Rebecca Cooke
Rebecca Cooke (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026.
Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Rebecca Cooke was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Cooke's career experience includes working as a small business owner and waitress. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of St. Thomas.[1][2]
Elections
2026
See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026
Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026 (August 11 Democratic primary)
Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026 (August 11 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Incumbent Derrick Van Orden, Rebecca Cooke, Alexander Valiensi Kent, and Rustin Provance are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Derrick Van Orden (R) | |
 | Rebecca Cooke (D)  | |
 | Alexander Valiensi Kent (Independent) | |
 | Rustin Provance (Independent) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jayte Welch (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Rebecca Cooke defeated Emily Berge in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 11, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rebecca Cooke | 60.0 | 53,225 |
 | Emily Berge | 39.9 | 35,380 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 50 | ||
| Total votes: 88,655 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Melvin Marin (D)
- Rodney Rave (D)
- Laura Benjamin (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Incumbent Derrick Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 11, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derrick Van Orden | 99.0 | 56,948 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.0 | 575 | ||
| Total votes: 57,523 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
- See also: Our approach to covering endorsements
Rebecca Cooke received the following endorsements and voter guide recommendations. To view a full list of Cooke's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- U.S. Sen Tammy Baldwin (D)
- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Independent)
- U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez Allison (D)
- U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D)
- U.S. Rep. Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr. (D)
- U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D)
- U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D)
- U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter (D)
- U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D)
- U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D)
- U.S. Rep. John Olszewski Jr. (D)
- U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D)
- U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D)
- State Rep. D. Adam Smith (D)
- U.S. Rep. Melanie Ann Stansbury (D)
- U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D)
- U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D)
- U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (D)
- State Sen. Brad Pfaff (D)
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
- National Education Association
- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473
- Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
- 92% Club (Sway voting group by Kenya Anissa)
- Adam Tsou endorsements (Sway voting group by Adam Tsou)
- Allies Against AIPAC (Sway voting group by Allie O'Brien)
- American Association for Justice Political Action Committee (AAJ PAC)
- Blue Dog Caucus
- Council for a Liveable World
- Defend the Vote
- Democrats Work for America
- EMILY's List
- Elect Democratic Women
- End Citizens United
- Environmental Defense Fund
- International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Political Action League
- It's Our Future (Sway voting group by Skyler Stefanski)
- John’s Slate of recommended candidates (Sway voting group by John)
- Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) PAC
- Laura Tanner's Voting Guide (Sway voting group by Laura Tanner)
- Motherhood for Good Voting Guide (Sway voting group by Kate Duffy)
- Mothers Against Violence (Sway voting group by Latoya)
- National Committee To Preserve Social Security & Medicare PAC
- New Dems Action Fund
- Ogg Baddies (Sway voting group by Kaarina Dunn)
- Rural Resistance (Sway voting group by Abiola Agoro)
- Shepherd Express
- Simon Says Voters (Sway voting group by SimonSaysVote)
- Social Security Works
- The Broad Agenda Ballot (Sway voting group by The Lake Forest Women's Collective)
- The Dad Briefs' Kitchen Table (Sway voting group by Slade Wentworth)
- its Kenna's Votes (Sway voting group by Kenna Dorn)
- our home (Sway voting group by Calley O'Neil)
2024
See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024
Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Democratic primary)
Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Incumbent Derrick Van Orden defeated Rebecca Cooke in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derrick Van Orden (R) | 51.3 | 212,064 |
| Rebecca Cooke (D) | 48.6 | 200,808 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 309 | ||
| Total votes: 413,181 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Rustin Provance (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Rebecca Cooke defeated Katrina Shankland and Eric Wilson in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rebecca Cooke | 50.5 | 42,316 |
 | Katrina Shankland | 41.6 | 34,812 | |
 | Eric Wilson | 7.9 | 6,624 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 24 | ||
| Total votes: 83,776 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Tara Johnson (D)
- Aaron Nytes (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Incumbent Derrick Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derrick Van Orden | 99.6 | 52,533 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 211 | ||
| Total votes: 52,744 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
- See also: Our approach to covering endorsements
Rebecca Cooke received the following endorsements and voter guide recommendations. To view a full list of Cooke's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.
2022
See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Derrick Van Orden defeated Brad Pfaff in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derrick Van Orden (R) | 51.8 | 164,743 |
 | Brad Pfaff (D) | 48.1 | 152,977 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 202 | ||
| Total votes: 317,922 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Rustin Provance (L)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Brad Pfaff defeated Rebecca Cooke, Deb McGrath, and Mark A. Neumann in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brad Pfaff | 38.9 | 24,041 |
| Rebecca Cooke | 31.1 | 19,221 | |
 | Deb McGrath | 19.1 | 11,770 | |
 | Mark A. Neumann | 10.8 | 6,672 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 25 | ||
| Total votes: 61,729 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brett Knudsen (D)
- Justin Bradley (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3
Derrick Van Orden advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derrick Van Orden | 99.3 | 65,164 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 471 | ||
| Total votes: 65,635 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Denise Hurless (R)
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rebecca Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cooke's responses.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Cooke's campaign website stated the following:
Healing our Healthcare System
Wisconsin residents need healthcare relief now – especially on the heels of major hospital closures in Western Wisconsin. We can’t wait for a sweeping bill when people are struggling to have check-ups covered and to pay for monthly prescriptions. As a small business owner who relies on the exchange for my healthcare coverage, I know firsthand the limitations of our current system. Here’s how I think we start to fix it:
- Expand Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing – the very things that deteriorate as we age.
