In their only debate of the race, Dem challenger Rebecca Cooke knocked GOP U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s support of the Iran war and cuts to federal social programs while he accused her of lying and being against tax cuts.
The GOP congressman from Prairie du Chien directed the audiences to rebeccalies.com throughout the forum, and Cooke hit Van Orden on Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill and the lack of congressional approval associated with the war. The two also faced each other on the ballot two years ago but did not debate in that race.
“One of the first things that I would like to see, as a member of Congress, is to end this war in Iran, which nobody voted for,” Cooke said at the Chippewa Valley Technical College Tuesday. “We’ve seen so much spending, billions of taxpayer dollars, go overseas when they could be invested in things here to put Wisconsin first, to put our communities first.”
Van Orden said he doesn’t want the country to be at war and also acknowledged the conflict is making it “exponentially harder” for Republicans to hold both the House and the Senate.
“If people can rape, murder, torture and hold us economically hostage, and Rebecca Cooke is unwilling to fight that conflict, then I’d say that is disqualifying to be a member of Congress. Because we have to make decisions we don’t want to make, oftentimes, and this is one of them,” Van Orden said of the war.
The two also sparred over Van Orden’s support of the 2025 legislation signed by President Donald Trump – later rebranded by the GOP as the “Working Families Tax Cut Act.” The legislation extended individual and corporate tax cuts while also cutting federal funding for programs like food stamps and Medicaid and clean energy incentives.
Van Orden said those removed from SNAP rolls were primarily instances of fraud and that he fully supports Medicare and Medicaid. He added that the legislation removed taxes on overtime and tips, small business tax exemptions, and taxes on Social Security.
“This is the largest tax cut in the history of our country, and Rebecca Cooke is now again officially on record saying that she would not have voted for them,” Van Orden said.
Cooke fired back that the tax exemptions for overtime and tips are only temporary, but tax cuts for billionaires were permanent.
“Children are going to go hungry in this district on Derrick Van Orden’s watch, and people are going to get more sick in this district because of the things that he voted for,” Cooke said.
Cooke said if Democrats win control of the House, her priorities would be establishing a public option for healthcare, expanding ACA tax credit premiums for another three years and adding vision, dental and hearing to Medicare.
Van Orden touted the estimated $1 billion more for BadgerCare as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts and the Rural Health Transformation Program, which is estimated to bring an additional $203 million to the state.
Cooke said the transformation fund was “a drop in the bucket” and noted the recent hospital closures in the district.
“We have a serious access issue here in the 3rd Congressional District. It’s not just about costs, but costs are also going through the roof,” Cooke said.
Cooke decried the tendency to play “partisan football” on issues of immigration and said she would work across the aisle to get things done. She referenced the congressman’s work on potentially lengthening the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to bring in foreign nationals for seasonal agricultural work, and said she’d be in favor of similar proposals.
Van Orden responded that you can “say anything you want in politics” even if it isn’t “associated with the truth” and blasted Cooke for not condemning past violence committed by illegal immigrants.
He also said Cooke supports sanctuary cities and pointed to his Agriculture Workforce Reform Act of 2025, which would require undocumented workers to leave the country, pay a fine and return temporarily.
“Cows aren’t going to stop milking because of poor immigration policy. A hog’s not going to stop growing because of poor immigration policy. So as opposed to saying one thing and doing another. I’ve actually been working on this for the three years that I’ve been in Congress,” Van Orden said.
Cooke responded by saying that she does not support sanctuary cities and wants to deport violent criminals.
Van Orden and Cooke also went head-to-head over Trump’s tariffs and the cost of diesel amid harvesting season.
Van Orden called tariffs a “tool” to ensure fair trade for American farmers and specifically mentioned Canada as a country that has not been trading fairly.
“When the American farmer can compete on a level playing field, they win every single time, and it’s time to level the playing field,” Van Orden said.
The congressman added that the Trump administration will release $8 billion as part of the Harvest Fuel relief program meant to help offset higher diesel prices this fall.
Cooke said throughout the campaign she’s found that nobody likes the tariffs, and the way they were implemented left farmers little time to prepare for them.
“Farmers don’t want handouts on the back end because of poor decision-making in Washington. They want good marketplaces to be able to sell their goods to the world and to feed the world,” Cooke said. “We want good relationships with our trade allies, and we want good relationships with export partners like China.”