WASHINGTON — With the backing of national Democrats, two campaigns under her belt and a million dollars raised in the last month alone, Rebecca Cooke is trying once again to unseat incumbent Congressman Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien. Cooke said she’s focused on increasing health care access.
“We've had two major hospitals close while I was campaigning for Congress, and so ensuring people that have access to the care that they need is critically important,” Cooke said.
Cooke said she’ll also point out how she feels the Trump administration’s policies are hurting western Wisconsinites.
“I think it's important to really work to hold this administration accountable,” Cooke said. “I'm already hearing a lot about these things, about policies that this administration has brought forth between tariffs, threats to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”
Cooke first ran for the 3rd Congressional District seat in 2022, when she lost the Democratic primary, and again last year, when she lost in the general election to Van Orden by about 11,000 votes.
“I think it takes time to build trust with voters,” Cooke said when asked what makes her think the third time’s the charm.
“I outperformed every Democrat on the ballot last cycle,” Cooke added. “And I think that we've built a strong coalition of working class folks from around the third [congressional district] – teachers, union workers, farmers, small business owners.”
Wisconsin is coming off a spring election where liberal judge Susan Crawford beat out the GOP candidate Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Schimel was heavily tied to the president and his adviser, Elon Musk, who invested millions of his fortune into Schimel’s campaign. The president’s party typically does worse in midterm elections, a recipe one political science professor said shows the winds are at Cooke’s back this time around.
“Assuming that we see typical patterns in midterms, and especially if [Democratic Governor Tony] Evers runs for re-election, and if Trump's approval rating stays underwater, all of those things should make her jobs significantly easier,” said Geoff Peterson, chair of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s political science department.
Peterson said demographic shifts and redistricting have made Wisconsin’s third congressional district, which extends across western and central Wisconsin, the most competitive seat in the state. He said it will be interesting to see if Van Orden eventually breaks with the White House –if the President’s not polling well in Wisconsin –to save his seat.
“It certainly appears that there's a cost, at least at the state level, being connected to Musk and all of that, and that's not going to make Derrick Van Orden’s job any easier,” Peterson said.
A spokesperson for Van Orden’s campaign told Spectrum News 1 his record speaks for itself.
“After a second failed attempt to sell her brand of socialism to western Wisconsin, Rebecca Cooke is announcing what will be a third failed campaign — not to help Wisconsin families and farmers, but for her own personal gain,” the statement read, in-part. “Congressman Van Orden will continue his work for the people of Wisconsin.”
Peterson said one benefit of Cooke entering the race this early is her ability to get ahead on fundraising, and the more money she has, the less likely it is another Democrat will jump into the primary. That means Cooke could have a year-and-a-half to focus solely on beating Van Orden.
“A lot of our outcomes in the 2024 election, I think, make me our strongest chance to be able to flip this seat back to blue,” Cooke said. “And I think democratic unity is what it's going to be all about.”
Before Van Orden won the seat in 2022, it was held by a Democrat. Former Congressman Ron Kind represented the 3rd Congressional District from 1997 to 2023.
“Kind’s long, long history in the district shows the power of being the incumbent, the person who's already won,” Peterson said. “I mean, the truth is that Kind got redistricted over and over and over again, and every time they did it, they made his district more conservative than the last time … His situation is dramatically different than Cooke’s … Kind was able to weather through that because he was so well known, and he was able to raise so much money. Cooke's task is much more difficult now … That first win is always the hardest one.”
Cooke said she’s willing to debate Van Orden, an issue that drew attention last cycle for the two parties being unable to agree on a date and time.
A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the U.S. House, referred to Cooke’s past work on political campaigns in a statement, writing, “Certified loser Rebecca Cooke was already rejected by Wisconsinites twice and will lose again in 2026. Voters are well aware that she is nothing more than a sleazy political activist who remains out of touch with Western Wisconsin.”
Cooke said she thinks it’s undeniable that she comes from a working-class background.
“I grew up on a dairy farm here in Eau Claire. I’ve got the trophies from the county fair to prove it," she said. "And I, when I was younger, volunteered and also worked on campaigns, like many folks do in politics. And so I don't think that there's anything wrong with that at all.”
Cooke said if she loses next November, she won’t try a fourth time. She’ll continue the other work she does in the district, waitressing and running a small business.
“This isn't my whole identity. I'm not a career politician,” she said. “I'm pretty positive that we'll be able to flip this seat in 2026, but I'll continue to serve my community in other ways.”
