It was previously vacant from April 24, 2024, following the effective date of the resignation of Mike Gallagher, a Republican.

Gallagher won the open seat vacated by Reid Ribble who retired in 2016.

It is also one of only two congressional districts to ever elect a Catholic priest, in the case of Wisconsin’s 8th, Robert John Cornell.

[clarification needed] The 8th District has leaned Republican throughout its history; seven Democrats have represented it since its creation, but none have served more than two terms.

The only county in the current district to back the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2000, 2004, and 2016 elections was overwhelmingly Native American Menominee County, which has never voted Republican since its creation in 1960, and only Menominee and Door Counties voted Democratic in 2012 and 2020.