Rebecca Cooke unseats incumbent Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District

Rebecca Cooke has won the election for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Cooke on Wednesday at 12:48 a.m. EST. As of 1:15 a.m. EST, Cooke led over Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden by a count of 53.0% to 45.2%.

Van Orden has held the seat since 2023, when he defeated Cooke the year prior by less than 12,000 votes. The race gained national attention in part because of its potential to flip to the Democrats. 

Cooke ran on a platform advocating for affordable healthcare and better support for Wisconsin farmers. She also criticized President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the Iran War and the One Big Beautiful for raising the cost of living for Wisconsinites. 

Van Orden and Cooke met for one debate in Eau Claire after weeks of public and contentious attempts to schedule it. 

Most of the campaign played out on social media, where Van Orden accused Cooke of lying about her job as a waitress. Cooke linked Van Orden with Trump’s unpopular tariff policies and the war in Iran. Van Orden posted frequently on X, sharing AI-generated deepfake images and videos of Cooke’s likeness. 

She sent Van Orden a cease and desist letter, calling the media defamatory because it was not explicitly labeled as AI-generated. A Eau Claire resident also filed an ethics complaint against Van Orden with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.