- Address antitrust issues in the healthcare system that put the power in a few major corporations and provide consumers with little choice.
- Take on prescription drug companies, ensuring Seniors can get the drugs they need at prices negotiated through Medicare and that drug companies can’t inflate their prices based on brand or speciality of the drug.
- Work to improve the Affordable Care Act and healthcare exchange as it exists by providing more tax credits to lower premiums, creating more options on the exchange and simplifying the process to make obtaining health insurance less confusing.
- Annually lower the age that Seniors can start receiving Medicare benefits – each year expanding the number of Americans covered by Medicare.
- Increase the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals so we can continue providing critical care in our rural communities.
Creating an Economy Built for Working Families
People’s pocketbooks are hurting – prices have been rising at the gas pump and the grocery store. It can be tough to make your mortgage or rent payment and have enough money leftover for the essentials. Here’s how I intend to ease those burdens:
- Take on corporations that are price gouging consumers at the gas pump, and at the grocery store.
- Expansion of federal community block grants that offer dollars for affordable housing projects, particularly in rural communities in west central Wisconsin where current housing is aging out or doesn’t accommodate growing populations.
- Tax credits to organizations willing to build low-income and mixed-income housing projects throughout the region to address our lack of affordable housing.
- Help families buy their first home by deferring property tax payments for first-time home buyers for up to five years.
- A constituent-centered office with case workers on staff that are seasoned in working to address the issues of constituents. It’s also having a Chief of Staff based in the District, putting the needs of CD-3 first.
- Child care incubators that provide training and dollars to incentivize start-up in our small towns and rural communities.
- Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour – which is just the start for creating living wages in our state – with a rolling implementation plan starting with corporate players first, midsize businesses and then small businesses.
Fighting for Wisconsin’s Original Entrepreneur – the Farmer
I grew up on a farm in Eau Claire that raised registered dairy cattle – Prairie Belle Holsteins. I lived at the fair each summer showing cows in 4-H throughout the region. My family has had a farm in this district for 150 years so when we had to sell our cows because of the price of milk and competition with larger dairies, it wasn’t just losing a job or a business, but a part of our identity and way of life. My family now raises angus beef cattle. Here’s how I intend to protect our livelihood and the heritage of agriculture in this District:
- Address breakdowns within our supply chain – from the farmer to processors to the retailer.
- Ensure tax incentives and subsidies are created for small to midsize farms, not just for bigger ag. Our farmers, from dairy to beef to pork producers, are not getting their fair share.
- Enforce antitrust laws that are impacting the ability for farmers to compete with growing conglomerates. These corporate conglomerates are robbing us of our farming traditions.
- Restructure the Farm Bill with a greater focus on agriculture and the farming community itself versus the bulky package it has become.
- Incentivize formation of rural cooperatives that have a proven history of bridging the gap and ensure smaller farmers see a greater share of profit.
- Work closely and convene quarterly with key partners like UW-Extension, WEDC’s Office of Rural Prosperity, the Wisconsin Farmers Union and the Farm Bureau to remain tapped into the issues affecting the ag community within this region and to inform federal policy making.
- Provide federal funding to individuals looking to purchase vacant farmsteads to jumpstart our dairy industry and provide new training for folks who didn’t inherit land and skills, but want to learn and earn it.
- Expand export markets for all commodities.
- Continue to advocate for funding for important ag pipeline programs like 4-H and FFA within our school districts and counties.
Ensuring Seniors Age with Dignity
When my mom had a heart attack, she needed quadruple bypass surgery and left the hospital with a six-figure bill. If it wasn’t for Medicare, there’s no way our family could afford a bill like that. From the cost of critical care to prescription drugs to assisted living we can all agree we want our parents and grandparents to age with dignity. Here’s how I intend to support the people who raised us, our parents, grandparents, church moms and neighbors:
- Repeal the tax on Social Security for Seniors who are already receiving benefits.
- Scrap the cap on Social Security so that higher earners are paying their fair share and keeping the program solvent for all of us.
- Expand Medicare to include vision, dental and hearing coverage.
- Stand-up to pharmaceutical companies and their outrageous drug prices.
- Lower the cost-burden of long-term care facilities and predatory beneficiaries.
