Activists expressed frustration with national party organizations endorsing ahead of primaries but fell short in their effort to amend the WisDem constitution to allow local units to back candidates as well.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has endorsed Rebecca Cooke in her bid for a rematch with U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and it has become an issue in the three-candidate primary.

3rd CD Chair William Garcia said county party members and chairs are frustrated that locals aren’t allowed to endorse, but federal ones such as the DCCC are. He said those endorsements prevent some candidates from being able to raise money or get help from outside groups.

The DCCC added Cooke to its “Red to Blue” program in February, and she had raised $6.5 million through the end of March over the 2025-26 cycle. 

Cooke has outraised Van Orden over the past two fundraising quarters. That includes the $2.4 million she raised over the first three months of the year, with nearly $1.7 million of the haul coming from individual donors.

Eau Claire Common Council President Emily Berge, who’s been Cooke’s chief rival for the nomination, had raised $565,651.

The proposed amendment only would’ve allowed local party units to endorse if national groups backed someone ahead of a primary. Delegates at the state convention voted to send it back to committee for further discussion.

“This is an expression of our frustration and the fact that our hands are tied while federal groups are kind of allowed to do whatever they want,” Garcia said.

Kim Butler, Polk County Dem chair and a former 7th CD chair, said the national endorsements can be helpful in cases where there are unserious candidates taking attention away from those who have true local support in a race. She cited the example of Tricia Zunker, a Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court associate justice, running in a primary that included a perennial candidate who seeks office around the state even though he doesn’t live in the districts and another person who no longer resided in Wisconsin.

Still, Butler said she’s annoyed that the DCCC put its “thumb on the scale” in the 3rd CD primary and that local activists bristle when they see endorsements coming from national groups, seeing it as taking away their voice.

“I think we do need to find a solution and tell these national entities to back off,” Butler said. “But I’m not sure how we would go about doing it. Us all going and endorsing candidates before the primaries is going to—excuse my language—piss off people in my district.”