Studying Time: 11 minutes
Management of the U.S. Home of Representatives runs via a notoriously swingy area of western Wisconsin, the place U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden faces a problem from Rebecca Cooke.
Wisconsin’s third Congressional District covers a lot of the Driftless Space in southwestern and western Wisconsin bordering Iowa and Minnesota. The district contains small cities and rural areas, in addition to the cities of Eau Claire, La Crosse and Stevens Level, every with College of Wisconsin System campuses.
As each candidates commerce assaults, they’re vying for assist from a block of moderates whose votes are tied much less to political celebration and extra to decency and character.
“They’re able to have their minds modified on a partisan stage,” stated Republican Brian Westrate, a lifelong resident of the district and treasurer of the state Republican Social gathering. “They don’t seem to be dedicated to a celebration. They’re voting, typically talking, for an individual.”
This district is being focused nationally as certainly one of Democrats’ high flip alternatives, and Cooke’s marketing campaign has been added to the Democratic Congressional Marketing campaign Committee’s aggressive “Purple to Blue” program after the DCCC deserted the district in 2022.
Democrats see Van Orden as a major goal. Within the months since her marketing campaign started, Cooke has laid into her opponent’s character. Van Orden is a detailed ally of former President Donald Trump, who endorsed the freshman congressman in Could. Even earlier than he took workplace, his time within the public highlight has been tainted by a lot of controversies.
Van Orden attended Trump’s Cease the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021, allegedly misplaced his mood over an LGBTQ+ ebook show in a Prairie du Chien library, drew criticism from his personal celebration after cursing at a bunch of younger Senate pages within the U.S. Capitol for taking images, shouted “lies” over President Joe Biden’s State of the Union tackle and received into an altercation with a protester on the RNC this yr.
“Derrick Van Orden is named this very polarizing determine,” UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky stated in an interview with PBS.
Van Orden’s marketing campaign didn’t return quite a few messages in search of an interview for this story.
Van Orden refers to his opponent as “Rebecca Criminal” on-line, accusing her of mendacity about being a political outsider. As initially reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cooke beforehand labored as a finance director for 4 Democratic congressional races and has a Democratic political and fundraising consulting agency registered in her identify.
Cooke’s marketing campaign didn’t comply with via with Wisconsin Watch’s quite a few makes an attempt to schedule an interview.
The place there’s an energized Democratic citizens for Vice President Kamala Harris, there’s an opportunity of lifting Democratic turnout and narrowing the margin by which down-ballot Democrats in Republican-leaning areas should outperform the highest of the ticket, stated Amy Walter, a political analyst and editor-in-chief of the nonpartisan Cook dinner Political Report.
“Within the third District particularly, the hope is that Democrats are in a position to make this — very like a referendum on Trump — a referendum on the Republican incumbent Van Orden and the controversies surrounding him,” Walter stated.
The district
This district has traditionally favored moderates like former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Form, who held workplace for 26 years earlier than retiring in 2022. That yr, Van Orden beat Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff by 4 factors. Earlier than Form, reasonable Republican Steve Gunderson held the Home seat for 16 years.
The district twice voted for former Democratic President Barack Obama, then voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 as rural areas have trended additional proper.
“It’s exhausting for anybody to get too comfy right here as a result of issues can actually change,” Chergosky stated of the district in an interview with Wisconsin Watch.
Due to that, Harris, Tim Walz, Trump and JD Vance have all campaigned within the western Wisconsin district this yr.
“Whoever wins western Wisconsin goes to win by lower than three share factors,” Westrate stated.
He described district voters as sensible, common sense, down-to-earth, salt-of-the-earth working of us and stated that’s precisely what they search for of their candidates, particularly on the native stage.
“I like of us who’ve a household, who’ve a mortgage, who’ve the issues that outline most of our lives,” Westrate advised Wisconsin Watch. “We need to know that our candidates know what our life is like.”
In 2022, Van Orden and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson gained the district, however Democratic Gov. Tony Evers gained it too.
“It reveals you that candidates matter on this district,” Chergosky stated.
Christian Phelps, a Democrat working for an Meeting seat in western Wisconsin’s 93rd District, stated Democratic vitality within the area is excessive, particularly after Republican lawmakers and Evers agreed on new legislative maps in February, ending greater than a decade of partisan gerrymandering within the state.
“No voter was extra disenfranchised than the agricultural progressive, and there’s a variety of progressive vitality in rural Wisconsin,” Phelps advised Wisconsin Watch.
