Wisconsin’s sheet metal workers back union nurse who will fight for more apprenticeships and good-paying construction jobs
RACINE, WI – SMART Local 18, the union representing sheet metal workers across Wisconsin, has endorsed ER nurse Mitchell Berman for Wisconsin’s First Congressional District.
“Sheet metal workers build the heating and cooling systems that keep our hospitals, schools, and homes running, and I’ve seen in the ER just how much that work matters,” said Mitchell Berman. “I’m honored to have SMART Local 18 standing with us as we head into Election Day. In Congress, I’ll fight for the projects, the prevailing wages, and the apprenticeships that keep union tradespeople working across Wisconsin.”
Local 18 members design, fabricate, and install HVAC systems, architectural metal, and specialty metalwork across the state, and train the next generation of tradespeople through registered apprenticeship programs. Their endorsement adds to a broad labor coalition behind Berman, including the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers (USW), IBEW Wisconsin State Conference, Communications Workers of America District 4 (CWA), United Auto Workers (UAW), Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union (MASH).
Berman is running to expand apprenticeships and the skilled trades, pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and keep jobs in Wisconsin by steering federal contracts and tax incentives toward companies that invest and hire locally. Rep. Bryan Steil, by contrast, voted against the PRO Act and scored 0% on the AFL-CIO’s legislative scorecard last year. Learn more about Berman’s priorities here.
With Election Day just days away, WI–01 remains one of the most competitive House races in the country. All three public polls of the general election show the race within a single point, with the most recent showing Berman ahead 48-47, and Fox News rates the race as a “toss up.”
About Mitchell Berman
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 from 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 “Red to Blue” district 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 Chris Taylor carried the district by ~20 points in April 2026.
Learn more at BermanForCongress.com.
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