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Political Money Wire: New Spending in Alaska and Eight Other Races
Topic: Political spending in Colorado’s 5th District (CO-05) as part of the broader report “Political Money Wire: New Spending in Alaska and Eight Other Races.”
Updated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Republican · 3 November 2026
Derrick Van Orden
U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district (since 2023)
Derrick Van Orden, a Republican and retired U.S. Navy SEAL who has represented Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district since 2023, faces Democrat Rebecca Cooke again in 2026 after defeating her in 2024.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Derrick Van Orden.
Latest coverage
Live News
Recent media coverage for Derrick Van Orden.
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Van Orden rides with Trump in campaign for third term
Van Orden positions himself with Trump, appearing at events with Trump and several Trump administration figures, while Trump’s Wisconsin approval has recently trended low.
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Guns, F-bombs, fortune cookies. What do wild campaign ads actually say?
Eric Flores is the Republican candidate challenging incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez in Texas’s 34th Congressional District (TX-34).
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Rebecca Cooke says she can campaign ‘on my own’
In Wisconsin’s 3rd district (WI-03), Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who is challenging Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden, says she plans to campaign independently and has not coordinated with Harris’ team or attended…
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Eau Claire Chamber, WEAU partnering to broadcast forum with 3rd congressional candidates
Derrick Van Orden (WI-3) is featured in a jointly broadcast candidate forum with Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden and Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke.
No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- September 15, 1969
- Birthplace
- Minnesota
- Education
- Lakeridge High School
Excelsior University (Bachelor of Science)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Derrick Van Orden was born in Minnesota on September 15, 1969. His family lived in Hartland, Wisconsin, and then moved to the Portland, Oregon, area, where his mother took a job with the Insurance Company of North America, and he attended Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Excelsior University. Van Orden and his wife, Sara Jane, live in Wisconsin and have four children and eleven grandchildren.
Career
Van Orden joined the U.S. Navy in 1988 and was assigned to SEAL Team FOUR at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. He served five combat deployments and retired as a Senior Chief in 2014 after 26 years of active duty. He played Senior Chief Otto Miller in the 2012 film Act of Valor, and from 2017 to early 2019 he and his wife operated the Butternut Café in Butternut, Wisconsin.
As the Republican nominee for the 3rd district in 2020, Van Orden lost to Democratic incumbent Ron Kind by about three percentage points. In 2022 the seat was open, and Van Orden won it by defeating Democratic state senator Brad Pfaff in the general election.
He was reelected in 2024 with 51.4% of the vote over Democrat Rebecca Cooke. He serves on the House committees on Agriculture, Armed Services, and Veterans' Affairs, where he chairs the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, and he co-chairs the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus.
2026 race
Derrick Van Orden is the incumbent in Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, which takes in the Driftless Area in southwestern Wisconsin, including Eau Claire and La Crosse. He won the 2026 Republican primary with 99.00% of the vote.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he again faces Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke, a former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation board member who was also his opponent in 2024.
In August 2026, Van Orden drew criticism for posting AI-generated videos depicting Cooke making statements she had never made.