Milwaukee alderman Peter Burgelis is launching a campaign for Congress to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who immediately made his residency outside the district an issue in the race.
Burgelis was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 2024 and represents District 11, which roughly borders Greenfield and West Allis. He previously served a term on the Milwaukee County Board, where he was the board’s first openly LGBTQ supervisor.
Burgelis took direct aim at President Donald Trump in an April 26 news release announcing his campaign.
“I can’t sit by while Bryan Steil lets Donald Trump take aim at our neighbors, our pocketbooks and our values,” Burgelis said. “Congressman Steil has made a career working for the rich and powerful, from Speaker Paul Ryan to big law firms, and he’s backed Trump’s costly agenda 100 percent.”
Burgelis, who is running as a Democrat, touted his experience in local office, saying he’d listen to constituents and “make their priorities my priorities” in Congress. He joins a handful of Democrats already in the race.
Steil, a Republican who is running for his fifth term in Congress, said Burgelis “has no business running in a seat he doesn’t live in.”
Republican Party of Wisconsin spokeswoman Anika Rickard cited a 2024 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report detailing accusations that Burgelis was “verbally abusive” with female staff when he was a Milwaukee County Board supervisor, though he said the issue was resolved and dismissed suggestions of a pattern of abuse.
Rickard said Burgelis “needs to decide who he wants to represent: the people of Milwaukee, where he lives and serves as alderman, or the hardworking families of the 1st District, where he has never lived.”
Burgelis lives on the south side of Milwaukee, according to his Common Council biography. He does not currently reside in the 1st Congressional District, which he is seeking to represent.
That district covers much of southeastern Wisconsin, from Janesville to Racine and Kenosha. At its furthest north, the district includes St. Francis, Cudahy, South Milwaukee and Franklin.
State and federal law do not require candidates for Congress to live in the district they are running in, only that they live in the state of Wisconsin. Unlike state lawmakers, they also do not need to live in the district once elected.
Asked on WISN-TV’s Sunday morning politics show “Upfront” if his residency poses a challenge, Burgelis says he’s hearing the same message from voters, whether he’s in his Milwaukee district or Beloit.
“People are hurting. They’re scared, they’re in pain,” Burgelis said. “Voters don’t care where you live or what the driver’s license address is in my wallet. Voters care where you stand, voters care what your principles are.”
Democrats have sought to flip Steil’s seat in previous years, backing former congressman and state Assembly leader Peter Barca in 2024, who lost by 10 points.
Other Democrats running this year include Franklin veterans’ administration nurse Mitchell Berman, Randy Bryce, who lost to Steil in 2018, and Miguel Aranda, the Whitewater Unified School Board vice president.
Burgelis said he’s entering the race because he sees no Democrat currently running that can beat Steil.
“We need a candidate who can get national attention, national money to counteract what Bryan Steil and his billionaire buddies are going to put in the race,” Burgelis told “Upfront.”
Burgelis grew up in Wauwatosa and attended Marquette University High School. He is a mortgage lender and was executive director of Latvian Center Garezers, a nonprofit in Michigan.
Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee alderman Peter Burgelis launches run to unseat Bryan Steil
Reporting by Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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