Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) speaks to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building following a vote on July 25, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden declared victory early Wednesday in the race for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District seat, saying he defeated Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke in his quest for a second term.
With 99% of the ballots in the district counted, Van Orden led with 51% of the vote to 49% for Cooke. The Associated Press had not officially called the race as of 8:25 a.m.
“I’m truly thankful and humbled the people of Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District decided to send me back to Congress so I can continue my bipartisan work for western Wisconsin,” Van Orden said in a statement released early Wednesday.
Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, campaigned on the two main Republican focuses of the election, immigration and inflation, while also touting his service on the House agriculture committee in the largely rural district that covers much of western Wisconsin. At a campaign stop in October, he asked if voters of the district are better off than they were four years ago when President Joe Biden was elected while saying he was focused on making policy “where the rubber meets the road” for the district’s farmers and residents.
In his victory statement, Van Orden said he would “continue our work to ensure we are putting an end to the southern border crisis so the scourge of the fentanyl crisis no longer affects our communities or criminals aren’t allowed to wreak havoc on our families.”
While Cooke carried the district’s three urban counties, La Crosse, Eau Claire and Portage, Van Orden racked up sufficient majorities in the remaining counties to gain an advantage of about 10,000 votes over Cooke.
The purple district has now re-elected its incumbent representative in every election since Democrat Ron Kind took office in 1996. Van Orden’s win comes despite heavy Democratic spending in the race after local Democrats blamed a lack of national support on Van Orden’s defeat of state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) in 2022. Democrats have now lost to Van Orden in back-to-back elections despite frequently highlighting perceived character flaws of Van Orden due to a number of public and headline-making outbursts.
Both candidates ran campaigns that sought to claim the title of “political outsider.” While Cooke ran a campaign that attempted to paint herself as a moderate, Van Orden won re-election despite his attendance at the rally that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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