RAYMOND, Wis. – Today, ER nurse and Democratic candidate for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District Mitchell Berman announced that his campaign has raised over $500,000 to date – with an average donation of $33 – ahead of the June 1 ballot filing deadline. The campaign is also releasing a “State of the Race” memo today, included below. The memo highlights the district’s competitive status, Berman’s position as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, and the contrast between Berman’s profile as a healthcare worker and Bryan Steil, an out-of-touch, corrupt career politician who voted to take away healthcare from his constituents.
“State of the Race” Memo for Wisconsin’s First Congressional District
Executive Summary
- WI-01 is a toss-up district that has trended towards Democrats in recent elections. As of May 2026, Sabato’s Crystal Ball designates it the “median seat” for House majority control; a March 2026 Ragnar general election poll shows a generic Democrat leading 44-42. Democrats have also carried this district handily in recent Supreme Court races.
- Mitchell Berman is the clear frontrunner in the Democratic primary. Since getting into the race, he has raised over $500,000 from more than 10,000 donors, received key endorsements from labor and elected officials, and has no credible primary opponent.
- Berman is well-positioned in the general election to beat Congressman Bryan Steil and flip WI-01 from red to blue. His story is rooted in Wisconsin, shaped by years on the frontlines as an emergency room nurse at the VA, where he saw firsthand how gaps in our healthcare system impact veterans and working families. That experience stands in stark contrast to Bryan Steil, a former mergers and acquisitions attorney who has backed Medicaid cuts to fund tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, supported restrictive voting laws, opposed oversight of presidential war powers, and stood firmly behind Trump’s tariffs.
District Overview
WI-01 is a true swing district. Redistricting ordered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2022 made the district significantly more competitive, removing deep-red Waukesha County territory and adding Democratic-leaning areas, including the city of Beloit, half of Whitewater, and the Milwaukee suburbs of St. Francis, Cudahy, and South Milwaukee. It is now an R+2 seat that has been trending towards Democrats in recent years.
Joe Biden ran even here in 2020, and Trump carried the district by just four points in 2024 (51-47). In both the 2023 and 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, Justices Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford won the district handily by 6- and 6.5-point margins, respectively. Most recently, Justice-elect Chris Taylor carried the district by a ~20-point margin.
Following recent redistricting across the country, Sabato’s Crystal Ball now considers WI-01 the “median district”— among the seats most likely to determine which party controls the House. A March 2026 Ragnar poll confirms that it is very much in play for Democrats in this political environment: a generic Democrat leads a generic Republican by two points (44-42). In a cycle where the majority will be decided on the margins, WI-01 is central to the battlefield.
Mitchell Berman
As the June 1 ballot filing deadline approaches, Berman has established himself as the clear frontrunner among Democrats. He has raised over $500,000 from more than 10,000 donors with an average contribution of $33 — an early indicator of real grassroots energy and a donor base with significant room to grow. He has earned endorsements from the United Auto Workers, Nurses for America, and Defend the Vote, as well as from respected local leaders, including Former State Representative Tod Ohnstad (AD-65), Former State Senator John Lehman (SD-21), Former CD-1 Democratic nominee Marge Krupp, and Former Racine Unified School Board Member Mike Frontier. These endorsements reflect a broad coalition of supporters that spans labor, issue advocates, and electeds.
Berman’s biography provides a compelling contrast to Bryan Steil. Raised in a working-class family, his father built a small roofing business from the ground up while his mother worked long hours grinding pistons at a local foundry. Berman has been a union member at every organized facility where he has worked and remains an at-large member of National Nurses United. He spent eleven years as an ER nurse at the VA, caring for veterans in high-pressure conditions and seeing firsthand how gaps in our healthcare system impact veterans and working families. Berman also became involved in local organizing — he fought against LGBTQ+ discrimination and helped lead the effort to recall right-wing, anti-public education school board officials in his home school district, demanding accountability and transparency and successfully holding them accountable for violating the open meetings law.
Berman is running to fix a system that is rigged against working people by taking on corporate influence of the economy and entrenched politicians like Bryan Steil, whose priorities have too often aligned with billionaires and corporations over working Wisconsin families struggling to afford basic costs like healthcare, rent, and groceries.
Primary Landscape
No other Democratic candidate running for Wisconsin’s First District has built a viable campaign capable of beating Bryan Steil in November.
Randy Bryce raised $1,800 in Q1 and closed the quarter with $8,764 cash on hand. Bryce’s run in 2018 generated attention after his viral launch ad and endorsement by Bernie Sanders, but eight years later, his current campaign has seen none of the labor support or grassroots energy that characterized his previous race.
Miguel Aranda raised $3,300 in Q1 and closed with $12,832 cash on hand, showing limited traction in fundraising.
Lorenzo Santos only entered the race in late February and did not file an FEC report for Q1, indicating that he had raised and spent less than $5,000. Santos also ran for the seat last election cycle, raising only ~$26,000 in his nearly one year in that race before dropping out.
