Wisconsin's 3rd District 2026: Van Orden vs. Cooke

This briefing reflects reporting and polling available as of October 8, 2026. Candidates, endorsements and polling can change before Election Day on November 3, 2026.

Why This Race Matters

Wisconsin’s 3rd District, in the western part of the state, backed Barack Obama twice and Donald Trump three times. Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden won it in 2024 by a narrow margin over Democrat Rebecca Cooke, the challenger he faces again. Forecasters rate the race a toss-up, and both national parties are spending heavily there.

The Race

The district is V-shaped, bordered by the Mississippi River and Minnesota on the west and Illinois on the south, the Associated Press reported. Democrat Ron Kind held it for 26 years before retiring in 2022. In 2024 Van Orden won by about 11,000 votes, and Cooke ran ahead of both Kamala Harris and Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the district.

Cooke won the August 11 Democratic primary with 57% to Emily Berge’s 42.9% in unofficial results. Van Orden is the Republican nominee.

Cook’s September 25 ratings list the race as a toss-up. This article could not confirm Inside Elections’ current rating. Sabato’s Crystal Ball also shows a toss-up in a September 29 table.

This article could not locate a nonpartisan or Republican-sponsored poll of the district. A House Majority PAC poll by FM3 Research, fielded June 20 to 25, had Cooke ahead 50% to 46%. The sponsor is a Democratic-aligned super PAC, and the text this article could access did not state a sample size or margin of error.

In the first quarter of 2026, Cooke raised about $2.4 million to Van Orden’s $1.3 million and ended March with about $4.4 million in cash on hand to his $3.8 million, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

The Candidates

Derrick Van Orden (R, incumbent). A retired Navy SEAL and two-term congressman, he voted with Trump nearly 100% of the time in 2025, and he argues that Republicans who distance themselves from the president are being disloyal. He promotes tax cuts and federal spending on rural health care, and he attended the January 6, 2021, rally before the Capitol attack. Trump has pledged to back him, and cabinet-level officials including RFK Jr., Kash Patel and Mehmet Oz have campaigned with him.

Rebecca Cooke (D). She grew up on a dairy farm, later owned a small business and ran a nonprofit supporting women-owned businesses, and now works part-time as a restaurant server. She calls herself a big-tent Democratic populist. The DCCC, the House Blue Dog PAC and Sen. Bernie Sanders have endorsed her, and Sanders campaigned with her in the district last year.

This article could not locate any independent or third-party candidate in the sources reviewed, and could not confirm the final ballot.

Top Issues

Affordability. Both candidates describe strain from housing, groceries, gas and utility bills, but they disagree on causes. Van Orden says Republican tax cuts “put more money back in the pockets of working families,” WEAU reported. Cooke blames corporate pricing, wages, housing costs and the war in Iran. She backs stronger antitrust enforcement, a $15 federal minimum wage, ending the Iran war and tax credits for first-time homebuyers.

Immigration. Both say they want a secure border and acknowledge that farms and businesses need immigrant workers. Van Orden prioritizes enforcement, supports fully funding ICE and CBP, backs the Agricultural Workforce Reform Act of 2025, which would change the H-2A visa program, and opposes amnesty. Cooke supports border security alongside a path to citizenship and backs the bipartisan Dignity Act.

Data centers. Cooke wants a federal moratorium on new data center construction. Van Orden opposes halting development but sets conditions: local buy-in, no use of farmland, no rate increases for families and closed-loop cooling. A Marquette Law School poll fielded July 8 to 16 found 76% of Wisconsin voters think data center costs outweigh benefits, though only 5% ranked it as their top issue. That poll is statewide, not district-specific, and found 42% naming inflation and cost of living as their top issue against 13% for immigration.

Trump and the Iran war. Van Orden is closely aligned with Trump. The AP reports that some Republicans worry about Trump’s polling and the Iran war, and it notes that Van Orden underperformed Trump in the district in 2024.

Evidence Check

Van Orden’s campaign: Cooke presents herself as a waitress while working as a paid political consultant. Check: The AP confirms that she works part-time as a restaurant server and previously owned a small business and ran a nonprofit. It reports the consulting since 2012 as Van Orden’s argument. This article could not locate a response from Cooke or independent documentation of the consulting work.

Van Orden: the AI videos of Cooke are satire. Check: The videos on his X account carry an automatic label saying they were made with Grok Imagine, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. Cooke’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter on September 30 saying she never made the statements shown and citing Wisconsin defamation law. This article could not locate any court filing, so the legal question is untested.

Van Orden: tax cuts put more money in working families’ pockets. Check: This article could not locate district-level or household-level data to verify the claim. The Marquette poll shows cost of living is the top statewide concern, but it does not measure the effect of any specific policy.

Cooke’s campaign: Van Orden is avoiding a debate. Check: Reporting on the dispute shows both sides accusing the other of avoiding a debate. Cooke declined three debates Van Orden accepted, from Wisconsin Firearm Owners, Hunter Nation and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, saying the groups were too partisan. The campaigns could not agree on a date for a La Crosse Chamber of Commerce debate. Both claims have partial support.

Cooke: she is a big-tent populist. Check: Her endorsements span the Blue Dog caucus and Sanders, and her platform includes a $15 federal minimum wage and a data center moratorium. “Populist” is a characterization, not a measurable fact, and Van Orden disputes it.

Supporter Voices

This article could not locate quotes from local voters backing either candidate. The reporting reviewed offers national and institutional voices. Trump has pledged to back Van Orden “100% all the way to November.” On the Democratic side, the closest the reporting comes to a supporter’s voice is Cooke’s own account of her primary win, which she credited to “really working to show up in rural communities and working-class spaces.”

How This Race Is Being Framed

Van Orden’s campaign frames the race around loyalty to Trump, tax cuts, border enforcement and Cooke’s ties to Democratic fundraising, and it uses aggressive social media posts to do so. Cooke frames it around affordability, corporate pricing and a different political environment in which voters are frustrated with the administration. Sen. Ron Johnson has called the district a bellwether in a bellwether state, the AP reported, and neither frame has been tested in a nonpartisan public poll that this article could find.

Discussion Questions

Have you ever voted for candidates from different parties in the same election? What made you do it?
Should candidates be required to debate before an election? Why or why not?
Should campaigns be allowed to post AI-generated videos of real opponents if the videos are labeled?
Does calling an AI video satire change how you judge it?
How closely should a member of Congress follow the president of their own party?
Should communities be able to block data centers, or should the federal government set the rules?
Should a candidate’s past work as a political consultant matter to voters?
Why do rural districts like this one swing between the parties?
How much weight should voters give to polls released by party committees?
Imagine you are a farm owner who relies on seasonal workers. Which immigration approach would you prefer, and why?

Wisconsin’s 3rd District 2026: Van Orden vs. Cooke