The race to represent Wisconsin's third congressional district is gaining steam as Democrats hope to flip the seat in their effort to take control of the House.
The race is a rematch with Democratic challenger Rebecca Cook, once again taking on Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden.
Steven Potter has this story from western Wisconsin.
I'm about as straightforward as you can get.
I'm a retired Navy Seal senior chief.
I'm a father and a Christian.
I'm a husband.
I'm a grandfather.
Hi.
How's it going?
Good.
How are you?
Good.
I have a background that people connect with and resonate with.
I grew up on the north side of town, on a dairy farm, over on a small business here in downtown Eau Claire.
I'm a waitress at a local restaurant up the street.
to represent Wisconsin's third congressional District say they share the same values as their neighbors.
They're hard working, farm loving, and family focused.
But how that translates into partisan politics for Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden and Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke is what voters are set to decide this November.
I'm running for Congress because I want to address some of the biggest issues in our communities lowering costs, combating corruption, bolstering agriculture, supporting small business and rebuilding an American dream that, you know, we can actually grasp.
Van Orden says he's running for reelection to finish what he started in Congress under President Donald Trump.
We got the farm bill.
As I said, that's critically important.
That's just got to get through the Senate.
And then I continue to work on a series of veterans initiatives.
We need an extra two years here to get get most of the things accomplished that, you know, the president ran on.
And the things that I ran on.
President Trump and his policies factor heavily into this race.
Cook says.
Voters want change.
Things have gotten worse under this administration.
You look at this war in Iran, a war of choice that nobody voted for.
Trump and Derrick Van Orden First agenda.
This war is not America First.
It's increased diesel prices.
It's increased fertilizer prices for farmers, but it's also increased prices across the board.
When it takes more to ship goods to the grocery store.
Right?
Everyone's seeing their costs go up.
Right now.
Diesel is too high.
That's flat out.
It is absolutely too high.
And it's much more nuanced than this.
The conflict in Iran, is it politically convenient right now that we're involved in this conflict with Iran?
The answer is absolutely no.
But Van Orden says he'd rather fight this war now instead of later.
I don't want my grandchildren involved in a conflict with Iran and with this current group of folks in there, you know, they will be unless something is done.
and trade policies under Trump have also hurt Americans.
as the top of the pyramid of the things that people, especially in this district, are struggling with.
We've seen two major hospitals close.
You look at the impact reciprocal tariffs have had on our soybean farmers and our cranberry producers who caused those big issues.
A lot of that leads back to him and to Derrick Van Orden.
Steil Van Orden stands behind Trump on policy.
The border is closed.
We've got no tax on tips.
Seniors living on Social Security paid, no federal income tax on their Social Security this year, and the policies that he has done for America are benefiting Americans.
And he salutes the president's patriotism.
That man got shot in the head.
Donald Trump literally got shot in the head for America.
When it comes to issues important to this region, the candidates are in alignment.
There's a high voltage transmission line referred to as line 765.
It is absolutely inappropriate.
seven, six.
Five and data centers.
I don't want a data center next to me either.
I live here on purpose.
You can't cover Black dirt.
That's farmland.
Called for a federal data center moratorium.
These issues are sort of aligned like people from the outside shouldn't be deciding what gets built in our backyards.
UW, green Bay political science professor David Helpap is watching this race very closely.
The people that are very enthusiastic about the president, they're going to turn out.
But with inflation, high gas prices and other concerns, that's not all Republicans these days, especially for a lower turnout midterm election.
It's the individuals that sort of sit maybe on the fringes of support for the party that are going to be harder to convince and harder to turn out.
The stakes are high in this race because it has the potential to be incredibly close.
And because of that, it may also help determine which party controls the U.S.
House of Representatives.
The composition of the House of Representatives right now is such that having a district go 1 or 2 districts go your way could make or break your chances of controlling that institution.
Which puts this race in the spotlight.
At the national level.
I would say the third Congressional District is probably the biggest bellwether right now.
It's the most competitive.
In this race.
According to election analysts will likely be as close as the last one was two years ago.
Derrick Van Orden faced Rebecca Cooke in an election for this very same seat.
Van Orden won that race by less than three points in this year's rematch.
Both candidates are pushing hard for the rural vote.
Especially, you know, for Democratic voters.
You know, there's been a lot of focus on some of the urban areas like Eau Claire, Stevens Point, La Crosse.
And I think that it can be easy to forget some of our small town communities, you know, 500 or less.
And I think those voices are just as important as the voices in our in our bigger communities.
purple state.
We're a state full of conservatives that don't vote in our elections are are settled by, what, 25,000 votes?
No.
If every person in the state of Wisconsin that considered themselves a conservative voted regularly, the states as red as an apple.
And with control of the House hanging on races like this one.
Van Orden and Cooke also agree that these midterm elections will decide.
democracy.
country.
Claire.
I'm Steven Potter for Here and Now.
It's the thick of harvest season for crops harvest season for crops
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