Peter Burgelis, a Milwaukee alderman who only entered the race in late April, does not live in the district — a liability that has dogged his nascent campaign. When asked about it, Burgelis said: “Voters don’t care where you live.” He also faces documented allegations of abusive conduct toward female staff, which have already reemerged as an area of concern in the first few weeks of his Congressional campaign (Channel 3000, May 2026).
Berman will win the Democratic primary, and has already begun building the campaign infrastructure and coalition needed to take on Steil in the fall. With early grassroots momentum and a clear contrast rooted in both his story and record, his campaign is not just preparing to compete; it is laying the groundwork to win and to flip this true battleground district in November.
Bryan Steil has Significant Vulnerabilities
Despite serving as the Representative for a toss-up district, Steil’s voting record is 100% aligned with Trump. That record is his central liability.
While Steil has been in office since 2019, the 2022 redistricting ordered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court made WI-01 significantly more competitive. Steil has not faced a fully funded challenger under the current district lines.
Healthcare. Steil voted for the One Big Beautiful Budget Act, which will cause ~15,000 of his constituents in WI-01 to lose health insurance through Medicaid cuts and the expiration of ACA premium tax credits that previously saved families an average of $700 per year. In a district where healthcare costs and coverage rank among voters’ top concerns, that vote is a concrete and direct point of contrast. He even voted against extending the highly popular ACA subsidies, a key issue and one that is extremely relevant to his constituents.
Tariffs. Steil has consistently backed Trump’s tariff agenda, including broad import tariffs that have raised costs for Wisconsin manufacturers, farmers, and consumers. Farmers are a key constituency in the district, and Trump’s tariffs and war have driven up the cost of fertilizer and diesel.
Voting rights. Steil sponsored the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, which would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote, restrict mail voting, and ban ranked-choice voting in federal races. He also backed the SAVE Act, which imposes documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements at voter registration. Critics argue that both bills would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.
Iran. Steil will not say a word to criticize Trump, and that includes with respect to foreign affairs. Steil has repeatedly voted against resolutions to end U.S. military operations against Iran and require Congressional authorization to continue. Berman knows the cost of war, having seen the wounds (both visible and invisible) that our young men and women brought back from Afghanistan and Iraq, and is outspoken in criticizing Steil’s support for endless wars abroad.
Accountability. Allegations have surfaced that Steil pressured a Capitol Hill reporter to drop legal action after she was falsely implicated in a colleague’s extramarital affair — warning her it could “tank her career.” She reported going directly to her lawyer. This story raises questions about Steil’s integrity.
Corruption. Steil’s stock trading while in Congress has been highly lucrative, outperforming the S&P 500 last year by 62.5% (he was ranked by Unusual Whales as the fourth most profitable stock trader in Congress in 2025). During his four terms in Congress, his net worth has more than doubled and he has become a millionaire, while Wisconsin families fall further behind. Meanwhile, his purported “ban” on stock trading in Congress, the Stop Insider Trading Act, is a watered-down version of stronger legislation and doesn’t actually ban stock trading.
Red to Blue Positioning
WI-01 is currently listed as a DCCC District in Play, and the House Majority PAC has already reserved $2M in the Milwaukee media market and $1.3M in the Madison media market, reflecting this district’s status as a key national target.
With Berman’s campaign raising over $500,000 from 10,000 small-dollar donors, consolidating the primary field, securing key labor and institutional endorsements, and defining a clear contrast against a vulnerable incumbent, the campaign infrastructure is now in place to capitalize on those fundamentals.
Bottom Line
WI-01 is a true toss-up and could decide control of the House majority. Berman has the biography, resources, and the campaign infrastructure needed to compete. Steil’s poor record on healthcare, voting access, the Iran war, tariffs, and corruption creates a compelling contrast for Berman to run on. This is a top-tier pickup opportunity for Democrats in 2026.
Born and raised in a one-stoplight town in rural Wisconsin, Mitchell Berman learned the values of community, integrity, and hard work from his parents. He was the first in his family to graduate college, working three jobs and taking out student loans to earn his degree. Determined to build a life through grit and perseverance, not privilege, he started working at age 12 and became a union member while in college. Berman is an emergency room nurse who has served veterans at the VA for more than a decade. A devoted husband and father, he’s running for Congress to put people over politics, and to fight for Wisconsin families.
The First Congressional District is one of the most competitive in the country, and has been named a “District in Play” by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The district encompasses Janesville, Kenosha, Racine, Beloit, Elkhorn, Whitewater, and the Milwaukee suburbs of Cudahy, St. Francis, and South Milwaukee. In 2024, Donald Trump carried the swing district narrowly with just 51 percent of the vote. In both the 2023 and 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, Justices Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford won the district handily by 6- and 6.5-point margins, respectively, and Justice-Elect Chris Taylor carried the district by ~20 points in April 2026. The primary election will take place on August 11, 2026, with the general election on November 3rd. Learn more at BermanForCongress.com.
