Question to pose to y’all about a specific district:
Why do you think Democrats in WI-03 aren’t deferring to the 2024 nominee Rebecca Cooke in 2026? From what I can recall, she way over performed Harris and that was when very few Democrats were able to do so last year (which is what sunk our chances of a majority in the Senate and/or Hous…
Question to pose to y’all about a specific district:
Why do you think Democrats in WI-03 aren’t deferring to the 2024 nominee Rebecca Cooke in 2026? From what I can recall, she way over performed Harris and that was when very few Democrats were able to do so last year (which is what sunk our chances of a majority in the Senate and/or House).
I know Orden is a controversial opponent for her to easily hammer, but I don’t see any reason why not to coalesce around her? Whereas say, in CO-08, I’d much rather Rutinel be the nominee than Caraveo despite her running again after a close loss because she only matched Harris in 2024. Do other Democrats really believe they can beat her in the primary? Curious to hear your thoughts on this!
It might just be that a lot of people view Van Orden as a sitting duck (especially if the WI-SC tosses the congressional map while Rebecca Bradley sheds salty, bitter tears).
Yeah there is a treasure trove of crazy things she has said and barring a massive turn around in the environment or the highly engaged demos of off year turnout I doubt April 2026 will be a good time for her to run for reelection.
Do we know if there's going to be a court case in WI over the federal maps? I know it wasn't done concurrently with the state maps for legal reasons. I haven't heard anything since then about a challenge.
I know someone who was involved in the Wisconsin coordinated campaign last cycle. They say that Cooke didn’t play well with other dems on the ticket. Her campaign was basically grounded in the assumption that Harris and other dems would lose in the district, and she had to develop her own independent brand and focus on swing voter in order to win. I think this was probably the right strategy - in a presidential year Harris was going to turn out every dem voter that could be turned out, so there was no point in Cooke rallying the base, and if she had been viewed as heavily linked to Harris and the other dem candidates on the ballot she never would have been able to overperform to the degree that she did. But this strategy didn’t win her friends among the active dems who make up the volunteer base and local party leadership in the district. (And some started out hostile to her after she won a divisive primary.) I imagine this makes it harder for Cooke to solidify the support she’d need to scare off challengers. But I’m also not sure if the dissatisfaction with Cooke runs any deeper than the 5% of dems who are most actively involved with the party. I wouldn’t be surprised if the average dem voter in the district is completely unaware of these criticisms.
Thank you for that local perspective! I always love hearing about things like this. Honestly and sincerely imo, these party Democrats need to get over it. Barring scandal or a redraw, she’s almost certainly going to be the nominee again.
If there was only 1 alternative Democrat running, maybe they could coalesce all of the not-Cooke vote, but with name recognition, millions of dollars and an entire already built out campaign and messaging operation, even that would probably be very difficult. Against multiple opponents though? Almost impossible.
If the district is redrawn somehow to be much bluer, then it would also be pretty wide open as to who wins the nomination for the seat, but otherwise it seems to me like a forgone conclusion.
Question to pose to y’all about a specific district:
Why do you think Democrats in WI-03 aren’t deferring to the 2024 nominee Rebecca Cooke in 2026? From what I can recall, she way over performed Harris and that was when very few Democrats were able to do so last year (which is what sunk our chances of a majority in the Senate and/or House).
I know Orden is a controversial opponent for her to easily hammer, but I don’t see any reason why not to coalesce around her? Whereas say, in CO-08, I’d much rather Rutinel be the nominee than Caraveo despite her running again after a close loss because she only matched Harris in 2024. Do other Democrats really believe they can beat her in the primary? Curious to hear your thoughts on this!
It might just be that a lot of people view Van Orden as a sitting duck (especially if the WI-SC tosses the congressional map while Rebecca Bradley sheds salty, bitter tears).
That salty judge is going to get the boot next year. Wisconsin is on a purge of Walker loyalists and voters are going to show her the door.
Yeah there is a treasure trove of crazy things she has said and barring a massive turn around in the environment or the highly engaged demos of off year turnout I doubt April 2026 will be a good time for her to run for reelection.
WI Dems just need to lie and exaggerate her record. Republicans do it all the time with our party.
With Bradley, being perfectly truthful about her record may be enough.
Glad you said it.
How likely is it that we'll have a new federal House map in WI for the 2026 elections? Has a lawsuit been filed yet?
Do we know if there's going to be a court case in WI over the federal maps? I know it wasn't done concurrently with the state maps for legal reasons. I haven't heard anything since then about a challenge.
I know someone who was involved in the Wisconsin coordinated campaign last cycle. They say that Cooke didn’t play well with other dems on the ticket. Her campaign was basically grounded in the assumption that Harris and other dems would lose in the district, and she had to develop her own independent brand and focus on swing voter in order to win. I think this was probably the right strategy - in a presidential year Harris was going to turn out every dem voter that could be turned out, so there was no point in Cooke rallying the base, and if she had been viewed as heavily linked to Harris and the other dem candidates on the ballot she never would have been able to overperform to the degree that she did. But this strategy didn’t win her friends among the active dems who make up the volunteer base and local party leadership in the district. (And some started out hostile to her after she won a divisive primary.) I imagine this makes it harder for Cooke to solidify the support she’d need to scare off challengers. But I’m also not sure if the dissatisfaction with Cooke runs any deeper than the 5% of dems who are most actively involved with the party. I wouldn’t be surprised if the average dem voter in the district is completely unaware of these criticisms.
Thank you for that local perspective! I always love hearing about things like this. Honestly and sincerely imo, these party Democrats need to get over it. Barring scandal or a redraw, she’s almost certainly going to be the nominee again.
If there was only 1 alternative Democrat running, maybe they could coalesce all of the not-Cooke vote, but with name recognition, millions of dollars and an entire already built out campaign and messaging operation, even that would probably be very difficult. Against multiple opponents though? Almost impossible.
If the district is redrawn somehow to be much bluer, then it would also be pretty wide open as to who wins the nomination for the seat, but otherwise it seems to me like a forgone conclusion.