MADISON, Wis. — With less than 30 days before the November election, Mitchell Berman’s campaign has gained massive momentum while Republican incumbent Bryan Steil’s billionaire backers scramble to save his seat. Over the weekend, a new House Majority PAC poll shows Berman leading Steil in the race—a testament to voters’ rejection of Steil’s corruption-enabling and cost-raising record. Just last week, Berman sat down with Capitol Chats to discuss his vision and plan to help make the economy more affordable for working people, and the DCCC and the Berman campaign launched their first joint TV ad in the First Congressional District highlighting Berman’s history as a sportsman and Steil’s record of chasing after different “bucks” that line his pocket. View Mitchell Berman’s New Ad and read more below about Berman’s fight to unset Bryan Steil:
 Berman Campaign and DCCC Release First Joint TV Ad in WI-01: “Bucks”

Transcript:Mitchell Berman: “Bryan Steil’s done pretty well for himself in Washington. His net worth more than doubled. His stock portfolio? One of Congress’s best.Bryan Steil and I both chase bucks. Difference is, mine has antlers. I’m Mitchell Berman. I don’t own stocks. I don’t take corporate PAC money and never will. I’ll ban members of Congress from trading stocksBecause public service shouldn’t be about getting rich. I approve this message because Washington should work for us, not whoever cuts the check.”UPFRONT: DCCC Targets Rep Steil’s DistrictDCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene: “Having money but no substance doesn’t help you very much, and [Steil’s] got nothing to run on. He has not done anything to understand the pain that families are going through, [and] has not stood up to represent them. So, even with a lot of money, if you have got nothing to say and aren’t listening to what’s happening on the ground in your community, it doesn’t matter. We will have enough resources to make sure people know who Mitchell Berman is. When they do, he wins.”Spectrum News: Democrats Eye Wisconsin District Held by Republicans For More Than 30 YearsA congressional district in southeast Wisconsin that’s been represented by a Republican for more than 30 years is getting a lot of attention from Democrats this fall. Analysts say it’s the result of President Donald Trump’s slumping poll numbers dragging down many Republican candidates, creating opportunities for the Democrats.Wisconsin’s first congressional district stretches from Janesville in the west to Racine and Kenosha and even part of Milwaukee County in the east.Three Republicans have represented the district in Congress since 1995. Howard Schweber, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said if this district flips to a Democrat with the incumbent losing, that “would be a sign of a serious blue wave.”Republican Congressman Bryan Steil was elected in 2018. In 2024, he easily beat Democrat Peter Barca, who held the seat from 1993 to 1995. Steil’s challenger this year, emergency room nurse Mitchell Berman, is part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, meaning he’ll get special attention and money from the national party to flip the seat. Barca was on the list two years ago too.“If Steil is defeated, it will have nothing to do with him becoming suddenly unpopular or voters disapproving of him,” Schweber said. “It will be a matter of this district serving as a referendum on voters’ approval of the Republican Party and President Trump.”The non-partisan Cook Political Report just moved its rating of the race to Lean Republican from Likely Republican, a shift toward Democrats. Berman’s campaign seized on the news and recent polling as proof he is closing in on the “vulnerable incumbent.” Steil’s spokesman called Berman a radical activist and said Wisconsin families will re-elect Steil. Both sides claim to be focused on lowering the cost of living.“Both of these guys know that as individual congressmen, they have almost no ability to bring down prices at the moment,” Schweber said. “It’s not even clear how much ability Congress has to do that, given the direct control President Trump exercises over the key policy areas. So, you know, a lot of this is gesturing.”At the end of July, Steil had more than $6.3 million in his campaign treasury. Berman had just $151,000.“Money helps, money talks, but money doesn’t actually decide the issue,” Schweber said.Republicans now control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but the party that controls the White House typically suffers in a midterm election year. With President Donald Trump’s poll numbers sagging, Democrats hope this is the year to take back the seat that’s been held by a Republican for 30 years.WisPolitics Capitol Chats: Mitchell Berman Says Congress Needs Members That Are ‘Ready to Work’Mitchell Berman: “And so for me, what a great economy looks like is one that provides opportunities. […] Not one, you know, you hear a lot of talk from the right about entitlements and handouts, and you know that’s not what it is. It’s about making sure that people can afford to work and have a dignified life. […] If you work 40 hours a week, you ought to be able to afford your rent, put food on the table, and even have a little money left over for a rainy day or to go on vacation. You know, that’s I think the difference is that I want to make sure that folks are able to achieve the American dream. “Young people today that seems out of you know out of reach for them. […] They’re graduating school with a mountain of student loan debt. The average first-time home buyer right now is 40 years old. The cost of childcare, wanting to start a family, you know, all those things are really daunting for young people, and I really want to make sure that they have those opportunities to get those good-paying jobs, you know, to be able to bring prices down so that folks can afford groceries and the necessities, you know, bring cost utilities down so people can afford their bills, and that really gives people, you know, the opportunities to live the lives they want and not feel so stressed out by the higher cost of everything right now.”[…]“And I’m going to go and fight back against the corruption that is going on in Washington because right now we’re looking at politicians who are working at the behest of billionaires and their special interests that voted to you know give tax breaks to the richest people in this country, meanwhile making groceries more expensive for us, making healthcare unobtainable, and enriching themselves. Mind you, my opponent had the fourth most successful portfolio out of all of Congress last year. He beat the market by 62 and a half percent last year. So you know, while he’s saying you know that he’s working for us, in actuality, he’s really working to enrich himself and to you know pad his portfolio and make sure his corporate donors can enrich themselves. “And I want people to know I’m working for you. And so and when they look at me, I want them to be able to see a neighbor. You know, I want them to be able to see a guy at the end of the bar that they could go chat with, watching the Packer game, because I live here, right? I live in a rural part of the district. I built my forever home there. My children go to public schools here. My wife and I both still work in a community hospital here in the district. I’m literally the definition of a working class candidate.”
###