Meet Peter
Peter Barca: A leader who cares about Wisconsin families above all else.
Born and raised in Kenosha County, Peter Barca has dedicated his life to serving Southeast Wisconsin and standing up for middle class families.
Peter believes elected leaders should go to bat for the families they represent. That’s the way he served as the Wisconsin State Assembly Minority Leader, in Congress, and as Secretary of Revenue for Wisconsin for the past five years.
Peter knows firsthand how hard Wisconsin families have to work to make ends meet. At just six years old, Peter started helping out his parents, whether that was sorting soda bottles at his father’s restaurant or learning to weld at his mother’s equipment and engineering business.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Peter began his career as a teacher and a director at a camp for children with disabilities. He joined the local American Federation of Teachers union and became involved in local politics, and eventually served in the Wisconsin Assembly representing the Kenosha and Racine area.
Peter served in the legislature for nearly two decades, including seven years as the Assembly Minority Leader, where he spearheaded legislation to build a world-class workforce by investing in technical and training programs and fighting for equal pay protections. When Governor Scott Walker repealed most collective bargaining for public employees, Peter stood up for Wisconsin workers and led a 60-hour floor debate in an attempt to kill the bill. And when they passed bills to end prevailing wage and right-to-work, he led the fight once again.
Washington is lacking the honest, hardworking leaders Wisconsin families deserve. The kind of leadership Peter took to the state Assembly, Congress, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the Department of Revenue.
In the legislature, far too many special interests tried to control lawmakers and take advantage of middle class families. That's why Peter stood up to them - every single time. Peter took on big insurance companies to ensure that anyone who wanted to start a family wouldn’t have to worry about the cost of fertility treatments.
Peter didn’t stop there - when he served Southeast Wisconsin in the U.S. Congress, he fought an effort to send Wisconsin jobs overseas. Peter stood up, said no, and passed a provision that made sure those jobs stayed in Beloit. When he left Congress, Peter continued to serve his community as the Midwest Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, supporting Wisconsinites and spurring economic growth across the midwest.
As the Secretary of Revenue of Wisconsin, Peter put money back into middle class families’ pockets by delivering federal funds to small businesses and family farms and returning $1.5 billion in tax relief to Wisconsin families each year, including millions in property tax relief through the elimination of personal property taxes.
Now, Peter is running for Congress because too many politicians are caving to special interests instead of getting things done for working families.
Washington is lacking the honest, hardworking leaders Wisconsin families deserve. The kind of leadership Peter took to the state Assembly, Congress, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the Department of Revenue.
In Congress, Peter will continue going to bat for Wisconsin families by growing the middle class, lowering costs and protecting reproductive freedom and the right to vote.
Peter grew up in Somers. He and his wife raised their two children in Kenosha, where they have lived for 40 years.