Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District Tuesday, riding a massive monetary advantage and support from the national Democratic party to set up a rematch after her narrow 2024 loss to Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Western Wisconsin’s purple 3rd District is one of the Democratic Party’s main targets in the country in their effort to flip majority control of the House of Representatives.

Cooke’s name recognition, advantages in fundraising and institutional support helped her win 57.1% of the vote to 47.9% for Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire City Council — who had attempted to leverage an old-school ground campaign and her popularity in the district’s largest city to achieve the upset. 

AP called the race at 9:21 p.m. with 64% of the vote counted.

“I also want to thank my opponent Emily Berge and her team, who worked to build deep relationships across this district and bring people together around a common goal, a common goal that we all share to restore pragmatic leadership to Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional district and to defeat Derrick Van Orden,” Cooke said in her victory speech at Mogie’s Pub in Eau Claire. “This moment is truly for the people. The coalition of small business owners, healthcare workers, educators, farmers across this district, with whom I built trust over time. We need more working-class people to represent us in D.C. who aren’t so far left or so far right, but want to work across the aisle to actually get things done.” 

The race was far closer than initial expectations. This spring, the Cooke campaign touted internal polling that showed her more than 40 points ahead of Berge — who when she entered the race, against the wishes of members of the national party, had little name recognition outside Eau Claire.

Cooke, a former fundraiser for Democratic party campaigns and organizations, a former small business owner and a part-time waitress, jumped into the race almost immediately after the 2024 election — earning endorsements from U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders, as well as support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Cooke also ran for the seat in 2022, losing the Democratic primary to state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska). 

In nearly two years of campaigning, Cooke has raised massive amounts of money — $8.6 million since the beginning of 2025. That total far surpasses Berge, who raised $728,000, and squeaks past Van Orden, who has raised $7.5 million. 

But the closer than expected primary challenge pushed Cooke to spend a significant chunk of that cash advantage. Cooke has $1.8 million in cash on hand while Van Orden has $4.6 million, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed in late July. 

Democrats in the district are now turning their focus to the divisive Van Orden, who has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump. 

“I think that people will come together in support of Rebecca Cooke, really aiming to defeat Van Orden and the policies that he represents, and you know the lack of involvement with his overall constituents, trying to come in on the coattails of other national Republican leaders, and I think he’s forgotten about who he really represents, and it’s us,” Elvira resident Mike Sobolewski told the Wisconsin Examiner outside the Cooke victory party.

But at the Berge watch party across Eau Claire at The Plus bar, the crowd of dozens of supporters were less enthused.

In her concession speech, in which she did not mention Cooke by name, Berge said “it’s disappointing. I feel sad, of course, and angry. I feel angry,” about losing after being outspent in the primary 30-1. After speaking to the crowd, Berge, a mental health counselor, passed the microphone to a number of supporters for what she called a “group session.”

“This is a race that DCCC thought was going to get called in five minutes,” Berge’s campaign manager, Nick Padeski, said from the stage. “Like that is the reality of what we were up against, and everything that was achieved tonight is truly a success and an achievement and a wake-up call to a lot of people that we deserve better than what has been going on.”

Since the 2024 race, Van Orden and the Republican party have been relentlessly attacking Cooke, frequently calling her a “commie.” As national attention focuses on the district while Republicans fight to hold onto their thin majority, Van Orden spent Tuesday evening posting AI videos of Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker yelling at a CNN anchor.

“Congressman Derrick Van Orden served our nation with honor as a Navy SEAL, and in Congress, he stands up for Wisconsin, fighting for commonsense wins. Radical Rebecca Cooke is a paid political operative for the far-left who pushes a radical agenda that is completely out of touch with Western Wisconsin,” National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement Tuesday night. “Commie Cooke will be rejected for the third time this fall, and Wisconsinites will send Congressman Van Orden back to Congress.”