What was life like in 1994 when former Rep. Peter Barca was last in Congress?
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The #1 song of the year was “The Sign” by Swedish group Ace of Base.
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The super-popular Pokémon gaming series was still in development and about to be released in Japan.
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YouTube and social media did not exist. Cell phones were still in the 2G phase and not very common. AOL was the primary company for the internet and most people had a dial-up connection.
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The world is horrified when the Rwandan genocide occurs between the Hutus and the Tutsis.
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Nelson Mandela ushered in the end of apartheid when he was elected President of South Africa.
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The first GMO food item was approved by the FDA.
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The Lion King was the main feature of the year for Disney.
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OJ Simpson fled in his white Ford Bronco which riveted the nation.
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Jeff Bezos founded a very small company called Amazon.
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The PlayStation video game console was released for the first time.
Of course, one of the big political news items of the year was the Republican Revolution which allowed the GOP to capture Congress for the first time since the 1950s. Peter Barca was one of the incumbents ousted in that red-wave election. Now, after 30 years out of Congress Barca is attempting a comeback.
The question for Peter Barca is whether he can make everything old as new again and get back to Congress after a 30-year absence.
Like reading election-themed articles? I am continuing a massive series of them each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday morning! Make sure to follow #SaveTheMajority and the group Save the Majority so you don’t miss important races down the ballot!
Rep. Bryan Steil is part of what I am calling the #MAGADozen. These Republicans in GOP-leaning swing districts are full-throated MAGA supporters and can be beaten. Peter Barca is one of the challengers I am fundraising for.
Peter Barca for Wisconsin-1
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What’s the Big Idea?
THIS HOUSE RACE IS RATED AS LIKELY REPUBLICAN, with an R+3 PVI
2022 election results by county for WI-01.
Ever since former Rep. Peter Barca was ousted in the 1994 Republican Revolution, this district has stubbornly leaned toward the GOP. The Democrats challenged this district a couple of times in the late 1990s but since then it has been an exercise in futility. For the most part, the GOP has won this seat without much of an effort.
This is the district of former House Speaker Paul Ryan. He represented this district from 1998 to 2018. After 20 years in Congress and at the pinnacle of House power, Ryan chose not to run before the building blue wave in 2018. His handpicked successor was Bryan Steil. Steil won with a lower percentage than normal with 54% of the vote but it still wasn’t a close election.
Steil cruised in 2020 as the district wasn’t seriously contested. This was despite Trump only winning the district 50.3% to 48.3% in 2020. Steil faced off against businesswoman Ann Roe in 2022. Not much effort was put into the race yet Steil could only win 54.1% to 45.1%. 301k votes were cast in 2022, while 402k votes were tallied for the 2020 election. There’s definitely an opportunity here, which is likely why Peter Barca decided to enter the race.
Here’s where this 1st district race will be won.
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Racine and Kenosha: These two cities are the second critical area of the district and it is where Barca is from. Barca has to outperform MVP Harris in this section of the district to win the seat.
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Milwaukee Suburbs: The suburbs are a combination of light-blue and light-red suburbs south of Milwaukee in this district. It’s the type of area that Steil appeals to and Barca needs to convert to his column to have the victory.
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Whitewater: Only half of this college town is in the district but in a close race these votes matter a great deal. Barca needs to appeal to the professors and college students who live here to secure a win.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
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Janesville and Beloit: These small cities are the home base of Rep. Bryan Steil and they are the critical areas in the district. Barca must wipe out any home-field advantage and run up the score in a favorable area for him.
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Walworth County: This county in the middle of the district is why the seat remains stubbornly in the thrall of the GOP. Steil will likely win more than 60% of the vote here, which is why Barca is the underdog in the race.
- West of Kenosha and Racine: Once you get outside of the two cities the rest of these counties look bleak for Democratic candidates. Barca needs to limit the losses as much as possible in this portion of the district.
Peter Barca: Everything Old is New Again
Barca has spent most of his time after Congress in the Wisconsin state legislature.
