MADISON (WKOW) -- Peter Barca was the last Democrat to represent Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District when he served one term from 1993 to 1995. Now, he's hoping to represent the district again. But to do that, he'll have to defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Bryan Steil. 

Voters have sent Steil to Congress in three consecutive elections. However, his margins of victory each year have shrunk. Despite that, the Cook Political Report lists the race as a likely Republican seat this cycle. 

In order to win re-election, Steil will need support from suburban voters. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll out this week finds Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump among suburban voters by 6%. 

On Capital City Sunday, host Caroline Dade asked Steil what he's doing to win over suburban voters and what role a Harris-Steil voter could play in this race. 

"I'm out every day talking to voters across the district, and I hear two issues. The key issues, time and again, one, cost of living, and two, border security," Steil said. "If we're out there offering the policies about how we're going to bring costs down, about how we're going to secure the border, I'm actually of the belief that, at the end of the day, we will be successful, not only in the suburbs but across the state."

Polling from the Marquette Law School finds the economy is the most important issue to voters in Wisconsin this election. The second most important issue is a tie between immigration and abortion policy. Voters say they trust former President Donald Trump more on economic issues and immigration, but they trust Vice President Harris more on abortion policy. 

Steil said he believes abortion is "not an issue that's well settled in 30-second negative TV ads." He said he thinks it's important to help people learn what state law is.

Right now in Wisconsin, abortions are allowed until the 20th week of pregnancy because a Dane County judge ruled an 1849 law banning feticide does not ban abortion. Before that ruling in 2023, abortions had been banned for more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

Steil did not answer when pressed on if he would support a bill placing limits on abortion nationwide if it were to come before Congress. 

"There will not be such a legislation that comes before Congress," he said. "President Trump has been clear on this. Candidates have been clear on this. This is an issue that's been primarily returned to the states."

Caroline Dade also spoke with Steil about what steps he thinks the U.S. needs to take to further limit inflation and the evolution he's seen in the working class vote in southern Wisconsin, after he picked up endorsements recently from two unions in Janesville. 

'Alarm bells have been rung': The U.S. Senate race

Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said he believes Democrats can defeat Steil and pick up that seat in Congress. 

"Brian Steil has been governing as though he represents a deep red district. He has an extreme voting record," Wikler said. "But the 1st Congressional District is not a far right district. This is a purple district, and you can see in Peter Barca a candidate who can win there."

Nationally, a few close congressional races could play a big role in determining which party wins control of the U.S. House. The race between Steil and Barca could be one of those. Democrats are eyeing the race in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, too. 

That's where Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke is running against Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

In 2022, Van Orden won by fewer than 12,000 votes. The Democratic candidate that year, Brad Pfaff, partly blamed his loss on national Democrats not spending enough money in the race. Wikler said that won't happen again this year. 

"The national Democrats are keenly aware that the 3rd Congressional District is a huge pickup opportunity for Democrats, and you can see both in the 1st and the 3rd Congressional District, [they are] on the DCCC's 'Red to Blue' list, their hand picked list of the biggest opportunities to defeat Republican incumbents," Wikler said. "You can see it in their TV reservations. They're running ads in that district. That's the air cover that we didn't have in 2022."

Although Democrats are focusing on those two House races, Wikler said the U.S. Senate race is also a huge priority. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has held the seat since 2013. When she ran for re-election in 2018, she won by nearly 11%, a massive margin in a state as closely divided as Wisconsin. 

However, this week, the Cook Political Report changed the race between Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde from "lean Democrat" to "toss up".

"The alarm bells have been rung," Wikler said. "This is a toss up race."

He blamed the tightening of the race on outside groups pouring money into Wisconsin. 

"We cannot be drowned out in that race," Wikler said. "We have to make sure that we are communicating everywhere, every second of the day, all the way through Election Day."

He said he believes Baldwin will be buoyed by the Democratic candidates who are running for Congress and state level seats. Caroline Dade spoke with Wikler about his party's candidates in Wisconsin Assembly and Senate races during the first election cycle under new legislative maps. 

Presidential candidates turn toward podcasts, late night shows

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are looking to win support from undecided voters as the clock ticks down to Election Day on November 5. 

Recently, both candidates have turned more toward non-traditional media appearances rather than sit-down interviews with national news outlets. 

Kathleen Bartzen Culver, the director of the UW-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication, joined Capital City Sunday to analyze what benefits the campaigns see with that approach. 

She said going on podcasts, radio shows or late night talk shows helps the candidates get their message to a new group of voters. Bartzen Culver said this is a shift she first noticed when former President Barack Obama was running for office. 

Vice President Harris recently went on the podcast "Call Her Daddy", which is popular with women in their 20s and 30s.

"That is a completely different demographic than you are going to get for 60 Minutes or the CBS Evening News or even the morning shows," she said. "These are people who are largely disconnected from cable and traditional outlets like that, so you're reaching a truly different audience."

Former President Donald Trump has made several appearances on podcasts popular with young men, like the "Impaulsive Podcast". Bartzen Culver said Trump is also turning to YouTube in an effort to reach that same demographic. 

She said while non-traditional media can help candidates reach new groups of voters, it's not a substitute for doing news interviews. 

"I still think it's important for candidates to open themselves up for the kind of difficult questioning that a news outlet will give them rather than a favorable podcast or a late night TV host, which is why it was disappointing that former President Trump didn't sit for a 60 Minutes interview," she said.