Final yr, the Cook dinner Political Report moved Van Orden’s congressional seat from “Probably Republican” to “Lean Republican.”
Cooke’s success within the race can be intently tied to the turnout Harris will get in Wisconsin. The identical will be stated for Van Orden and the Trump ticket, Chergosky stated. There seem like far fewer ticket-splitting voters within the district who used to solid their poll for a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic consultant like Form, he stated.
Pfaff beat Cooke by 8 factors within the district’s Democratic main in 2022, however he finally misplaced to Van Orden. Wisconsin Democrats pointed fingers on the nationwide celebration, blaming the DCCC for not investing in Pfaff’s race or placing the marketing campaign on the committee’s “Purple to Blue” precedence listing. The Democrat-aligned Home Majority PAC additionally reduce its advert reservations for Pfaff after shedding confidence within the race.
“This time, you may already see the investments from the DCCC, so western Wisconsin shouldn’t be being ignored prefer it was in 2022,” state Democratic Social gathering chair Ben Wikler advised Wisconsin Watch, calling Van Orden a “weak hyperlink.”
The DCCC acknowledges its mistake and is rather more concerned this cycle, stated William Garcia, Democratic chair of the third Congressional District.
“They’re right here in a approach that they weren’t years in the past. I feel it’s as a result of they noticed two years in the past that they’d a winnable seat and didn’t assist,” Garcia advised Wisconsin Watch. “Additionally, they see that Derrick Van Orden is in an exceptionally weak place.”
The candidates
Van Orden is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who first ran within the district towards Form in 2020, when he misplaced by lower than 3 factors. Earlier than working for workplace, he appeared within the 2012 movie “Act of Valor,” authored a ebook and consulted with Fortune 500 firms.
“Right here in southwestern Wisconsin, truthfully, we need to speak about coverage,” Van Orden advised a PBS Wisconsin reporter at a Trump rally in La Crosse in August. “We need to speak about points. We actually don’t need to speak about persona.”
However the coverage points on his marketing campaign web site haven’t been up to date since 2021. The web page nonetheless mentions “getting our youngsters again to highschool” after “the final yr of imposed (COVID-19) restrictions.”
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney — who endorsed Harris in Wisconsin this month — advised a reporter she wouldn’t vote for Van Orden if she have been a Wisconsin resident. Cheney has broadly criticized Trump and different members of her celebration for the Jan. 6, 2021, rebellion.
“It is sensible that somebody who’s new to workplace, their first try at reelection is a referendum on their conduct in workplace, and Van Orden’s conduct has been abysmal,” Garcia stated.
Very like Cooke, Van Orden manufacturers himself as a political outsider. However the standing could not maintain up this election cycle given he’s now a member of Congress.
“Clearly each Cooke and Van Orden have the view that the political outsider model will resonate with voters, and there’s definitely a logic to that,” Chergosky stated. “Congress shouldn’t be standard. The political outsider model is a approach for somebody to distance themselves from the mess in D.C.”
This has been a traditionally unproductive two years for the Home, Chergosky stated, having handed a a lot fewer variety of substantive payments than earlier periods.
“That implies that any Home incumbent goes to have a sophisticated activity in entrance of them,” Chergosky stated. “Customary playbook for a Home incumbent is to tout their policymaking achievements, however what occurs if there aren’t actually any policymaking achievements?”
The Home handed 4 payments Van Orden sponsored, largely regarding the armed providers. Van Orden up to now has probably the most reasonable voting file of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, based on Voteview.
Hannah Testin, vice chair of the third Congressional District GOP, stated Van Orden “is anyone that voters within the third District can actually relate to.”
“On this period, voters appear to be wanting change in Washington,” Testin advised Wisconsin Watch. “I don’t suppose you see that change in Washington by electing a political advisor.”
Cooke, who got here out on high of a three-way Democratic main this yr, is a small enterprise proprietor and nonprofit director from Eau Claire. She grew up on a dairy farm and was appointed by Evers to the Wisconsin Financial Growth Corp. She advertises herself as a working-class political newcomer, writing on social media, “I work as a waitress whereas working for Congress to make ends meet.”
“Like most people in Wisconsin, I’m someplace within the center,” she stated of her politics in a latest advert.
However she criticized the bipartisan file of her predominant Democratic main opponent, state Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Level.
After media shops and opponents known as out her background in political fundraising, Cooke’s marketing campaign downplayed the function as certainly one of her “pursuits” that “paid the payments,” including that whereas she has labored in politics, she shouldn’t be a profession politician.
