Rebecca Cooke, who raised millions of dollars for a campaign that drew support from high-profile Democrats nationwide, won the party’s nomination for Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, according to The Associated Press.
The district — which went for former President Barack Obama before President Trump won it the last three presidential cycles — is critical to Democrats’ hopes of winning back the House.
The victory sets up Ms. Cooke, a moderate Democrat, to challenge Representative Derrick Van Orden, a hard-right Republican running for his third term who defeated her in 2024 by fewer than three percentage points.
That cycle showed promising signs of electability for Ms. Cooke, a small-business owner and Democratic fund-raiser. Ms. Cooke outperformed former Vice President Kamala Harris by roughly 9,000 votes and Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, by about 5,000 votes in a rural district that includes a slew of college towns and the city of Eau Claire.
Ms. Cooke did not advance past the primary in her first congressional campaign in 2022. But after her close defeat to Mr. Van Orden two years ago, left-leaning lawmakers from across the political spectrum, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Mark Kelly of Arizona, have backed her as the party’s best chance to flip the seat. She is also being supported by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Ms. Cooke, who grew up on a dairy farm and worked as a waitress, is among a crop of Democratic candidates who have pitched themselves to voters on their working-class backgrounds.
She was one of the top fund-raisers for all House candidates, bringing in more than $8 million from donors across the country. Her challenger in the primary, Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire City Council, raised less than $730,000.
Mr. Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, is closely tied to Mr. Trump. He has tried to sell the president’s economic policies to farmers who have been pained by tariffs, rising prices and the war in Iran.
The post Rebecca Cooke Wins Democratic Primary for Key Wisconsin House Seat appeared first on New York Times.
