Cooke back: Running for Wi-3 seat in Congress

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. – The candidate who lost narrowly to Derrick Van Orden to represent western Wisconsin in Congress last November thinks he’s vulnerable. Rebecca Cooke announced her candidacy to unseat Van Orden in the 2026 election. Cooke, who grew up on a farm, made her announcement at the Triple T Farm in rural Chippewa Falls. In 2024 she lost to Van Orden by 2.8 percentage points. Cooke first will need to win the Democratic nomination. No one else has announced so far. Nor has Van Orden, a strident Trump supporter, although he’s expected to run. In her announcement Cooke, an Eau Claire small-business operator, called herself a working-class advocate who would be a moderate voice in Congress. In 2024, Cooke said, she won the trust and support of an unprecedented number of Democratic, independent and Republican voters. “We nearly sent a farm kid from western Wisconsin, from here in Chippewa Valley, from here in Chippewa County, to Congress,” She said. “We built the movement, but we ran out of time, and now, with your help, we’re going to win in 2026.” She called Van Orden cowardly for not holding townhall town hall meetings to hear the anger of WI-3 voters. She was critical of Trump initiatives to dismantle Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other core government services. She promised to take on the healthcare industry: “Now is not a time to cower as big drug companies jack up our medicine prices and our local hospitals here in Eau Claire remain closed. We must stand up to federal elites blocking our pathway towards home ownership to good paying jobs and to achieving the American dream.” Republicans don’t care about the price of milk or gas, she said.