Randall John Bryce (born December 9, 1964) is an American ironworker, activist, and former political candidate. He was the

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nominee for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district in the 2018 midterm elections. Bryce has been nicknamed "IronStache" due to his former occupation and prominent mustache, a moniker which he adopted for his

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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, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, 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 ...

. He is of Mexican and Polish 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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

, 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 PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Time ...

, 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 Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the vice presidential nominee i ...

, the former

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the ...

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 fr ...

, 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, by Wisconsin politicians such as Chris Larson,

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. Pri ...

and Rob Zerban, as well as environmental activist

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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 The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'', 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 ...

'' 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 Bryan Steil 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 labo ...

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, 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 ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November ...

for "lying to the public". He opposes the Trump travel ban 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 scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

s, lymph node dissections and regular checkups. Bryce currently lives in

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

, north of Racine. 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)

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Wisconsin Senate (2014)

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

U.S. House (2018)