Bryan Steil Wins Reelection Over Barca In 1st Congressional District Race

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., defeated Democratic challenger Peter Barca on Tuesday night to represent Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Steil at about 11:07 p.m. Tuesday. By 4:56 a.m. Wednesday, vote counts said Steil received 206,218 votes, or 54.1 percent, compared to Barca’s 166,787 votes, or 43.8 percent, with about 98.6 percent of precincts reporting.

The 1st Congressional District includes the southeastern part of Wisconsin, including the cities of Kenosha, Racine, Janesville, Beloit and parts of Whitewater. 

Steil first won his congressional seat in 2018 to succeed U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was stepping down. Steil won reelection in 2020 and 2022. He has served on the House’s Committee on House Administration and the Financial Services Committee. Steil was born and raised in Janesville and attended Georgetown University and then the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. 

Barca is the former secretary of the state Department of Revenue and had previously represented the 1st Congressional District in the mid-1990s. Prior to that, Barca served two different stints in the state Assembly, most recently serving as Assembly Minority Leader in the 2010s before resigning to serve in the Department of Revenue. Barca has a wife and two children. They live in Kenosha.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.