Randall John Bryce (born December 9, 1964) is an American

ironworker An ironworker is a tradesman who works in the iron-working industry. Ironworkers assemble the structural framework in accordance with engineered drawings and install the metal support pieces for new buildings. They also repair and renovate o ...

, activist, and former political candidate. He was the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominee for

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Racine County, and most of Walworth County, as well as portions of Rock Count ...

in the

2018 midterm elections The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during Republican Donald Trump's term. Democrats made a net gain of 41 seats in the United States House of Representatives, gaining a majo ...

. Bryce has been nicknamed "IronStache" due to his former occupation and prominent mustache, a moniker which he adopted for his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account.

Early life

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, Bryce was raised in

South Milwaukee South Milwaukee is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2020 census. History South Milwaukee was laid out in 1891 by the South Milwaukee company within the Town of Oak Creek, with the purpose o ...

. He is of Mexican and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

descent. His mother worked in a doctor's office and his father was a police officer: he has a brother who is also a policeman and a sister who is a teacher. Bryce briefly attended college at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, but did not receive a degree and served in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

after graduation from high school, obtaining the rank of sergeant.

Political career

According to Politifact, Bryce' 2018 House campaign was his 4th run for office in 6 years. Bryce ran for state Assembly in 2012, losing in the Democratic primary 30% to 70%. Bryce and nine others ran for Racine School Board in 2013, but he failed to get in the top six and move on to the general election. In 2014, Bryce ran for state Senate and was defeated 39% to 61% by a Republican who formerly held the seat.

2018 congressional campaign

Bryce launched his campaign in mid-2017, originally to challenge incumbent Paul Ryan, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the congressional representative for Wisconsin's 1st since 1999. However, in April 2018 Ryan announced that he would not seek reelection. Bryce was persuaded to run for Congress by

Marina Dimitrijevic Marina Dimitrijevic (born 1981) is an American politician from Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Common Council member for the 14th Aldermanic District, serving since 2020. Previously, Dimitrijevic served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors fro ...

, the Wisconsin director of the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...

. The congressional campaign was launched with a widely watched announcement ad released in July 2017. In the ad, Bryce discusses his cancer and his mother's multiple sclerosis and the associated costs. The spot raised approximately $430,000 for Bryce's campaign. Bryce has been endorsed by

Justice Democrats Justice Democrats is an American progressive political action committee founded on January 23, 2017, by former leaders from the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyl ...

, by Wisconsin politicians such as

Chris Larson Christopher J. Larson (born November 12, 1980) is an American Democratic politician and a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing southeast Milwaukee County since 2011. He was Senate Minority Leader from 2013 through 2014, and currently s ...

JoCasta Zamarripa JoCasta Zamarripa (born March 8, 1976) is an American politician and former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. A Democrat, she represented the 8th assembly district for 10 years. She is now a member of the Milwaukee Common Council. Prior ...

and

Rob Zerban Rob Zerban is an entrepreneur, former Kenosha County Supervisor, and Congressional candidate. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Zerban's campaign for the United States House of Representatives in 2012 and 2014 largely focused on protecting ...

, as well as environmental activist Bill McKibben and U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders. During the campaign, Bryce raised millions from a viral campaign video. His campaign was marred with stories of past actions and legal troubles. According to the '' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', in 2002, Bryce borrowed and failed to pay back $1,776 from his then-girlfriend for a car. A court ordered a lien against Bryce in 2004, but only once he was a candidate was the debt paid, by Democratic Party lawyer Jeremy Levinson. Then, in 2015 according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and Bryce's own admissions, he paid for fake Twitter followers while, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel failing to pay his court-ordered child support. In February 2018, Bryce's campaign became the first to agree to a collective bargaining contract with the Campaign Workers Guild. Bryce was defeated 55% to 42% by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Bryan Steil Bryan George Steil ( ; born March 3, 1981) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education Stei ...

in the election held November 6, 2018.

Political positions

Bryce has supported the Fight for 15 movement and has stated he believes in providing a

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking lab ...

to those working a full-time job. Personal experiences with cancer and times spent uninsured in part inspired Bryce to enter politics. He has supported

single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

and opposed Republican efforts to repeal the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

. Bryce has also supported subsidizing the production of

American steel American Steel is an American punk rock band formed in 1995 in Oakland, California. When offered their first show, the group took their name from the block-long sign on the warehouse across the street. After playing at parties and smaller venu ...

, in part because of his personal experience of difficulties when welding Chinese steel, and is in favor of new stipulations on buying American products for government vehicles. Regarding the environment, he has supported a

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

, no new pipelines, and prosecuting ExxonMobil for "lying to the public". He opposes the

Trump travel ban The Trump travel ban (labeled the "Muslim ban" by critics) denotes a series of executive actions taken by Donald Trump as President of the United States. On January 20, 2021, newly-inaugurated president Joe Biden issued a proclamation revok ...

and advocates the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the agency's "necessary" functions being transferred to other parts of the federal government.

Personal life

After the Army, Bryce worked as an appliance deliveryman. After suffering from chronic pain for some time, Bryce was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an ...

and was saved by an experimental treatment. Following his recovery, he became an ironworker after his mother tipped him off about an apprenticeship vacancy: among the job's benefits was health insurance, covering his necessary CT scans, lymph node dissections and regular checkups. Bryce currently lives in Caledonia, north of

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

. Bryce has been arrested nine times for multiple reasons, including public protests, driving under the influence, and marijuana possession. Bryce has two sons.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2012)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election

Wisconsin Senate (2014)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election

U.S. House (2018)