MADISON, Wis. – Democrat Rebecca Cooke, a former small business owner and political fundraiser in Eau Claire. won the party’s western Wisconsin’s Thirdd Congressional District primary. Cooke, who is 36, will face one-term Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du. Hien in November. Cooke defeated state legislator Katrina Shankland and political newcomer Eric Wilson. Cooke ran for the WI-3 seat in 2022 but lost in the primary. VanOrden, a Trump supporter, advances to the November ballot by default because he had no intra-party challenger. The national Democratic Party sees Van Orden as vulnerable and is expected to target major resources against him. Until Van Oeden, WI-3 had been represented by a Democrat for 26 years, He flipped it. The Democratic primary totals with 93% of the votes counted:
> Rebecca Cooke, 38,600 (49%)
> Katrina Shankland, 33,200 (42%)
> Eric Wilson, 6,800 (8%)