Peter Barca was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1955. In 1977, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. He would go on to be a teacher of emotionally impaired children. He became the director of the Friendship Camp which serves students with disabilities.
Barca entered politics through leadership in the local teachers’ union and becoming the chair of the Kenosha County Democratic Party. He took a sabbatical to get a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in educational administration. When he returned to Kenosha, Barca worked for the Kenosha Achievement Center in the job placement department.
Barca would first run for office in 1984 for the Wisconsin Assembly. There was a large primary field for a safely Democratic district, but Barca won with 34% of the vote. His father ran a chain of popular restaurants in Kenosha and the name recognition was thought to be responsible for his narrow win. This was tantamount to election in November. He was a productive member of the Wisconsin Assembly during his first stint, authoring bills concerning both statewide and Kenosha priorities.
In 1993, Rep. Les Aspin was tapped by former President Bill Clinton to be Secretary of Defense. It created a vacancy for Wisconsin’s 1st district and a special election. Peter Barca ran in and won this special election against Mark Neumann by 675 votes. In the regularly scheduled 1994 election, Neumann would win the rematch by 1120 votes. Barca had a limited impact in the US House given his short tenure there.
After losing, Bill Clinton appointed Barca to various mid-level executive positions in the Small Business Administration. Once Clinton left office, Barca went on to become Vice President and then President of Aurora Associates International, an international project management company.
Barca returned to politics in 2008 by running for his old seat in the Wisconsin Assembly. By the time the Scott Walker protests flared up, he was Democratic Leader in the lower chamber. While the upper chamber tried to quorum bust, Barca led a 60-hour filibuster of the Walker budget which stripped unions of their right to collectively bargain. Barca would serve as Democratic Leader until 2017 when he resigned to focus on his district.
When Gov. Evers was elected in 2018, Barca immediately became a desirable cabinet nominee. Evers tapped him to head the Department of Revenue, one of the most important positions in Wisconsin. He was responsible for administering CARES Act money for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also helped to repeal a hated personal property tax and increased revenue for municipal and county governments.
So what does Peter Barca bring to the table if he is elected? Other than a wealth of legislative experience, he also will be strong on quite a few issues. One of the strongest issues for Barca is issues concerning labor. He will fight to pass the PRO Act and to protect worker pensions from GOP attacks.
Abortion rights are another issue where Barca has a good track record. He will support making Roe into law. He authored a bill to cover the cost of fertility treatments in the Wisconsin Assembly and has promised to do the same thing if elected to Congress. He would also protect contraception access and birth control from GOP attacks.
As a former teacher, Barca will also be strong on education issues. Barca would try to get a teacher pay raise through Congress. He would fully fund IDEA which is meant to help students with impairments. For older students, Barca would expand access to training and apprenticeship programs to make higher education more meaningful for more students.
Peter Barca may be an old political hand, but he’s learned a few new things for his 2024 run. He combines a vast amount of experience with a renewed interest in representing this district in Congress.
Rep. Bryan Steil: Main Street Meets MAGA
When former Speaker Paul Ryan retired, Rep. Bryan Steil became the heir apparent for his seat.
Rep. Bryan Steil was born in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1981. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Georgetown University. Steil would go on to earn a JD degree from the University of Wisconsin.
Steil worked as an aide to Rep. Paul Ryan in 2003. He would then go on to work in the manufacturing sector in Wisconsin. He worked for firms such as Charter NEX Film and Regal Beloit. His next career move was to become an attorney for the McDermott Will & Emery law firm. Steil was nominated and unanimously approved to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents in 2016.
Steil has tried to straddle the line between conservative and MAGA like so many supposed “moderate” Main Street Partnership Republicans. He’s even a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus which also shows “moderate” tendencies. While he isn’t a part of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Steil is a part of the Republican Study Committee.
Steil is definitely going to be attacked on abortion rights because his record is poor on this issue. He cheered when Roe was overturned and has consistently voted against restoring the protections for women’s health. Steil also voted to criminalize doctors who perform abortions, block military service members from receiving reproductive care, and ban the use of abortion medication.
