Democrats vow to unite against Van Orden after primary election reveals divisions

Mark Pocan doesn’t regret his leading criticism of the Democratic House candidate who won Tuesday’s election.

The Madison congressman said he is backing nonprofit owner Rebecca Cooke in her general election fight against new Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, despite supporting Cooke’s primary opponent and publicly opposing Cooke before her victory this week.

Pocan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he expects Democrats to rally behind Cooke as they seek to turn around Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District after an extremely close primary race. He did not commit to campaigning in the district with Cooke as he did with the Democratic candidate last cycle, saying he plans to get involved in the state legislative race in his district.

“I think everybody was united from the beginning in trying to beat Derrick Van Orden,” Pocan said Wednesday, adding that Van Orden “should be beatable” and noting the race’s national significance. “It’s going to be all hands on deck.”

Wisconsin Democrats have been ignoring party unity issues in the hours following Tuesday’s primary after the two leading Democratic candidates running for the seat, Cooke and Stevens Point state Rep. Katrina Shankland, traded attacks in the final weeks of the race in western Wisconsin, leading some in the party to question how the tensions could affect the general election.

On Tuesday, Cooke defeated Shankland by about 9 percentage points and won 50% of the votes cast.

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Democrats argued that their determination to defeat Van Orden, as well as the recent surge in enthusiasm for the party since Vice President Kamala Harris became the party’s presidential nominee, outweighed any infighting that occurred during the primaries, during which candidates accused each other of rigging results and negatively influencing the outcome of the race.

“Democrats are united against Van Orden and for Harris,” William Garcia, the party’s 3rd District chairman, said after the primary. “And I think that unity will overcome any concerns about who supported whom in the primary.”

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler said late Tuesday night that the party was “excited to unite around Rebecca Cooke.”

And Shankland signaled Wednesday that she plans to campaign with Cooke to defeat Van Orden. She said she is committed to “continuing our work together to help turn our district blue and elect Democrats across the board, from Kamala Harris to Tammy Baldwin to Rebecca Cooke.”

Cooke told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that she would “embrace” the endorsements of Democrats from across the state, noting that her campaign will begin a unity tour of the district this week. She said that “some issues were raised during the primary,” but added that “now it’s time to move forward as a party, as a team and as a group of candidates who ran together.”

“At the end of the day, we are all Democrats and we share a lot of the same values,” Cooke said. “There is a lot of work to be done.”

Asked about Pocan’s involvement in the primary, Cooke called Pocan “a credible advocate for the real work of trying to flip this seat.” She said she anticipates Pocan will be involved in the campaign at some point “in some capacity.”

Still, Pocan’s reluctance to campaign for Cooke in the hours after the primary is a change from the previous cycle. He campaigned extensively in the district in 2022 for Onalaska state Sen. Brad Pfaff, who lost to Van Orden by 4 points. In recent weeks, he has sharply criticized Cooke for attacks on Shankland and urged her to reject “dark money,” though outside groups he referenced to attack Shankland have disclosed their donors and spending.

He told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that he generally has reservations about outside groups getting involved in Wisconsin races and suggested he plans to focus on other contests in his district. But he acknowledged that he will likely “be in (3rd Congressional District) and do different things.”

His involvement in Cooke’s race, he said, depends largely on Cooke.

Shankland, for her part, wanted to bury the hatchet after a sometimes bitter fight. She said she planned to join Cooke’s unity tour “as we continue to fight for our freedoms.”

Her comments echoed views she expressed during last month’s debate:

“I will support the Democratic nominee because Derrick Van Orden is one of the most radical members of Congress,” Shankland said at the time. “We should work hard and we should work together.”

Republicans have seized on the negative turnaround in the Democratic primary as evidence they are in a bad position to challenge Van Orden in November. The National Republican Congressional Committee on Tuesday night called the race “the most chaotic Democratic primary in Wisconsin in years.”

This week, Van Orden attacked Cooke, calling her a “shady political insider posing as a philanthropist,” referring to her career as a political fundraiser.

But Democrats want to focus on Van Orden, who has had a history of angry outbursts during his nearly two-year term on Capitol Hill.

Wikler on Tuesday night called Van Orden a “one-man clown show.” And Eric Wilson, the third Democrat in the race with just under 9% of the vote, said Wednesday he was “excited about what Rebecca and I are going to build together, because only together can we defeat Derrick Van Orden.”

Democrats like Garcia, the 3rd District chairman, pointed to the increased voter turnout across the state Tuesday as a positive sign for the party’s chances in November. More than 84,000 Democrats voted in the 3rd District this week — up from about 61,000 in 2022. Some noted that many of the district’s universities were on summer break and could have only boosted that turnout.

Pocan also claims that everything is fine.

“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be unanimous in November,” Pocan said.

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Democrats vow to unite against Van Orden after primary election reveals divisions

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