Fitzgerald, Beck to face off in 5th Congressional District race

Incumbent Republican Scott Fitzgerald will face Democrat Andrew Beck in the Nov. 3 general election to serve the 5th Congressional District.

The district includes parts of Milwaukee, Waukesha and Dodge counties, as well as Washington and Jefferson counties.

Fitzgerald was elected following the retirement of former longtime GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner in 2020.

Congressman Fitzgerald's campaign says he'll "take the fight to the radical liberals from pushing socialism" if reelected. Beck's campaign aims to stop President Donald Trump's "radical agenda and safeguard our democracy."

Campaign finance reports show that Fitzgerald's fundraising and spending in the race has far outpaced Beck, according to federal campaign finance reports.

Fitzgerald has raised over $1.7 million and spent $1.3 million between January 2025 and October 14, 2026, according to the federal campaign finance reports.

For Beck, federal campaign finance reports show his funds between January 2025 and June 2026. During that time, he raised $14,612.26 and disbursed $11,590.40. Funds raised and disbursed through October 14, 2026 were not reported online as of publication.

Here's what to know about the candidates:

Andrew Beck, Democrat

Residence: Beck was born and raised in Milwaukee and currently resides in West Bend.

Political experience: Beck hasn't worked in politics before. Beck said although he's been a strong Democrat throughout his life, he didn't get too involved in politics until around 2016. In the 2024 election, he considered running for Congress but didn't get enough signatures to get on the ballot.

Beck committed this latest run for office in early 2025 after feeling "afraid of the way our democracy was at stake," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The current administration has been doing a lot of the governing by executive order. There's only been a few bills passed." He hopes to represent the 5th Congressional District, which he described as an area that's starting to shift away from being "a Republican stronghold."

Occupation: Beck has worked in hospitality, in health care as an MRI technician, at GE Healthcare on product development and in technical sales. He was recently laid off from his role as a salesperson in part, he said, due to how tariffs led to skyrocketing prices on products his company sold. Beck said he's "lived the life of many people that are living right now" trying to make ends meet.

Policies: Beck said Congress needs to pull back on certain policies and decisions the current Trump administration has made that have driven up costs at the grocery store and gas pump for everyday Americans.

Beck believes decisions on tariffs should be made in Congress, not in the executive office, and he says President Donald Trump's tariffs have cost Wisconsin dairy farmers millions.

Beck would oppose any proposals to cut Social Security benefits and fight for cost-of-living adjustments to the benefits to help seniors with the rising costs of groceries and other necessities. Beck believes women should make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, including on abortion.

Beck would support efforts to reduce out-of-pocket expenses on prescriptions, co-pays and other health care costs and opposes any reductions or privatization to Medicare and Medicaid. He said he hopes the U.S. one day will have a national health care policy like those of other Western nations. Beck would also like to see more investment in mental health services and stigma reduction.

Scott Fitzgerald, incumbent Republican

Congressman Scott Fitzgerald was not available for an interview ahead of publication. These responses are based on his congressional and campaign website.

Residence: Fitzgerald and his wife Lisa live in Clyman, a rural community north of Watertown.

Political experience: Fitzgerald was first elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1994 and served as GOP leader in the chamber from 2012 until his election to Congress. Before he was elected to Congress, Fitzgerald was a member of the state Senate for nearly 30 years and was selected to lead the Republican caucus seven times. He has served as the majority leader, the minority leader, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance and chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee.

During his time serving as the representative for the 5th District, Fitzgerald pushed for a vote to impeach President Joe Biden, and suggested that Congress should not play a role in certifying elections. He also cast doubts upon the results of the 2020 presidential election, following the defeat of former President Donald Trump, and objected to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

In 2026, Fitzgerald led the House Judiciary subcommittee that looked at possible changes to the Sports Broadcasting Act, arguing the decades-old law had been stretched beyond its original intent in an era when consumers pay for multiple, expensive streaming subscriptions.

Occupation: Before his time in public office, Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 27 years, rising to the rank of rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He owned and ran the Dodge County Independent News in Juneau for about six years before selling it in 1996 to the Watertown Daily Times. He remained as an associate publisher of the Watertown Daily Times for a number of years, according to his campaign website.

Policies: According to Fitzgerald's campaign website, the incumbent is "working with President Trump to secure our border, end D.C.’s reckless spending, and bring real relief to Wisconsin."

Fitzgerald is running a campaign focused on border security. According to his website, he would "work with President Trump to stop the illegal drug trade, end illegal immigration, and put America’s national security first."

Fitzgerald plans to "grow our economy and help small businesses thrive again," according to his site. In Congress September 2026, Fitzgerald signed two pieces of legislation regarding federal investigations into fraud.

The National Fraud Enforcement Division Act "gives the Department of Justice a permanent structure dedicated to going after major fraud schemes and holding those who steal from taxpayers accountable," Fitzgerald said in a news release. The second, the PROOF Act, requires states to provide program data to the Attorney General's requests related to a fraud investigation or prosecution.

"This applies to Medicaid, SNAP, unemployment benefits, pandemic relief, disaster assistance, housing programs, broadband funding, and other federally funded state programs determined to be vulnerable to fraud," according to Fitzgerald's website.

Fitzgerald would defend "the right to life," and has consistently voted in favor of anti-abortion legislation.

Bridget Fogarty covers Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Elm Grove for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be contacted at[email protected].