House Democrats on Tuesday added Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program, backing emergency-room nurse Mitchell Berman in his race against Republican Rep. Bryan Steil.
The move provides national fundraising, staff, training and strategic support to Berman ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., framed the contest as a class fight, saying Steil has “only ever seen the inside of a boardroom or a ballroom” while Berman “shows up for Wisconsin, working nights as an ER nurse.” Berman, of Raymond in Racine County, called Steil a politician who “works for himself and his rich friends.”
Republicans dismissed the pickup talk. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon said Berman is “completely out of touch with southeast Wisconsin, pushing a radical far-left agenda that puts politics ahead of common sense,” and that voters will “re-elect Congressman Steil.” Conservative pundits noted Steil’s consistent double-digit wins.
The district covers Racine and Kenosha counties and parts of Walworth, Rock and Milwaukee counties — Janesville to Kenosha. Republicans have held it since 1994. Steil won the open seat in 2018 after Paul Ryan retired and has won every race since: 54.6% in 2018, 59.3% in 2020, 54.1% in 2022 and 54.1% in 2024 against former Revenue Secretary Peter Barca (43.9%). President Donald Trump carried the district by about four points in 2024. Cook Political Report rates the race Likely Republican, with a Partisan Voting Index of R+2. Inside Elections rates it Solid Republican.
Money tells a harder story than the DCCC’s “jump ball” language. The Journal Sentinel, citing the latest FEC reports, put Steil at $6.3 million cash on hand versus Berman’s $151,643. Berman raised about $713,000 in the cycle and spent about $561,000 through the primary period, per Ballotpedia. A late Democratic poll from Impact Research showed Steil at 49%, Berman at 48% — a DCCC-aligned survey, not an independent rating change.
Berman won the Aug. 11 Democratic primary with 44.1% against Peter Burgelis, Lorenzo Santos and Miguel Aranda. He is a union ER nurse, first-generation college graduate and former VA nurse who has never held elected office. He has been endorsed by Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Reps. Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan. Before Congress, his public profile in Raymond included an open-meetings lawsuit against the school board plus recall efforts and records fights. Republicans also highlighted a 2023 soft lockdown at Raymond School that coincided with threats against board members and Berman’s use of adult online dating sites while engaged or married.
Red to Blue is the DCCC’s list of challengers it wants to treat as flip targets. Adding WI-01 brings the program to about 40 candidates this cycle. National Democrats are pitching a working-class nurse against a Janesville incumbent and House Administration chairman. The certified polling, cash-on-hand gap, and nonpartisan ratings still describe a Republican-leaning district Steil has never lost.
