Spring Green, Wisconsin
Thursday, October 17, 2024 | Vol. 5, No. 19 FREE, Single-Copy
Inside this edition
Chris Hardie: Fall lilac blooms
Community Calendar: Halloween events, Fall Art Tour & more
Elections letters to the editor
Page 4
Pages 5, 6, 7, 8
Pages 2, 3
Cooke, Van Orden vie for outsider status in 3rd Congressional District race
Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner
In the race for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, both Republican incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden and his Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke pulled up to campaign events last week in pickup trucks as they’ve each sought to claim status as true “political outsiders” who can bring a different perspective to Washington D.C. Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, had never held an elected office before he ran for the seat and lost in 2020 to former Democratic Rep. Ron Kind, who had held the position for 26 years. After Kind retired in 2022, Van Orden ran again and won, defeatingstate Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska). Running for re-election for the first time, Van Orden tells voters he’s focused on making policies “where the rubber meets the road.” Cooke, a nonprofit leader, business owner and waitress, points to her upbringing on an Eau Claire County dairy farm and has criticized both parties, depicting herself as a moderate in the purple district — which has been won twice by former President Donald Trump. Both candidates say they represent the working class voters of western Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. Each has accused the other of being a political insider. Van Orden and Republicans have highlighted Cooke’s previous work as a Democratic political fundraiser while Cooke, at an event last week, said that since being elected, Van Orden has “gone Washington.” Since Van Orden won in 2022, Wisconsin Democrats have been haunted by the national party’s abandonment of Pfaff’s campaign. Late in the cycle, the national party and its allied groups pulled spending in the district and moved it elsewhere. Van Orden won the race by 3.8 percentage points. This year, the outside money has continued to flow towards Cooke’s campaign. House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ larg-
Photo by Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden tours Gilbertson’s Dairy in Dunn County. est outside funder of congressional campaigns, has more than $4 million in advertising reserved in the district while both candidates have individually raised more than $4 million, keeping Cooke’s campaign closer to her opponent’s in available cash
than Pfaff had two years ago. William Garcia, chair of the 3rd District and La Crosse County Democratic Parties says that national Democrats “learned their lesson” after Pfaff’s loss. “Look what you did, you took money out
Photo by Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District Rebecca Cooke speaks after receiving the endorsement of National Security Leaders of America.
of the 3rd and gave it to places that lost by more,” Garcia said, describing conversations he had with national Democrats after 2022. Garcia says with Cooke on the ticket and the renewed national support, he’s confident in Cooke’s ability to return the seat to Democrats. “We’re doing great,” he says. “Rebecca Cooke is good at connecting with people, talking with the press and engaging in the issues. We’re going to keep moving that needle.” But with just a few weeks left in the campaign, election forecasters believe that needle still points toward Van Orden. Public polling on the race has been limited, but most have shown Van Orden with a lead. Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, designates the district as leaning Republican. Throughout the campaign, Democrats have criticized Van Orden for contributing to Congress’ inability to pass an updated farm bill. Since taking office, Van Orden has celebrated his appointment to the House agriculture committee, but despite a farm bill passing out of the committee with his vote, it has not passed the full House. The 3rd District is home to much of the state’s cranberry industry and a large number of dairy farms. The area, like other parts of Wisconsin and around the country, has seen a growth in the number of large factory farms. But factory farms haven’t become as dominant as in eastern Wisconsin, with some small and mid-size farms holding on. “For this congressional district it’s the biggest disappointment,” Garcia says. “He made a big deal of being on the agriculture committee but one of the great failures of this Congress is the inability to pass a farm bill.” Van Orden blames the Democratic controlled Senate for the impasse, saying the
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