Mark Pocan

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Mark Pocan
Mark Pocan official photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded byTammy Baldwin
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 78th district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2013
Preceded byTammy Baldwin
Succeeded byBrett Hulsey
Personal details
Born (1964-08-14) August 14, 1964 (age 54)
Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Philip Frank (m. 2006)
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison (BA)
WebsiteHouse website

Mark William Pocan (/ˈpoʊkæn/; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of the Democratic Party, he currently serves as Co-Chair of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

Early life, education, and early career[edit]

Pocan was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He graduated from Harvey Elementary School, Washington Junior High School, and Mary D. Bradford High School in 1982. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1986.

Shortly after graduating, Pocan opened up his own small business, a printing company named Budget Signs & Specialties, which he continues to own and run as of 2012. He is a member of the AFL-CIO, which he joined as a small business owner.[1]

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, leaving the board in 1996. Pocan later served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1999 to 2013, representing the 78th district.[2] In November 2012, Pocan won the general election to replace Tammy Baldwin, who declined to run for reelection to instead run for the U.S. Senate. He had also succeeded Baldwin in the State Assembly.[3]

Wisconsin Assembly[edit]

Pocan at the 2012 Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools banquet

Elections[edit]

In 1998, Pocan's longtime friend and ally, Tammy Baldwin, gave up her seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly to make a successful run for Congress. Pocan ran to succeed her in the state legislature and won a three-way Democratic primary with 54% of the vote. He faced no Republican opponent in the general election and won with 93% of the vote against an independent. He won re-election in 2000 with 81%--the only time he faced a Republican challenger. He was unopposed for reelection from 2002 to 2010.[4]

Tenure[edit]

During his time as a state legislator, Pocan earned a reputation for moving the Wisconsin political debate to the left. One of the most outspoken progressive members of the state assembly, Pocan focused on difficult issues including corrections reform, the state budget, education funding, and fighting privatization schemes.[citation needed]

For six years Pocan sat on the state’s powerful budget writing Joint Finance Committee, including a term as co-chair. He also took on a leading role among Assembly Democrats, running caucus campaign efforts in 2008 when Democrats went from five seats down to successfully retaking the majority for the party for the first time in 14 years.

Committee assignments[edit]

  • Committee on Urban and Local Affairs
  • Committee on Colleges and Universities
  • Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems
  • Joint Finance Committee

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Elections[edit]

2012
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2012 § District 2

In 2012, Baldwin gave up her congressional seat in order to run for the U.S. Senate and Pocan decided to run in the open 2nd congressional district. He won a four candidate Democratic primary with 72% of the vote. He won all 7 counties in the district, including the heavily populated Dane County with 74% of the vote.[5] The 2nd is so heavily Democratic that Pocan's victory in the primary was widely regarded as tantamount to election.[6] On November 6, 2012, Pocan won the general election, defeating Republican Chad Lee 68%-32%.[7][8]

Committee assignments[edit]

Caucuses[edit]

Political activism[edit]

Pocan identifies as a progressive Democrat, and is a member of a number of organizations, including Wisconsin Citizens Action, the American Civil Liberties Union, Fair Wisconsin[12] and Midwest Progressive Elected Officials Network. Pocan is also one of the few progressive Democrats to have joined the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative-leaning organization that produces model legislative proposals. Pocan used his membership to investigate the organization's agenda and sponsors and wrote a series of articles on his experiences with ALEC for the Madison-based magazine The Progressive.[13][when?] On the September 29, 2012 edition of Moyers and Company, Pocan said "ALEC is a corporate dating service for lonely legislators and corporate special interests that eventually the relationship culminates with some special interest legislation and hopefully that lives happily ever after as the ALEC model. Unfortunately what’s excluded from that equation is the public."[14]

Personal life[edit]

Pocan is openly gay. He credits his political activism in part to an incident soon after he graduated from college and opened his printing business, when he was followed by two men after he left a gay bar, and was beaten with a baseball bat while they called him "faggot" and other slurs. This gaybashing incident spurred him to become active in the Madison LGBT community.[15] Pocan is notable for having been the only openly gay member of the state Assembly after Tammy Baldwin's election to Congress, and was one of three LGBT members of the 100th Wisconsin Legislature,[1] alongside Sen. Tim Carpenter (D–Milwaukee) and bisexual Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa (D–Milwaukee).

On November 24, 2006, Pocan and his long-term partner, Philip Frank, were legally married in Toronto, Ontario.[16]

Pocan's brother William Pocan serves as a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County.[17]

Awards and honors[edit]

Pocan has received the following recognitions while in office:

  • Fair Wisconsin Statewide Leader Award (2009)
  • Planned Parenthood Rebecca Young Leadership Award (2009)
  • Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin Legislator of the Year (2008)[18]
  • Wisconsin Library Association’s Public Policy Award (2008)
  • Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault Voices of Courage Public Policy Award (2008)[19]
  • Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Honor Roll (2008)[20]
  • Wisconsin Aids Fund award (2007)
  • Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Conservation Champion (2006)
  • Wisconsin Counties Association Outstanding Legislator Award (2006 & 2008)
  • Clean Wisconsin Clean 16 Award (2004, 2002 & 2000)
  • ACLU Special Recognition Award (2001)
  • Wisconsin Federation of Teachers State Employees Council Representative of the Year (2003 & 2002)
  • Outreach Man of the Year (1999)[21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Weier, Anita (October 28, 2004), "UW Student Challenges Rep. Pocan", The Capital Times, retrieved 2008-03-12
  2. ^ Wisconsin Blue Book 2011-2012. p. 71.
  3. ^ "Mark Pocan wins Madison-area US House race, keeping Baldwin's vacated seat with Democrats". chron.com. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Mark Pocan". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Our Campaigns - WI - District 02 - D Primary Race - Aug 14, 2012". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  6. ^ Weisberg, Louis. "Pocan wins Democratic Primary, on track to become next out member of Congress" Wisconsin Gazette August 14, 2012
  7. ^ "Our Campaigns - WI - District 02 Race - Nov 06, 2012". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  8. ^ Zinck, Shaun. "Pocan inherits Baldwin's seat". beloitdailynews.com. Beloit Daily News. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Members of the Veterinary Medicine Caucus". Veterinary Medicine Caucus. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Congressional Animal Protection Caucus - Members". Congressman Earl Blumenauer. 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  12. ^ "Fair Wisconsin – Advancing, achieving and protecting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Wisconsinites". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  13. ^ ""Inside ALEC" - The Progressive". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  14. ^ "United States of ALEC - Moyers & Company - BillMoyers.com". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  15. ^ Pocan, Mark. "A Seat at the Table" Our Lives March/April 2012; p. 23
  16. ^ Conklin, Melanie (December 13, 2006), "Gay Legislator's Marriage Is About Being A Couple", Wisconsin State Journal, retrieved 2008-03-12
  17. ^ 'Wisconsin Blue Book 2011-2012,' Wisconsin Circuit Court Judges, pg. 573
  18. ^ "Professional Fire Fighters" (PDF). Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, Inc. Summer 2008. p. 14. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Events: Voices of Courage Awards - WCASA". Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Conservation Scorecard Reports Historic Conservation Wins" (PDF). Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. July 16, 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  21. ^ "Past OutReach Awards Recipients". OutReach. Retrieved 2 June 2017.

External links[edit]

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Tammy Baldwin 		Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district
2013–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Keith Ellison 		Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
2017–present
Served alongside: Raúl Grijalva 		Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Robert Pittenger 		United States Representatives by seniority
287th 		Succeeded by
Tom Rice
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