It's normal for the president's party to lose a little ground in Congress during the midterms. We could go on and on about why, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that it's what typically happens, and it's expected to happen this time, too.
Every seat in the House is up for grabs, and that includes the Wisconsin 3rd District.
The seat was held by a Democrat for quite a while, namely in the form of Rep. Ron Kind. While he was a Democrat, he'd break with his party over gun control on a regular basis. He was the kind of Democrat gun rights supporters could live with.
In 2022, he decided not to seek reelection.
That was at a time when the district seemed to be turning red. In 2020, Trump took the district by four points, which rose to an eight-point margin in 2024. In 2022, the district only supported one Democrat on the statewide ballot, Gov. Tony Evers. It looked like the tides turned in that district, but all that might change in November if gun rights advocates don't pick things up.
Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat running for Congress in Wisconsin’s Third District, has staked out a firmly progressive position on gun policy, backing sweeping reforms, including a ban on AR-15-style rifles, as she seeks to flip the seat blue against Republican Derrick Van Orden.
While that may align with the broader direction of the national Democratic Party, it marks a notable break in a district where even previous Democratic representatives have taken a more measured, moderate approach on gun rights.
“The time for thoughts and prayers are over. We need meaningful gun reform now. I know that Wisconsin has a rich heritage in hunting and gamesmanship, but we’re not talking about AR-15s at deer camp," Cooke said during the 2022 WI-03 Democratic Primary Debate, when asked whether she supports more gun control legislation. "As somebody who is a candidate of distinction for Moms Demand Action, I support universal background checks. I support the enforcement of red flag laws that are put up when someone is having a mental health crisis or is a domestic abuser so they’re not a harm to themselves or others. I support the elimination of the Charleston Loophole.”
Van Orden won the race in 2022, and now he's running against someone who is an absolute trainwreck for gun rights.
Currently, Van Orden holds the edge in polling, but only by half a percent. To call that within the margin of error is to put it mildly. This is a dead heat, and someone like Cooke in Congress would be a disaster.
This is a woman who has the support of such fine, upstanding supporters of gun rights as Bernie Sanders and Moms Demand Action. I think it's safe to say she won't play well with staunch Second Amendment supporters in the House.
And from a look at recent history, there's literally no reason this should be happening. Van Orden was elected just two years ago, defeated Cooke then, and now he's possibly going to be a one-term congressman? I mean, maybe people are pissed that he said the shooting of Minnesota lawmakers last year was tied to the No Kings protests, but I seriously doubt it. There was actually some reason, especially in the early days, to believe just that, and most people forgot about who said what then.
So what gives?
Folks, if you're in that district, rally your folks and get to work.
We don't need an anti-gun antagonist like Cooke in the halls of Congress.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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