Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District

Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District

Incumbent

Derrick Van Orden

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Derrick Van Orden (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Wisconsin representatives represented an average of 737,184 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 712,279 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 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 (R), Emily Berge (D), Rebecca Cooke (D), Rodney Rave (D), and Rustin Provance (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Derrick Van Orden (R)
		Emily Berge (D)
		Rebecca Cooke (D)
	Submit photo	Rodney Rave (D)
		Rustin Provance (Independent)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Laura Benjamin (D)

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Derrick Van Orden (R) defeated Rebecca Cooke (D) 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.
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

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Rebecca Cooke (D) defeated Katrina Shankland (D) and Eric Wilson (D) 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.
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

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Derrick Van Orden (R) 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Derrick Van Orden (R) defeated Brad Pfaff (D) 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

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Brad Pfaff (D) defeated Rebecca Cooke (D), Deb McGrath (D), and Mark A. Neumann (D) 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Justin Bradley (D)
• Brett Knudsen (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Derrick Van Orden (R) 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)

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Ronald James Kind (D) defeated Derrick Van Orden (R) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ronald James Kind (D)	51.3	199,870
		Derrick Van Orden (R)	48.6	189,524
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	224

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 389,618
= 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.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Ronald James Kind (D) defeated Mark A. Neumann (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ronald James Kind	80.6	53,064
		Mark A. Neumann	19.4	12,765
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	12

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,841
= 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

• Justin Bonner (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Derrick Van Orden (R) defeated Jessi Ebben (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derrick Van Orden	65.9	36,395
		Jessi Ebben	34.1	18,835
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	21

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 55,251
= 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

• Brandon Cook (R)
• John Garske (R)
• Shannon Moats (R)
• Tim Peters (R)
• Kevin Ruscher (R)
• Jonathan Sundblom (R)
• Alex Virijevich (R)

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Ronald James Kind (D) defeated Steve Toft (R) in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ronald James Kind (D)	59.7	187,888
		Steve Toft (R)	40.3	126,980

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 314,8680
= 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.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Incumbent Ronald James Kind (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ronald James Kind	100.0	59,643

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 59,6430
= 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.

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3

Steve Toft (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 3 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Toft	100.0	35,768

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 35,7680
= 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

• Brandon Cook (R)
• Alex Virijevich (R)

Previous election results

2016

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Ron Kind (D) faced no opposition in the general election on November 8, 2016. Kind defeated Myron Buchholz in the Democratic primary on August 9, 2016.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind Incumbent	99.9%	257,401
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	169
Total Votes				257,570
Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ron Kind Incumbent	81.3%	33,320
Myron Buchholz	18.7%	7,689
Total Votes		41,009
Source: Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commission

2014

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 3rd Congressional District of Wisconsin held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Ron Kind (D) defeated Tony Kurtz (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind Incumbent	56.5%	155,368
	Republican	Tony Kurtz	43.4%	119,540
	Independent	Ken Van Doren - Write-in	0%	128
	N/A	Scattering	0%	125
Total Votes				275,161
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

2012

See also: Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012

The 3rd Congressional District of Wisconsin held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Ron Kind won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind Incumbent	64.1%	217,712
	Republican	Ray Boland	35.8%	121,713
	Miscellaneous	N/A	0.1%	339
Total Votes				339,764
Source: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" (dead link)

2010
On November 2, 2010, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dan Kapanke (R) and Michael Krsiean (Independent Citizen for Constitutional Government) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	50.3%	126,380
	Republican	Dan Kapanke	46.5%	116,838
	Independent Citizen for Constitutional Government	Michael Krsiean	3.2%	8,001
	Scattering	Scattering	0%	121
Total Votes				251,340

2008
On November 4, 2008, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paul Stark (R) and Kevin Barrett (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	63.2%	225,208
	Republican	Paul Stark	34.4%	122,760
	Libertarian	Kevin Barrett	2.3%	8,236
	N/A	Scattering	0.1%	196
Total Votes				356,400

2006
On November 7, 2006, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paul R. Nelson (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	64.8%	163,322
	Republican	Paul R. Nelson	35.1%	88,523
	N/A	Scattering	0.1%	242
Total Votes				252,087

2004
On November 2, 2004, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dale W. Schultz (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	56.4%	204,856
	Republican	Dale W. Schultz	43.5%	157,866
	N/A	Scattering	0.1%	286
Total Votes				363,008

2002
On November 5, 2002, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Bill Arndt (R) and Jeff Zastrow (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	62.8%	131,038
	Republican	Bill Arndt	33.5%	69,955
	Libertarian	Jeff Zastrow	3.2%	6,674
	N/A	Scattering	0.4%	914
Total Votes				208,581

2000
On November 7, 2000, Ron Kind won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Susan Tully (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Wisconsin District 3 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Kind incumbent	63.7%	173,505
	Republican	Susan Tully	35.9%	97,741
	N/A	Scattering	0.4%	966
Total Votes				272,212

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin after the 2020 census

Wisconsin enacted its congressional districts on March 3, 2022, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved congressional proposals submitted by Gov. Tony Evers (D). Evers vetoed a legislatively-approved congressional district map on November 18. Those maps had passed the state Senate on November 8, 2021, by a 21-12 vote split along party lines, with all Republicans in the chamber voting for the proposal and all Democrats voting against it. They had passed the House on November 11 by a 60-38 party-line vote.

After Evers' veto, the Wisconsin Supreme Court assumed control of the drafting process, as the court had agreed in September to decide new districts if the legislature and governor failed to do so. On November 30, the court announced it would seek to make as few changes as possible to the current legislative and congressional maps adopted in 2011. Evers submitted a congressional district map proposal to the supreme court on December 15.

On January 10, 2022, the court issued a 4-3 ruling in which it denied congressional Republicans' request to submit an additional, amended map for the court's consideration and granted Evers the ability to make corrections to the map he submitted. On March 3, 2022, the court adopted Evers' proposal. This map took effect for Wisconsin's 2022 congressional elections.



How does redistricting in Wisconsin work? In Wisconsin, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Wisconsin State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.

The Wisconsin Constitution requires that state legislative districts be compact and "that they be bounded by county, precinct, town, or ward lines where possible." The state constitution further stipulates that state legislative districts should be contiguous.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 3rd Congressional District of Wisconsin after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Wisconsin State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 3rd the 200th most Republican district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 3rd the 195th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 51.5%-46.8%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Wisconsin's 3rd the 194th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 46.8% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 51.5%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was EVEN. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were within 1 percentage point of the national average. This made Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District the 199th most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.06. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.06 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024
• Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
• Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
• Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 3

Footnotes

[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)