“I feel that folk admire authenticity,” Westrate stated. “Round right here, they will deal with a reality they don’t like. What they don’t need is to be lied to.”
Throughout her first run in 2022, Cooke shared that she labored in politics in her early 20s.
Nonetheless, the criticism has delivered a blow to her political outsider standing, particularly on condition that she attacked Shankland for being a “profession politician.” Shankland misplaced to Cooke by almost 9 factors after an unusually adverse main that prompted different Democrats like U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan to talk out in protection of Shankland.
After Shankland launched an advert pointing to Cooke’s lack of expertise in public workplace, Cooke put out a request for assist from political motion committees. Shankland later known as Cooke out for accepting darkish cash from reasonable Democratic PACs attacking her within the race after Cooke’s marketing campaign accused Shankland of voting with Republican lawmakers to dam Medicaid growth, which was deceptive.
Days after the first, Cooke, Shankland and third Democratic main candidate Eric Wilson “got here collectively to showcase Democratic unity to defeat Derrick Van Orden.”
Garcia stated Cooke excels at speaking to voters within the district one-on-one and spends time at dairy breakfasts “milling round with folks.”
“She is simply unimaginable at this one-on-one politicking, and it’s one thing that Derrick Van Orden shouldn’t be good at,” Garcia stated. “He’s type of afraid of the general public. He doesn’t prefer to mill round with folks except he is aware of they’re all Republicans. He doesn’t like to speak to the press except he is aware of they’re on his facet, or on the very least, are very restricted within the questions they will ask him.”
Testin talked about a few of Van Orden’s most up-to-date marketing campaign actions within the district, which have been occasions hosted by native Republican events, and stated he just lately knocked on doorways along with her husband, state Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Level.
Chergosky stated each candidates are robust fundraisers, however outdoors spending goes to considerably affect the race.
Van Orden has raised simply over $6 million to Cooke’s $4.5 million, based on September marketing campaign finance reviews compiled by OpenSecrets. Cooke’s marketing campaign pulled in additional than $2.75 million within the third quarter alone.
A debate has not but been scheduled and sure gained’t be earlier than Nov. 5. Cooke declined makes an attempt to schedule a main debate this summer season, citing scheduling conflicts. Van Orden declined to debate Pfaff in 2022, accusing the media of being biased.
The Farm Invoice
Van Orden and his supporters most frequently tout his appointment to the Home Committee on Agriculture, turning into the primary member of Wisconsin’s delegation in nearly a decade to be on the committee, and the primary from the agricultural third District to be on it since 2002.
“I feel when you have got anyone who fights tooth and nail to get on a vital committee to his district, that speaks nicely for the hassle of the person,” Westrate stated.
“I don’t serve on the agriculture committee. I’ll really depend on Derrick for lots of recommendation on a few of these extra detailed and complicated points by way of agriculture,” Sen. Johnson advised Wisconsin Watch. “That’s an actual credit score to him.”
The committee’s predominant piece of laws is the bipartisan 2024 Farm Invoice, which Van Orden stated he and different lawmakers have spent “a whole bunch if not hundreds of hours” engaged on. He added that it’s “a exceptional piece of laws that’s going to assist all people, from our smallest farmers all the way in which to the bigger farms.”
However the invoice that may set up meals and farm coverage for the following 5 years nonetheless hasn’t been signed into regulation and is greater than a yr not on time as lawmakers wrestle over easy methods to pay for it.
In Could, Van Orden voted to advance the invoice with billions in potential cuts to meals help packages like SNAP, which assists over 700,000 Wisconsin residents as of March 2024, together with about 78,000 folks within the third District.
Nonetheless, Van Orden has touted provisions of the invoice he says will assist the third District, together with higher compensating dairy farmers for his or her milk and offering entire milk merchandise for youngsters in class.
Cooke’s marketing campaign website says she would restructure the Farm Invoice to focus extra on agriculture and the farming neighborhood “versus the cumbersome package deal it has turn out to be.”
Pharmaceutical, manufacturing and large agriculture curiosity teams spent over $400 million lobbying on the Farm Invoice.
Cooke wrote on social media: “We want a Farm Invoice that delivers for household farms in communities throughout Wisconsin, not one constructed round subsidizing agricultural conglomerates and prioritizing company income.”
Final yr, Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden criticized Van Orden for “selecting huge firms” over small dairy farms within the state.
