency will be in play next year: Republican Scott Walker carried it 61-37 despite narrowly losing last year's governor's race, and Republican Leah Vukmir took it 57-43 even as she was badly losing the Senate race to Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin.
Sensenbrenner has not faced a competitive contest since his very first primary 40 years ago. In that race, Sensenbrenner, who was a state senator at the time, beat state Rep. Susan Shannon Engeleiter 43.3-42.4, a margin of just under 600 votes.
Sensenbrenner was one of 13 House Republicans who managed Bill Clinton's impeachment, and one of the last two still serving (Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot is the other). He later served as chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and helped the Bush administration pass the Patriot Act after the 9/11 attacks. In 2011, he made news when he was quoted saying that First Lady Michelle Obama "lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself." Sensenbrenner sent Obama a private apology, and she later mentioned the incident in her 2018 memoir Becoming.
Want more great elections coverage like this? Sign up for our free daily newsletter, the Morning Digest.