Spot features Berman fishing and focuses on ending corruption in Washington, contrasting Berman’s working class background and Republican Bryan Steil’s corporate special interests

RAYMOND, Wis. — Today, Mitchell Berman, ER nurse and Democratic candidate for Wisconsin’s First Congressional District, launched his first ad of the general election with an opening message focused on fighting for working class people and ending corruption in Washington.

“There are plenty of politicians like Bryan Steil in Congress looking to get rich and hang out with their billionaire friends,” said ER Nurse Mitchell Berman. “What Congress needs is more people who live like us, and that’s why I’m running: to make life easier for families like mine so we can spend more time hunting and watching the Packers instead of worrying how we’ll afford groceries or fill our tanks. Bryan Steil sold us out, I’ll work for us.”

The new spot follows Mitchell fishing on his property in rural Wisconsin and highlights how while Bryan Steil is a politician who works for the special interests, Mitchell lives like regular Wisconsin families: working through college, becoming an ER nurse, hunting and going to Packers games, and hoping to make life easier and more affordable for families like his.

The 30-second ad is part of a six-figure ad buy across streaming, digital, and television throughout WI-01, a district that will be key to control of the House majority this November. Recent polling shows the race for the First Congressional District in a dead heat, with Berman trailing incumbent Republican Steil by only one point.

Watch the ad here and read the full transcript below:

“Bryan Steil gets millions from special interests.

Me? Not so much.

So instead of a fancy commercial, we’re going fishing.

I’m Mitchell Berman, grew up in rural Wisconsin, worked through college, became an ER nurse – I’m not looking to get rich.

I just want to hunt, take my daughters to Packers games, and make life easier for families like mine.

Congress has plenty of politicians. We need more people that live like us.

I approve this message. Now turn off the camera. You’re scaring the fish.”

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.