Steil is in the mold of former Speaker Paul Ryan when it comes to economic issues as well. He consistently voted against pandemic relief even when it was former President Trump asking for it. He voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Steil even voted against the CHIPS and Science Act which would have brought much-needed manufacturing jobs to southeastern Wisconsin. Steil claims he wants pro-growth policies but when jobs are on the table he votes nay.
Steil also tries to have it both ways when it comes to the 2020 election and January 6th. He voted to certify Biden’s win but also hired an election denier who worked on Trump’s fake elector scheme for election integrity on the House Administration Committee. Steil condemned Trump after January 6th but refused to impeach him or establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol.
Despite claiming to being open to more funds for background checks, Steil’s record on gun safety is abominable. He voted against the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. He also voted against a similar bill in 2021. Steil even voted against the BIpartisan Safer Communities Act after Uvalde. It is clear that the incumbent does not give a damn about making communities safer.
If you care about stopping Project 2025 then stopping Steil should be a priority. The authors of the fascist manifesto have ratings on how aligned each representative is on implementing the Project 2025 agenda. Rep. Bryan Steil has an 85% rating from the scorecard which is one of the higher swing seat marks.
Rep. Bryan Steil may seem like a “moderate” and inoffensive incumbent but scratching the surface proves that he has a problematic record just like every other member of the GOP.
How Can You Help?
In terms of raising cash, Peter Barca is matching Bryan Steil almost dollar-for-dollar. Both raised around $785k in the admittedly dated Q2 fundraising report. New numbers should be out in the next couple of weeks. Steil has a large stockpile of cash-on-hand though with $4.7M ready to spend.
No outside groups have made independent expenditures as of writing this article. The DCCC and its allies did reserve some ad time in the media markets covered by this district earlier this year. However, either the ad buys have been canceled or the money has yet to be spent. Barca needs that outside money to counteract the torrent of money Steil has at his disposal.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party is a well-oiled machine under the leadership of Ben Wikler. There are plenty of canvassing opportunities available in the district. South Milwaukee has canvassing on October 3 at the farmers’ market. Oak Creek has a similar canvassing effort on Saturdays. Racine has canvassing on both Sundays and Wednesdays. Saturdays and Wednesdays are when canvassing occurs in Kenosha. Janesville, Beloit, Whitewater, and many more areas have canvassing happening as well!
There’s quite an effort to phone bank in certain locations too. Beloit is trying to find volunteers on Wednesday. Thursday is an important phone banking day in Janesville. Kenosha and Racine have their phone banking operations in high gear as well. There are probably cities and areas I am leaving out of this article because there are so many opportunities.
If you want to meet people who share your values and also connect with potential volunteers then attending a VP debate watch party may be an excellent way to do so. Janesville, Beloit, Racine, and Kenosha each have their own watch parties. Have fun watching Coach Walz wallop the creepy JD Vance!
Peter Barca may be the best candidate to run for this district since he lost 30 years ago. He now has a lifetime of service behind him which can only help in the critical swing areas of Kenosha (which he represented) and Racine. It will still be an uphill fight but he now has the excellent Wisconsin Democratic Party behind him. In Ben Wikler I trust.
Rep. Bryan Steil is an inoffensive (for a Republican) incumbent and will still be tough to beat. That’s not to say he doesn’t have weaknesses. It just means that in comparison to the Freedom Caucus nihilists he strikes a low profile. He sits in the 26th most vulnerable seat held by the GOP, so it isn’t like it’s impossible to win - just very difficult.
The question for Peter Barca is whether he can make everything that is old new again and get back to Congress after a 30-year absence.
Peter Barca for Wisconsin-1
Campaign Website | Facebook | Twitter | DONATE | Volunteer
Here is the Defeat the MAGA Dozen Fund on ActBlue! These 15 incumbent members of the GOP are MAGA Republicans residing in swing districts. The challengers are all strong and can win in these tougher districts. Please donate and then share a link to this site on your social media! #MAGADozen
