WASHINGTON — Congressman Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Rebecca Cooke. Van Orden is considered the favorite in the November election, but not by much.
“Even as it’s redrawn, a ‘leaning Republican’ [rating for the third congressional district] is barely an accurate description, frankly, because it’s probably drawn as a 51 and a half, 48 and a half, depending on how you want to do the numbers,” said Geoff Peterson, chair of UW-Eau Claire’s political science department. “Obviously, Van Orden has enormous advantages as an incumbent in terms of money and access to media, but it’s not a gimme seat by any stretch.”
The district extends across western Wisconsin, including the cities of La Crosse and Eau Claire. There are several universities in the district, and the turnout of student voters is a wildcard.
“If turnout among young voters even goes up five or 10 percent, it completely changes the dynamic of the district almost overnight,” Peterson said. “All the data we have says current college students are leaning more liberal, perhaps more so than at any time in recent memory.”
Van Orden has accepted a debate invitation from the Adams County Chamber of Commerce, saying in a statement that he looks forward to highlighting his legislative record. He added the voters don’t know Cooke and they deserve to make an informed decision when they vote.
Cooke’s campaign manager told Spectrum News that voters deserve to see the contrast between Cooke and Van Orden, and that her campaign is in touch with debate organizers and hopes to find a time and format that works.
“Typically, what they do is play games with it, like, ‘Oh, I might do this one, or I might do that one.’ Or they pick a debate they know the other person won’t say yes to so that way they can say, ‘Oh, well, I tried to debate, but they didn’t go along with it,’” Peterson explained. “So, that kind of gamesmanship, unfortunately, has become part of what we deal with now in every election cycle.”
But the clock is ticking. Early voting is underway in Wisconsin and the Election is less than two weeks away. Peterson said a debate would offer each candidate an opportunity to sway undecided voters, and it would give Cooke a chance to build name recognition.
“There is, I think, some incentive there to do it, on the hopes that the other candidate will just melt down on stage, and that then all those undecided voters will move over to your side,” Peterson said.
Campaign finance reports show that in the past two months, Cooke raised $2.5 million, compared to just $1.4 million for Van Orden.