“Regardless of elevating these considerations with Van Orden’s workplace, he hasn’t included amendments to assist small farms within the Farm Invoice and hasn’t stood as much as the large firms who’re utilizing the present insurance policies to place household farms out of enterprise,” Von Ruden wrote in an op-ed.
Von Ruden advised Wisconsin Watch he was joyful to see that Van Orden received the place on the committee, however his “lack of agricultural information” does nothing to assist Wisconsin’s business.
Election Day is Nov. 5. Get all the data you might want to vote.
Abortion
Abortion is probably going a high subject for voters within the district, based on Chergosky. Whereas leaning Republican, the district nonetheless voted for Evers in 2022 after he ran a profitable marketing campaign towards Republican Tim Michels targeted largely on reproductive freedom. Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom Justice Janet Protasiewicz additionally gained the district in her profitable 2022 marketing campaign centered on state abortion rights.
“Reproductive rights is what’s bringing folks out and getting folks motivated to knock on doorways and volunteer and canvas,” Garcia stated of voters in western Wisconsin.
Chergosky stated it’s apparent Cooke sees alternative on the problem of abortion on this race, calling Van Orden an extremist and highlighting considerations over a nationwide abortion ban in marketing campaign adverts.
“I actually have a really, very troublesome time attempting to justify abortion underneath any circumstance,” Van Orden stated in a radio interview with WSAU Suggestions in 2020, including that in search of an abortion after cases of rape or incest is just “compounding the evil.”
However this yr he wrote on social media: “I made my place crystal clear final April. It is a state subject. Interval.”
Cooke helps codifying abortion rights into regulation. She says she is going to combat to maintain western Wisconsin’s two Deliberate Parenthoods open and federally funded and advocate towards the Hyde Modification, which prohibits federal funding, together with Medicare and Medicaid, from getting used for abortions. Her website additionally says she is going to assist federal packages that enhance entry to household planning providers.
“I do know Democrats need to flip this right into a referendum on abortion, however what the Dobbs choice has accomplished is flip that call again over to the states,” Johnson stated, referring to the court docket choice that overruled Roe vs. Wade. “A person member of Congress’ view on that is principally irrelevant to the controversy.”
Immigration
Van Orden has persistently attacked Cooke on immigration, criticizing her for not talking out a few case he has broadly circulated, by which Prairie du Chien police reported {that a} man tied to a Venezuelan prison group sexually assaulted a girl and attacked her daughter in September.
However Van Orden has made false claims that police in Madison arrested the suspect “for a sequence of violent crimes” however launched him as a result of it’s a “sanctuary metropolis.” The town police division and Dane County Sheriff’s Workplace confirmed he was by no means of their custody.
No. There isn’t a proof sanctuary insurance policies meant to protect folks from immigration authorities freed Venezuelan Alejandro Coronel Zarate earlier than he was jailed Sept. 5, 2024, on a sexual assault cost in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
Cooke stated in an advert that if elected, she is going to “stand as much as Democrats to combat for a safe border,” however contains no particular coverage priorities on her marketing campaign website.
Van Orden, whereas a staunch opponent of southern border coverage underneath President Joe Biden’s administration, additionally has not proposed or recognized coverage options.
Greater than 10,000 undocumented immigrant employees carry out an estimated 70% of the labor on Wisconsin dairy farms, based on an April 2023 survey by the College for Staff at UW-Madison.
Rural well being care
Entry to rural well being care is one other essential subject to the district because the area had two hospital and 19 clinic closures earlier this yr, leaving hundreds with out native choices for care.
Well being care programs have pointed to low staffing, inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, larger well being care prices and a declining variety of sufferers on personal medical insurance.
Quickly after the closures, Van Orden known as for state and federal assets, introducing laws to increase telehealth providers in rural well being clinics and different well being facilities. This yr, he additionally helped safe $600,000 in federal funds for Gundersen Well being System in La Crosse for emergency gear to enhance entry to ambulance providers in surrounding rural areas.
“Implementing value transparency on hospitals and docs places of work will permit everybody, with or with out insurance coverage, to buy round and discover providers of their price range,” Van Orden wrote in a latest op-ed.
Cooke’s marketing campaign website lists well being care as her high precedence and says she would take steps to increase Medicare to cowl imaginative and prescient, dental and listening to, yearly decrease the age that seniors can begin receiving Medicare advantages, tackle antitrust points within the well being care system, present extra tax credit to decrease premiums, and guarantee inexpensive entry to prescribed drugs with costs negotiated via Medicare.
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