Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District Tuesday, riding a massive monetary advantage and support from the national Democratic party to set up a rematch after her narrow 2024 loss to Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
Western Wisconsin’s purple 3rd District is one of the Democratic Party’s main targets in the country in their effort to flip majority control of the House of Representatives.
Cooke’s name recognition, advantages in fundraising and institutional support helped her win 57.1% of the vote to 47.9% for Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire City Council — who had attempted to leverage an old-school ground campaign and her popularity in the district’s largest city to achieve the upset.
AP called the race at 9:21 p.m. with 64% of the vote counted.
The race was far closer than initial expectations. This spring, the Cooke campaign touted internal polling that showed her more than 40 points ahead of Berge — who when she entered the race, against the wishes of members of the party, had little name recognition outside Eau Claire.
Cooke, a former fundraiser for Democratic party campaigns and organizations, a former small business owner and a part-time waitress, jumped into the race almost immediately after the 2024 election — earning endorsements from U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders, as well as support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Cooke also ran for the seat in 2022, losing the Democratic primary to state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska).
In nearly two years of campaigning, Cooke has raised massive amounts of money — $8.6 million since the beginning of 2025. That total far surpasses Berge, who raised $728,000, and squeaks past Van Orden, who has raised $7.5 million.
But the closer than expected primary challenge pushed Cooke to spend a significant chunk of that cash advantage. Cooke has $1.8 million in cash on hand while Van Orden has $4.6 million, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed in late July.
Democrats in the district are now turning their focus to the divisive Van Orden, who has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump.
Since the 2024 race, Van Orden and the Republican party have been relentlessly attacking Cooke, frequently calling her a “commie.” As national attention focuses on the district while Republicans fight to hold onto their thin majority, Van Orden spent Tuesday evening posting AI videos of Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker yelling at a CNN anchor.
Originally published on wisconsinexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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