WATERTOWN, Wis. — Democrats are setting their sights on a GOP stronghold district in Wisconsin this November — and they’re playing dirty to beat Rep. Bryan Steil, the Republican incumbent whose seat was once held by former Speaker of the House and VP candidate Paul Ryan.
A victory for Steil’s Democratic challenger Peter Barca, now the state’s Secretary of Revenue, would be an uphill battle in a district that has voted red for decades and has a Likely Republican rating in the Cook Political Report.
That long-shot status may be why the pol is slinging mud in a new campaign ad, attacking the Steil’s record on abortion and in-vitro fertilization.
In the 30 second spot, Barca claims Steil worked to “overturn Roe V. Wade,” a ruling made by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dobbs decision, not Congress. The ad also says Steil supports “pregnancy surveillance” and restricting IVF.
Barca’s campaign did not respond to a request from The Post to define and provide sourcing for his assertions about Steil’s stances.
Whatever “pregnancy surveillance” is, Steil is not in favor, his campaign confirmed to The Post, adding that the ad is blatantly false.
The two-term congressman spoke to The Post after taking part in a Trump 47 policy panel in Milwaukee Thursday night.
“I support looking at ways to lower the cost of IVF for families. I’ve cosponsored legislation that looks at how we can use Health Savings Accounts as it relates to IVF,” Steil said when asked whether he supports Donald Trump’s free IVF policy.
“As a conservative, I support families and IVF is a way for many couples to be able to have a family. And sometimes it’s the only way. [That is] one of the key reasons we support IVF.”
Responding to questions from The Post about his positions on abortion, Steil pointed out that current law in Wisconsin restricts abortion to the first 20 weeks.
“Dobbs shifted [abortion] primarily to the states,” Steil added.
Barca voted against the Pain-Capable Abortion Act — a 20 week abortion ban — as the minority leader of the State Assembly in 2015.
Whereas Steil is open about his positions on abortion, Barca does not define his positions on the controversial topic for voters, such as whether abortions should be available through all nine months of pregnancy.
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The “reproductive freedom” page on Barca’s campaign website says the candidate “believes a woman’s health care decisions are between herself and her doctor – not politicians.”
A June Marquette University Law Poll found that 66% of Wisconsin registered voters do not support legalizing abortion in all cases. Abortion was the third-rated issue for voters in the poll on deciding their vote in the election, after the economy and immigration.
“I myself come down on the side of life,” Steil told The Post. “I support reasonable exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. It is the Democrats that are extreme on [abortion]. Peter Barca is always in line with extreme Democratic positions,”
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Steil tweeted, “Today’s decision will bring this important issue back to the states. This is a great victory for life.”
Barca received a lifetime grade of “A,” or 100%, from NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin in 2012 as the minority leader of the state assembly for supporting state funding for Planned Parenthood and opposing restrictions on abortion. Planned Parenthood, which opposes restrictions on abortion and supports public funding of abortions, has endorsed his race for Congress this November.
Barca’s campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment by time of publication.
