Democratic US House candidates hold unity rally in La Crosse, after Cooke’s win

Democratic voters in western Wisconsin made their choice for US House in the fall primary, electing Rebecca Cooke to face Republican Derrick Van Orden.

Friday, the three candidates in the race — Cooke, Katrina Shankland, and Eric Wilson — stopped in La Crosse as they travel the district together to show party unity.

Two of the three primary hopefuls in the 3rd District contest were women, but Cooke says gender did not seem to be a big issue — not yet.

“Gender was not really brought up,” Cooke said, “but, you know, I think it would be really historical to have the first woman represent the 3rd Congressional District, and I would love to be that person.”

Shankland, who wraps up her Wisconsin state Assembly term at the end of the year, placed second in the primary.

“People know that their vote matters,” Shankland said, “and they’re incredibly fired up about the opportunity to make generational, transformational change simply by going to the polls in November.”

Wilson said Democratic candidates want to represent everyone.

Speaking about party unity, he said the candidates have had “a lot of differences come up, but really what it means to be a Democrat is to represent everyone.”

Referring to the incumbent, Wilson said he hopes area Democrats will show up to “take Derrick down.”

Van Orden was criticized by the Democratic candidates for his policies, and for instances of confrontation with anyone from teenagers to activists, which have made nationwide headlines.

The unity meeting also featured comments from other area Democratic candidates, including state Sen. Brad Pfaff, Assembly Reps. Steve Doyle and Jill Billings, and 96th District nominee Tara Johnson.