Former member of Congress · last served 116th Congress
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
F. Sensenbrenner was a Republican U.S. representative from Wisconsin, first elected to Congress in 1979, who voted with most Republicans on 90% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes and sponsored 4 bills that became law (113th–116th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
5 most recent votes
- NayOn Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendments — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Agreeing to the Resolution — Providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and…Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- NayOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — Drywall Safety Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass — Congressional Pay Freeze and Fiscal Responsibility ActJan 1, 2013 · Passed
5 most recent bills
- H.R. 5447 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide certain veterans with nonarticulating trailers in furnishing…Dec 17, 2019 · Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- H.R. 3972 Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2019Aug 15, 2019 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
- H.R. 3954 To amend title 35, United States Code, to include the exclusive economic zone as part of the United States for patent infringement, and for other purposes.Aug 15, 2019 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
- H.R. 2935 Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues ActJun 28, 2019 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
- H.R. 3493 United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act of 2019Jun 26, 2019 · Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 9 (109th) Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006Became law
- H.R. 2048 (114th) USA FREEDOM Act of 2015Became law
- H.R. 169 (107th) Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002Became law
- H.R. 510 (115th) Rapid DNA Act of 2017Became law
- H.R. 3402 (109th) Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005Became law
- H.R. 5107 (108th) Justice for All Act of 2004Became law
- H.R. 1086 (108th) Standards Development Organization Advancement Act of 2003Became law
- H.R. 1183 (106th) Fastener Quality Act Amendments Act of 1999Became law
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Sensenbrenner, has won
Rep. Sensenbrenner, has won 21 U.S. House elections (1978–2018). Of the contested races, margins ran from 22.3 to 82.7 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Wisconsin’s 5th district done while Rep. Sensenbrenner served?
2012 to 2019 in WI-5: typical household income was up 12% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was down 1.8 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 2.3 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Wisconsin’s 5th district during Sensenbrenner’s time representing it (2003 to 2021). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
Only one set of district lines is shown. WI-5 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022, and a redrawn district is a different place. So this card shows only the longest stretch on the same lines during the term, 2012 to 2019 (no 2020 yearly estimate), not the full 2003 to 2021.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
116th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 17 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 17 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 17 | See the 17 → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a committee report listed | 0 | None listed |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 116th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · latest recorded House vote Sep 16, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.