President Joe Biden is visiting western Wisconsin this week as national Democrats eye a congressional district as a possible pickup.
The president will visit Westby in Vernon County, Wisconsin, on Thursday to “deliver remarks highlighting how his investing in America agenda is benefiting communities across Wisconsin," according to the White House. After Biden's exit from the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign announced Biden would be deployed “strategically” to states he won in 2020, such as Wisconsin, and with voting demographics he bodes well in, such as older voters.
As Republican support in Wisconsin’s suburbs dwindles , former President Donald Trump’s populist message has taken hold in rural areas of the Midwest. Wisconsin’s Driftless region along the Mississippi River, or the southwestern portion of the state encompassed by the 3rd Congressional District, was historically a rural, Democratic stronghold until Trump's first presidential run in 2016.
In 2016, Trump surprisingly won the state by 27,000 votes, marking the first time a Republican won the state since 1984. In 2020 , Biden flipped the state back to blue by 20,000 votes.
In Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, where Westby is located, Trump narrowly won in 2016 and won it again in 2020 with slightly increased margins.
Here, Democrat Rebecca Cooke is challenging one-term Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI). The boundaries encompass a mixed bag, including Minnesota’s Twin Cities exurbs, the cities of La Crosse, Stevens Point, and Eau Claire, and many rural communities.
The district was represented by longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind from 1997 until his retirement in the 2022 midterm elections. The area also voted exclusively for Democrats for president until 2016. Former President Barack Obama received 58% of the vote compared to John McCain’s 41% in the 2008 presidential election.
Biden will likely advocate Cooke’s candidacy in his Thursday visit to the region. The White House announced his visit last week and said he would focus on the problems facing small towns and rural America. More than half of Wisconsin voters in 2020 came from small towns and rural areas, according to the Associated Press.
This year, Biden has made at least five visits to the Badger State. He most recently campaigned in Madison in July following the presidential debate, which led to his exit from the race. After Biden ended his reelection bid, Harris started her campaign in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis . She also visited Eau Claire earlier this month alongside her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Walz spoke at Milwaukee’s Laborfest on Monday.
Democrats are planning to use the Obama-level enthusiasm surrounding Harris to create downballot momentum for other Democrats. House Democrats' main campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, recently added Cooke to its "Red to Blue" program, which is a list of Democratic candidates it is propping up as likely to flip Republican-held seats.
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"Western Wisconsinites can trust Rebecca Cooke to deliver for them because that’s what she’s done her whole life — from opening a small business in Eau Claire, to helping other women in her community become entrepreneurs, to working with Governor Evers to create jobs in Wisconsin," DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene said at the time of adding Cooke to the list.
Cooke being on the DCCC’s radar does not necessarily mean monetary investment from national Democrats. Still, the House Majority PAC reserved nearly $4 million in television ads for October around the district, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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