Democratic Primary Heats Up in Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District

The race to determine who will challenge Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden is intensifying in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. With early voting underway and the August 13th primary fast approaching, Democratic candidates Katrina Shankland and Rebecca Cooke are turning up the heat on their campaigns. Both Jane Matenaer, host of Matenaer on Air, along with Todd Allbaugh, host of The Todd Allbaugh Show, shared their surprise over Shankland and Cooke using overly aggressive tactics. 

“State Representative Katrina Shankland recently aired an ad highlighting her experience while subtly critiquing Cooke’s lack of political background,” Matenaer explains. 

In the ad, Shankland is seen giving a subpar haircut to her husband, questioning if voters would trust a novice barber, juxtaposing this with a message about Cooke never having held public office.

“Rebecca Cooke, a political outsider who previously garnered significant support in the last primary, has also faced scrutiny,” Matenaer says. “A political action group supporting her released an ad accusing Shankland of working with Republicans to block the expansion of BadgerCare. But this accusation has been met with pushback from the governor’s office and Shankland’s high-profile supporter, Democratic U.S. Representative Mark Pocan.”

The friction between the candidates is drawing attention not only within the district but also from national Democrats, who are investing millions into the race.

“This influx of funds underscores the strategic importance of this flippable seat, which has seen both Democratic and Republican representation in recent years,” Allbaugh says. “Rebecca Cooke has emphasized her working-class roots and outsider status, despite a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece revealing her substantial earnings from political work and her endorsement by the centrist Blue Dog coalition. This endorsement has been a point of contention, with Pocan vocally criticizing Cooke’s alignment with the Blue Dogs.”

As the primary date nears, the question remains whether the Democratic Party can unify behind the eventual nominee. Meantime, the primary’s negativity could pose a challenge in rallying support against Van Orden, who has indicated he will not participate in debates against his opponent. It’s the final stretch for the Democratic contenders who may start balancing their attacks with the need to consolidate support for the general election.

READ: statement released by the 3rd Congressional District Democrats of Wisconsin in response to recent PAC involvement in the primary campaign.

The 3rd Congressional District Democrats of Wisconsin are troubled by an out-of district PAC spending money to attack our primary candidates. 

We fully support a strong and robust primary with spirited debate on all sides. We expect substantive differences between our candidates to be discussed and adjudicated. However, an outside PAC spending money to attack our candidates with scary graphics and distortions of voting records is counterproductive and unwelcome in our district. Our constituents want our primaries to be informative and uplifting, and our organization will work to keep these primaries as clean as possible. 

The 3rd CD Democrats of Wisconsin hopes that if PACs decide to spend money in the primary at all, it is to highlight the ways each candidate plans to improve the lives of Western Wisconsinites or to shine a light for voters on the abysmal voting record and significant character flaws of Derrick Van Orden. 

The 3rd CD Democrats of Wisconsin are proud of our excellent slate of candidates running in the primary and are excited to unite behind the winner of the August 13th primary. All of our candidates have the skills and support needed to defeat Derrick Van Orden in November. We must not allow outside groups to distract us from achieving our goal of winning the 3rd CD for Democrats up and down the ballot.