Elections

State Rep. Katrina Shankland announces 2024 run for Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District

State Rep. Katrina Shankland of Stevens Point has joined a crowded field of Democratic candidates in western Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Associated Press

October 3, 2023 • West Central Region

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Katrina Shankland sits and faces a microphone while listening to another speaker.

State Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, participates in a Wisconsin Assembly committee hearing on May 25, 2017. Shankland announced on Oct. 3, 2023 that she is running for the Democratic nomination to Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District in the 2024 election. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)


AP News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic legislator from central Wisconsin announced Oct. 3 that she is running for U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s seat in 2024.

State Rep. Katrina Shankland, of Sevens Point, joined a crowded field of Democratic challengers in western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. Former La Crosse County Board Chair Tara Johnson, small-business owner Rebecca Cooke and Harvard Law School student Aaron Nytes all have announced plans to run.

Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, narrowly defeated Democratic state Sen. Brad Pfaff to flip the seat for the GOP in 2022 after longtime Democratic incumbent Ron Kind chose not to seek reelection. Pfaff has decided not to challenge Van Orden in 2024.

Van Orden was admonished in July by fellow Republicans and Democrats, who called on him to apologize after he yelled vulgarities at high school-aged U.S. Senate pages who were lying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda taking pictures. Van Orden was outside of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, before he was elected to Congress.

His campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Shankland’s candidacy.


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