WASHINGTON — Rebecca Cooke is a 36-year-old nonprofit owner and waitress trying to unseat Congressman Derrick Van Orden, the Republican incumbent representing Wisconsin's third congressional district. Raised on a farm, she said she’s making a point of talking to voters in rural parts of the district, which includes La Crosse and borders Minnesota and Iowa.
“There is no community too small or too red, and it's going to take energizing people off the sidelines,” Cooke said.
Earlier this month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, moved the race to its Red to Blue list, a sign that it will provide fundraising and other support to Cooke. The group said that its internal poll showed that Van Orden is virtually tied against any Democrat and lags with self-identified independent voters.
“Western Wisconsinites can trust Rebecca Cooke to deliver for them because that’s what she’s done her whole life,” Suzan DelBene, the chair of the DCCC, told Spectrum News in a statement. “Voters are fed up with Derrick Van Orden’s extremism and public outbursts.”
Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said this district is more competitive than the vast majority of House districts.
“At the same time," he continued, "we don't know how much money Democrats are willing to invest in their efforts to change this district from red to blue... For the political parties, talk is cheap. They can talk all day about how they think this district is competitive, how they think they might be able to flip party control of this district. But it's one thing to say that this district is competitive; it's another thing to invest financial resources into an effort to change the party control of this district."
Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Madison, is behind Cooke and told Spectrum News at the Democratic National Convention it’s time to elect someone who “really represents Western, rural Wisconsin.” Van Orden was unavailable for an interview.
“You know exactly who I am," he told Spectrum News in a statement, "a Salty Navy SEAL combat vet that has spent the last two years fighting for our families, businessowners, farmers and workers."
Both candidates are strong fundraisers. Per Federal Election Commission filings, Cooke had about $590,500 on hand as of July 24, and Van Orden had more than $2.4 million.
“[Cooke] basically never stopped running after she fell a bit short for the Democratic Party nomination in 2022,” Chergosky said. “After the 2022 campaign cycle, she quickly launched her bid for this seat in 2024, so she was able to basically continue her campaign operation from 2022 into the current election cycle… She will need to continue raising a lot of money, because to defeat an incumbent that takes significant financial resources.”
Chergosky said Van Orden has the advantage of already proving he can win this district.
“Republican House incumbents need to prove that they are delivering for their district, while also recognizing that the House of Representatives has been deeply dysfunctional throughout the past two years,” Chergosky said. “So I think House Republicans have a line to walk here.”
Democrat Ron Kind held the seat for 26 years but saw his victory margins narrow as white working-class voters began drifting to the Republican Party. Van Orden flipped the seat red two years ago, beating Democratic State Senator Brad Pfaff by less than 12,000 votes.
Voters in this district aren’t afraid to ticket split. Two years ago, they went for Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Republican Senator Ron Johnson. And, when Kind was in office, former President Donald Trump won the district twice.
“Cooke could position herself as a moderate, which might be consistent with winning strategies in this area,” Chergosky said. “Another theory is that candidates matter a lot. Sure, voters in this area are more partisan than they used to be, but a lot of voters will still take the unique attributes of candidates into account, and that means that there could be a real battle to develop the individual brands of these candidates.”
Democrats are trying to win control of the U.S. House, and capturing Wisconsin’s third Congressional district would make that easier. The Cook Political Report rates the race as 'lean Republican,' one notch above a toss up.
“I don't think Republicans should be spiking the football, and I also don't think Democrats should be in a state of despair over the situation in Western Wisconsin, because even though it perhaps has trended in the Republican direction, it is still highly competitive,” Chergosky said.