VotePredictor
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Wisconsin District 1 election, 2026

Mitchell Berman vs. Bryan Steil. Today's article: every forecast for this race →

VotePredictor forecast
Mitchell Berman favored
Toss-up · predicted margin EVEN
50%
chance to win
2024 presidential margin
R+5.0
2026 national environment
D+8.0
District polls
3, averaging EVEN
Forecast spread
±5.3 points

Margin from the district's presidential lean on its 2026 lines, one fitted intercept and the national environment as a uniform swing; the win probability adds a decaying incumbency premium (Republican incumbent running). The 3 district polls are blended in by inverse variance, about 54% of the weight: the model alone said EVEN.

Democratic

Mitchell Berman

Major-party general-election nominee.

Polls

The polls behind it

4 polls · newest first

Each pollster name links to the poll's source; the grade under it is its VotePredictor grade from past elections. Margin is the poll as published. The ± under the sample size is the 95% margin of error on each candidate's share, from the sample size (the gap between them is about twice as uncertain).

PollsterDateMargin
Impact ResearchGrade B-10-01D+1.0
DCCC Targeting and Analytics DepartmentGrade C-09-23EVEN
Impact Research (via Wikipedia)Grade B-08-09R+1.0
Ragnar Research Partners (via Wikipedia)03-16R+9.0

These polls move the forecast: their average is blended into the model's own margin by inverse variance, with about 54% of the weight on the polls (a single poll gets about half; more polls, more weight). The rule was preregistered and validated on 321 polled districts from 2018–2024. See methodology.

Campaign money

FEC reports through October 14, 2026
Bryan SteilREP · incumbent$6.4M raised
Spent $6.4MCash on hand $2.2M5% from donors under $200
Top contributors, industries and states

Industries

  1. Retired$392k
  2. Finance, Insurance & Real Estate$267k
  3. Self-Employed & Freelance$102k
  4. Legal & Professional Services$35k
  5. Government Relations and Lobbying Services$26k

States

  1. WI$578k
  2. CA$151k
  3. NY$123k
  4. VA$76k
  5. FL$72k
Every contribution on GovMoneyGraph ↗
Mitchell BermanDEM$2.0M raised
Spent $1.6MCash on hand $352kDebts $12k33% from donors under $200
Top contributors, industries and states

Industries

  1. Unemployed$712k
  2. Self-Employed & Freelance$97k
  3. Finance, Insurance & Real Estate$37k
  4. Nonprofit, Labor & Civil Society$36k
  5. Education & Academia$13k

States

  1. WI$565k
  2. CA$120k
  3. IL$76k
  4. NY$71k
  5. MA$47k
Every contribution on GovMoneyGraph ↗

What each candidate's own campaign committees reported for the 2025–26 cycle; outside spending by PACs and parties is not included. Industries are classified from donors' reported employers. The House forecast's win probability reads the two nominees' shares of individual contributions shown here, a small term that never moves the predicted margin. Data: GovMoneyGraph, based on FEC records.

Other forecasts

We have not yet ingested a district rating from these independent forecasters for WI-1; links go to their current national House ratings. Missing is shown as missing—not converted into a probability.

Past results

Every election in Wisconsin's 1st district we hold a result for. District numbers are reused across redistricting, so older rows may cover different ground than the seat does today.

YearWinnerMargin
2016Paul Ryan(R)R+34.7
2012Paul Ryan(R)R+11.5
1998Paul Ryan(R)R+14.4

Candidate news

Candidate field source: 2026 House election roster ↗

Nearby in the directory: WA-9 · WI-2