Rebecca Cooke

Rebecca Cooke (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

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]

Elections

2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Derrick Van Orden, Laura Benjamin, Emily Berge, Rebecca Cooke, 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)
		Laura Benjamin (D)
		Emily Berge (D)
		Rebecca Cooke (D)
		Rustin Provance (Independent)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

Cooke received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Independent)

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

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 413,181
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates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

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 83,776
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	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.
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Endorsements

Cooke received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Cooke's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

TOGETHER!

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

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	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

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	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.
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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

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	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

Rebecca Cooke has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Rebecca Cooke asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Rebecca Cooke, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

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You can ask Rebecca Cooke to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@cookeforwisconsin.com.

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 10, 2024

Rebecca Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cooke's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

A small business owner, nonprofit leader and waitress, I have focused my career on building community and serving others. Born and raised on an Eau Claire dairy farm and appointed by Governor Tony Evers to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, I know the economic and social challenges facing the small towns and rural communities for which I’ve fiercely advocated for, from the kitchen table to the board room. I worked my way through college with the help of Pell Grants, local scholarships, financial aid, and multiple jobs. After helping elect changemakers to public office, I came home to Eau Claire to start a small business and a nonprofit that provides start-up capital and hands-on education for women-owned businesses throughout ten counties in western Wisconsin. Now, I am running for Congress to better serve communities across Wisconsin, put people first and provide more opportunities for success, and be a relentless fighter for our way of life.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Increasing Health Care Access and Affordability
Creating an Economy Built for Working Families
Protecting Reproductive Healthcare Freedoms

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am running for Congress to better serve communities across Wisconsin, put people first and provide more opportunities for success, and will be a relentless fighter for our way of life.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The late Senator Paul Wellstone. He embodied rural populism and crafted policy that met the moment with a laser focus on delivering for working families, our rural communities, and small businesses which power our economies.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

My lived experiences are what uniquely suit me to serve in office. We have too many elitists in Congress, and not enough working folks that have lived the struggles that everyday people face making ends meet.

Even while I am running for Congress, I waitress three days a week and run my non-profit Red Letter Grant which supports and empowers women entrepreneurs throughout 18 counties here in West Central Wisconsin by awarding start-up capital. To date, we’ve helped over 50 small businesses launch in rural communities throughout the last seven years. I understand the needs of my community and working class folks because that is my lived experience.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe that the core responsibilities of a member of Congress are to enact effective and pragmatic legislation which addresses the material needs of the constituents they represent, and to be a responsive advocate for specific casework needs with federal agencies and other institutions.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

My campaign has been endorsed by over two dozen local small business owners, multiple local elected officials, the House Blue Dogs Coalition, the New Democrats Coalition, Communication Workers of America – District 4, WelcomePAC, Congresswoman Sharice Davids, Congresswoman Marie Glusenkamp-Perez, Congressman Mike Thompson, Congressmen Jared Golden, Defend the Vote, and Tomorrow’s Jobs.

What committees interest you?

I’d like to serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Agriculture Committee. Growing up on a dairy farm and having run multiple small businesses, I can bring those experiences to the decision making table to advocate for family farms and mainstreets. For too long large agricultural conglomerates and large corporations have been price gouging consumers and leveraging their market share to engage in anti-competitive practices. It is past time that we had a Congress actively engaged in reducing the power of corporate monopolies and delivering for small businesses, working families, and small and midsize farms.

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

Rebecca Cooke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cooke's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Rebecca Cooke is a small business owner and nonprofit leader who has focused her career on building community and serving others. Born and raised on an Eau Claire dairy farm and appointed by Governor Tony Evers to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Rebecca knows the economic and social challenges facing the small towns and rural communities for which she’s fiercely advocated for, from the kitchen table to the board room.

Coming from a long tradition of Wisconsin farmers who value service and hard work, Rebecca was working on the farm at an early age and training calves to show at the fair by the time she was 7 years old. Like most Wisconsin farm families, it was a struggle to make ends meet, but they were the first to show up for neighbors in need. She was active in 4-H, showing cattle at fairs throughout the state, started waiting tables in high school, and launched a jelly business with her classmates at 16 years old.

Rebecca worked her way through college with the help of Pell Grants, local scholarships, financial aid, and multiple jobs. After helping elect Democrats to public office, she came home to Eau Claire to start a small business and a nonprofit that provides start-up capital and hands-on education for women-owned businesses throughout ten counties in western Wisconsin.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Washington politicians have turned their backs on rural Wisconsinites. For decades, they’ve overpromised and underdelivered on policy, while selling us off to the highest bidder. Family farms are closing daily, small businesses are hurting, and our rights are under attack. We deserve a Congresswoman who understands the struggles that Wisconsin families face firsthand each and every day and has the lived experience to restore hope, our shared sense of community, and real representation for the hardworking people who keep our country going.
To build a vibrant and healthy shared future in which everyone can prosper, we need to invest in our rural communities who for far too long have been left behind by the rich and powerful. Our friends, families, and neighbors are endlessly creative people who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and solve problems. Rebecca will advance solutions that lift up western Wisconsin and keep our local economy moving forward.
The kitchen table is often the nucleus of the home — where families come together to reflect on their days at school or work, do their homework, share a joke, and break bread. It is also where far too many spend long hours stressing late into the night over household bills. Across our region, families are working harder and harder these days just to make ends meet as the prices of everyday goods continue to go up while large corporations report record-breaking profits. There’s something wrong with this picture.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a small business owner herself, Rebecca also knows the barriers facing entrepreneurs, including access to capital, predatory lending, bureaucratic red tape, and recruiting and retaining staff. The pandemic has only worsened these challenges as many local businesses have struggled to stay afloat or been forced to close permanently, underscoring the need for a strong voice in Congress who sees the bigger picture. Rebecca understands that small businesses are the backbone of our communities, and she will fight tooth and nail to make sure Main Street gets the resources needed to not just survive, but thrive.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Rebecca got her first job off the farm as a server at Mike’s Smokehouse when she was 16 years old. While at North High School in Eau Claire, she was captain of the soccer team, started a business that made and packaged jelly, and launched a project that gave financial support to soldiers coming home from the Iraq war called Relief for the Red Arrows.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think we need leadership who understand kitchen table issues, because they have real lived experience. To me, being a US Congresswoman is about advocating for your community and I don't need previous government experience to do that.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I would love to join the Small Business Committee. As the owner of a small business, I understand the challenge of running a small business through COVID..

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

We need bi-partisan solutions to tackle the big challenges that this country faces.

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.

Rebecca Cooke campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Wisconsin District 3	Candidacy Declared general	$1,950,996	$693,966
2024*	U.S. House Wisconsin District 3	Lost general	$6,358,059	$6,347,919
2022	U.S. House Wisconsin District 3	Lost primary	$486,146	$486,146
Grand total			$8,795,201	$7,528,031
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 15, 2024

[show]

Wisconsin's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Baldwin (D)

Ronald Johnson (R)

Representatives

District 1

Bryan Steil (R)

District 2

Mark Pocan (D)

District 3

Derrick Van Orden (R)

District 4

Gwen Moore (D)

District 5

Scott Fitzgerald (R)

District 6

Glenn Grothman (R)

District 7

Tom Tiffany (R)

District 8

Tony Wied (R)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (3)

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 15, 2024

[1]

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Rebecca Cooke

Biography

Elections

2026

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Endorsements

2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Endorsements

2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

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