Racine County emergency response manager Lorenzo Santos announces bid to challenge Rep. Bryan Steil

MADISON – A Racine County emergency response manager on Monday became the first Democrat to announce a bid for Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District held by Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil — setting up a race for one of Wisconsin's only remaining competitive seats.

Lorenzo Santos, deputy emergency management coordinator in Racine County and an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, said in a statement that he plans to formally launch his campaign at a brewery in Racine on Saturday. Santos was elected chairman of the Young Democrats of Wisconsin in June.

"I’m running because we’ve seen fundamental civil and human rights systematically taken away these past few years and I’m not going to stand by and let that continue to happen," Santos said in his campaign announcement, which made no mention of Steil.

He added: "I believe in a woman’s right to choose, that in the richest country on earth, anyone that wants healthcare should have it, that voters should choose their elected officials, not the other way around, that we should pay workers a fair wage, provide our children with a quality education and keep them safe while they’re getting one."

The move officially kicks off the race in the state's southeastern 1st Congressional District, one of two competitive seats in Wisconsin that became more purple with redistricting. Democrats in recent months have put most of their attention on Wisconsin's battleground 3rd District, where a race is already underway. Santos' bid is likely to draw eyes to the 1st District, which Steil has held since 2018.

While Santos is the first Democrat to declare, he might not be the last.

Former Racine Police Chief Art Howell is also considering a run, multiple top Democrats told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And Ryan Schroeder, the mayor of Delavan, said he, too, is thinking about a challenge.

Schroeder, 49, this month told the Journal Sentinel he enjoys his position as mayor but has been encouraged by people both in Delavan and around the 1st Congressional District, including county and state party officials, to challenge Steil.

"There's some potential interest on my part," said Schroeder, who said he hadn't considered running for Congress until people started reaching out to him. "I'm so honored. If I never do anything other than be mayor in Delavan, that's just fine, too."

Neither Santos nor Howell returned multiple calls seeking interviews. An advisor to Steil declined to comment on Santos' announcement.

National Democrats have marked Wisconsin's 1st and 3rd districts as top targets in 2024 as they seek to flip the House back into Democratic control. Last year, Steil won reelection by about 9 points over Democratic challenger Ann Roe.

Sabato's Crystal Ball, an election handicapper, rated both Wisconsin battlegrounds as "likely Republican" in early June.

In his Monday announcement, Santos listed "reproductive rights, healthcare, voting rights, worker’srights, jobs, manufacturing, education, gun control, public safety and climate change" as pillars of his campaign.

His biography on his campaign website notes he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2013 and served on a guided missile destroyer before leaving the Navy in 2016.

He subsequently founded an online news startup, led sales operations for an HVAC manufacturer and got his master's degree in homeland security at George Washington University before taking a position with Racine County this year, according to his website and LinkedIn profile.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Racine County Democrat announces bid to challenge Bryan Steil