- Increase access to long-term care facilities in rural communities and provide tax incentives so Seniors can stay in the communities where their families live and that they’ve called home for decades.
Strengthening the Working Class and Empowering Unions
I come from a union family – my brother is a union firefighter in Madison and my sister works for the teacher’s union in Minnesota. I know first hand the issues workers are facing from stagnant wages to stifled organizing efforts. Workers in this state are still feeling the harmful effects of right to work and Act 10 that decimated the power of unions and working class people. Here’s how I intend to work with union leaders to continue restoring power in the labor movement:
- Work to pass the PRO Act. I will not be an idle advocate for workers rights, but active, and will rally my colleagues to get it passed.
- Support Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections and working to ensure that every federally funded project that comes to my District has a project labor agreement attached to it.
- Eliminate IRAPs that undermine the integrity of Registered Apprenticeship Programs.
- Build authentic relationships with the labor community that keep an open door policy and offer quarterly, consistent opportunities to meet with me in District to discuss legislation and regional issues the labor community faces.
Protecting Reproductive Health Freedoms
As a college student, I relied on organizations like Planned Parenthood as my healthcare option for annual exams. I am a firm believer that every person should have the right to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to start or grow a family, free from political or governmental interference. In Congress, I will always protect reproductive healthcare and the personal freedoms of all Wisconsinites. You can count on me to:
- Make decisions based on scientific evidence rather than politics.
- Unabashedly support the upholding of Roe vs. Wade.
- Ensure our two regional Planned Parenthoods in western Wisconsin remain open, federally funded and that Planned Parenthood locations nationwide remain federally supported.
- Advocate for ending the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits abortion coverage for individuals on Medicaid or Medicare.
- Support federal programs that improve and increase access to family planning services.
Strengthening our Education System
I am a proud product of Eau Claire public schools – a Sherman Star, DeLong Knight and North High Huskie. We’re seeing greater teacher shortages across Wisconsin and learning shortfalls in our classrooms. In rural communities, funding issues are only exacerbated further – with less funding in the classroom and teachers starting and leaving at alarming rates.
Here’s what I’m looking to accomplish:
- Increase funding to early childhood education like Head Start and preschool.
- Address our teacher shortage crisis by offering pay increases and signing bonuses. Work with state legislators to advocate for removing the cost of living pay increases, but having salary commensurate with experience in the classroom and increased each year by industry standard set by unions, not 1-2% annually.
- Treat student loans like mortgage rates, offering the opportunity to refinance when interest rates decline.
- Advocate for change with funding formulas at the state level to redistribute funding where it needs to be (i.e. poorest districts currently get the least, should get the most).
- Expand resources to support the mental health of students and teachers in schools.
- Double the value of Pell Grants for low to moderate income families.
- Create a work study pipeline that is rooted in community and connection with employers – not just to the university, in order to offer real world experiences for students.
Improving Water Quality and Investing in Clean Energy
From roundtables in rural corners of this district to downtown discussions in Eau Claire, La Crosse or Point – it’s clear that climate change and the environment are top of mind for constituents – what kind of legacy are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? In Congress I will:
- Draw federal funds for investment in green energy projects that harness our natural resources like wind, solar and hydro energy. Ensure that as we build new clean infrastructure, we’re relying on union workers to build our future.
- Support research for implementation of small modular nuclear power that will ensure our grid remains reliable and creates a greater mix of energy resources to draw upon.
- Work with regional stakeholders and policy makers to rapidly address the PFAS issue in our water – including more testing, remediation and research.
- Forge relationships and build coalitions with Wisconsin farmers to address issues with run-off that directly impacts water ways creating issues with nitrates and algae blooms.
- Invest in mass transit – like the elusive high-speed rail we’ve been working to connect west central Wisconsin to bigger marketplaces – increasing tourism and lowering emissions from commutes.
- Regulate our biggest corporate polluters. Each one of us individually can do our part, but we’ve got to crack down on blighted areas starting in this District and beyond.
Keeping Main Streets Strong
As an entrepreneur, I know what it’s like to put it all on the line and start a small business with personal savings and elbow grease. We know that the shops, restaurants and small businesses that flank our Main Streets are the lifeblood of communities throughout west central Wisconsin. To keep our commerce centers bustling, here’s what I’ll do:
- Build coalitions of small business owners that I meet with on a quarterly basis to keep an open dialog on restoring WI mainsteets and cultivating a vibrant start-up scene.
- Create a regional fund that seeds dollars for second stage growth – investing more deeply in start-ups that are ready to grow, create more jobs and manufacture in Wisconsin.
- Enforce antitrust laws on larger corporate players who don’t play by the same rules as main street and enjoy tax loopholes.
— Rebecca Cooke's campaign website (September 14, 2026)
2024
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 10, 2024 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rebecca Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cooke's responses.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released November 26, 2021 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rebecca Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cooke's responses.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
