(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil’s campaign wasted little time going on the offensive Tuesday night after Mitchell Berman won the Democrat primary in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, setting up a November showdown with the Republican incumbent.
Berman, a registered nurse and political newcomer, prevailed in the Democrat primary Tuesday. He will now face Steil, who has represented the southeastern Wisconsin district since 2019. The Associated Press called the primary for Berman at 9:02 p.m. Tuesday.
“Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District primary election results make clear that radical activists have taken control of the Wisconsin Democrat Party,” a Steil campaign spokesman said.
“While Berman spends his time focused on policies that drive up costs for working families and suing local school boards, Congressman Steil remains focused on the issues that matter most to voters — making life more affordable, reducing the cost of housing, and banning members of Congress from trading stocks.”
Berman emerged from a contested Democrat primary seeking the opportunity to challenge Steil. The district includes Kenosha and Racine counties, most of Walworth County and portions of Rock and Milwaukee counties. Republicans have held the congressional seat for more than three decades.
The Steil campaign highlighted several areas where it says Berman is outside the political mainstream, including his opposition to H.R. 1, the massive tax-and-spending legislation championed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
The campaign credited the legislation with tax relief affecting tips and overtime, an increase in the child tax credit, tax relief for seniors and new work requirements for certain able-bodied adults receiving public benefits. Berman has repeatedly opposed the legislation, criticizing its Medicaid provisions and other spending changes.
Steil’s campaign also resurrected a 2025 election dispute involving Berman and the Racine Unified School District.
Berman filed an election-fraud complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission arising from efforts to remove signatures from petitions seeking the recall of Racine Unified School Board members. The commission ultimately dismissed the complaint, finding Berman had not provided sufficient evidence to substantiate his allegations.
“[He] has not done anything more than make a general allegation, unsupported by details or evidence, that the affidavits submitted by signatories who wished to have their signatures removed from the recall petition contained false information,” the WEC wrote in its closure letter.
The Steil campaign also pointed to a more recent campaign-finance controversy involving Berman.
Shortly before Tuesday’s primary, Republicans filed a complaint accusing Berman of violating federal campaign-finance requirements related to the timing of a campaign finance report. Berman’s campaign said the report was filed two hours late because of a “bookkeeping issue.”
The filing of a complaint does not itself establish that Berman violated federal election law.
Berman entered the congressional race last year, describing himself as a Veterans Affairs and emergency-room nurse, first-generation college graduate and union member. He has portrayed himself as a working-class alternative to Steil and has criticized Republican policies on health care, taxes and federal spending.
The general-election contest pits Berman against a well-funded incumbent. Steil has represented the district since succeeding former House Speaker Paul Ryan and won reelection in 2024 with about 54% of the vote. During the first three months of 2026, Steil reported raising more than $933,000 and had approximately $5.6 million on hand, while Berman raised about $209,000 and ended the quarter with roughly $141,000.
Berman has emphasized his nursing career and argued that Washington is too responsive to corporate interests. Steil, meanwhile, is expected to make affordability, housing costs and his push to prohibit members of Congress from trading individual stocks central themes of his reelection campaign.
Tuesday’s result makes the matchup official: Steil and Berman will face voters in the Nov. 3 general election for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.
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