Dem Rebecca Cooke has declined a second invitation to debate GOP U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, saying she won’t participate in the “charade” with a potential host she says has “an obvious partisan bias.”

Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, has accepted an invitation from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin, his campaign and the group confirmed to WisPolitics. The GOP congressman challenged Cooke to a debate in July and has repeatedly accused her of “dodging a debate” on social media.

HCCW President Jorge Franco is also the executive producer for the “Valor Latino”, a Milwaukee radio program. The Cooke campaign referenced a past social media post from the radio program as evidence of partisan bias.

An Aug. 23 post from the radio show’s Facebook page said, “This is why you can’t elect Democrats for it has been taken over by Socialists/Communists” and was attached to a Fox News television segment about Democratic Socialists of America policy positions.

“Due to the obvious partisan bias of this potential debate host – previously stating that ‘you can’t elect Democrats’ and boosting Republican candidates – the Cooke Campaign will not be agreeing to participate in this charade,” a spokesperson for Cooke’s campaign said in a statement.

Franco told WisPolitics that HCCW is a nonpartisan organization, and while he is an executive producer on Valor Latino, he has no control over the content of the show or its social media.

A representative for Cooke’s campaign said that both campaigns have been in talks with a “credible non-partisan partner about a substantive debate.”

“If Derrick Van Orden has any interest at all in serving his constituents in the Third District, he should engage in that process instead of playing more political games. We’ve all already seen enough of that from him,” the Cooke spokesperson said.

A representative for the GOP congressman said he’s willing to consider other debate invitations as long as they are open to all members of the public.

The two had previously been invited to a debate hosted by Wisconsin Firearm Owners, a state-level NRA affiliate. Van Orden accepted the debate invitation, while Cooke called for “an objective nonpartisan host.”

A representative from the Van Orden campaign told WisPolitics the invitation from HCCW is the only other formal debate outside of the Wisconsin Firearm Owners.

Cooke and Van Orden didn’t debate ahead of the 2024 election that Van Orden won by less than 4 percentage points.

Van Orden has not debated any of his general election opponents since he was the GOP challenger to former Dem U.S. Rep. Ron Kind in 2020.

In 2024, the UW-La Crosse Debate Coalition invited both candidates, though Van Orden objected to the debate proposal over concerns about a lack of negotiations with his campaign staff.