Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) speaks to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building following a vote on July 25, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden  declared victory early Wednesday in the race for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District seat, saying he defeated Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke in his quest for a second term. 

With 99% of the ballots in the district counted, Van Orden led with 51.4% of the vote to 48.6% for Cooke. The Associated Press called the race at 11:10 a.m. Wednesday.

“I’m truly thankful and humbled the people of Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District decided to send me back to Congress so I can continue my bipartisan work for western Wisconsin,” Van Orden said in a statement released early Wednesday.

Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, campaigned on the two main Republican focuses of the election, immigration and inflation, while also touting his service on the House agriculture committee in the largely rural district that covers much of western Wisconsin. At a campaign stop in October, he asked if voters of the district are better off than they were four years ago when President Joe Biden was elected while saying he was focused on making policy “where the rubber meets the road” for the district’s farmers and residents.

In his victory statement, Van Orden said he would “continue our work to ensure we are putting an end to the southern border crisis so the scourge of the fentanyl crisis no longer affects our communities or criminals aren’t allowed to wreak havoc on our families.”

While Cooke carried the district’s three urban counties, La Crosse, Eau Claire and Portage, Van Orden racked up sufficient majorities in the remaining counties to gain an advantage of about 10,000 votes over Cooke.

The purple district has now re-elected its incumbent representative in every election since Democrat Ron Kind took office in 1996. Van Orden’s win comes despite heavy Democratic spending in the race after local Democrats blamed a lack of national support on Van Orden’s defeat of state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) in 2022. Democrats have now lost to Van Orden in back-to-back elections despite frequently highlighting perceived character flaws of Van Orden due to a number of public and headline-making outbursts. 

Both candidates ran campaigns that sought to claim the title of “political outsider.” While Cooke ran a campaign that attempted to paint herself as a moderate, Van Orden won re-election despite his attendance at the rally that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

This report has been updated with AP’s final call of the race.

Former gas station owner Tony Wied, who is running for Congress, with former President Donald Trump. (Screenshot via Tony Wied for Congress Facebook)

Republican businessman Tony Wied has defeated Democrat OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly in the race for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. 

The seat was open this year after U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was first elected in 2016, resigned from Congress in April. Wied also won the special election, which happened concurrently with the general election to fill out the rest of the two-year term left open by Gallagher’s departure.

Wied had 60% of the vote to 39% for Lyerly, with 63% of the ballots counted, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 10:54 p.m.

Less than an hour before AP called the race, Wied claimed victory in a triumphant speech at the Legacy Hotel in Green Bay, Wisconsin, not far from Lambeau Field.

“Tonight, the voters of District 8 sent a very clear message,” he told a crowd of supporters. “They’re ready to bring common sense back to Washington.”

He thanked his voters “for trusting me with this office” and promised to work for each one of them.

“And I spent my life raising my family and running our businesses right here in the district,” Wied said. “My wife and I are private people. But I could no longer stand by and watch the continuing dysfunction.”

Wied’s race against Lyerly tested the power of reproductive rights against an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, and Tuesday night Wied thanked the Republican presidential candidate, calling Trump’s support for Wied’s campaign “second to none.”

Before the race was called, Lyerly said at a Brown County election watch party that regardless of the election outcome, the campaign had built a foundation with volunteers “who have pitched in to help us that we can build on for years to come.”

Lyerly said she believed her campaign was “changing the converasation” around reproductive rights, and shared a story about a restaurant server who had confided in her and “was grateful for the work that I was doing.”

This will be Wied’s first time holding public office. The Republican-leaning northeast district covers the city of Green Bay and the rest of surrounding Brown County as well as Marinette, Oconto, Menonominee, Shawano, Waupaca, Outagamie, Calumet counties and part of Winnebago County. 

Wied, who previously owned Dino Stop, a Green Bay-based gas and convenience store chain, won a three-way primary with Trump’s endorsement and leaned heavily on the Trump during his campaign.  

While Lyerly sought to center reproductive health issues, Wied focused on economic issues, including taxes and immigration. He highlighted his support for lowering taxes and said he wants to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts which Democrats have complained unfairly benefited the rich. He has also said that government spending has led to inflation and he wants to work to decrease it.

Wied also highlighted his support for finishing Trump’s border wall and reimplementing the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date. 

This report has been updated.