Democrats had hoped to put the 1st Congressional District in play, but did not come close despite a strong candidate.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

The fundamentals suggested Democrats had a chance.

In the 1st Congressional District, which includes Janesville and Beloit in the west and Racine and Kenosha in the east, liberals hoped they would make a serious challenge to U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil.

Their candidate, Pete Barca, had been an elected official in the district, serving in the state Legislature for years. He even held this very congressional seat in the early 1990s for one term. Redistricting had made the district slightly more favorable to Democrats.

The national party put the 1st in their Red to Blue program that targets flippable seats.

But the result was the same as it has been for years, with the Republican winning easily. Steil defeated the Democrat by a larger margin than in 2022, when he faced a lesser-known — and lesser-funded — challenger.

Steil also ran well ahead of former and future President Donald Trump in the district.

The incumbent congressman defeated his Democratic opponent by more than 10 points — about 54% to 44% — while Trump won the 1st by about 4.5 points, with a margin of about 51.4% to 46.9% over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to official results from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Eric Hovde, who lost narrowly to Sen. Tammy Baldwin, won the 1st Congressional District by about 2.7%.

In the state’s most competitive congressional district, the 3rd in western Wisconsin, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) ran well behind Trump. Van Orden won his race by about 2.7%, a shrinking of his margin from 2022, while Trump won that district by more than 7%.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.