WATERTOWN, Wis. — In Wisconsin's most competitive House race, Democratic challenger Rebecca Cook is criticizing her opponent for running a border security campaign, even as she criticizes her opponent's appeal to immigrant voters. He positions himself as a moderate on the most important issues.
Incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Trump supporter, has been an outspoken opponent of the Biden administration's border policies.
The Cook Political Report rates the race as leaning toward Republicans, but Democrats believe that Cook defeated an incumbent state representative close to party leadership in the August primary, making it difficult for him to run this November. I think this could be a chance for recovery.
Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, flipped western Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District red by 3.7 percentage points in 2022 following the retirement of longtime moderate Democratic Rep. Ron Kind.
Cook, a political strategist and part-time waitress, focuses her platform on health care, labor unions, abortion and rural issues.
Van Orden has been clear about his position on illegal immigration and border security.
The congressman visited the border to highlight border issues after a suspected Torren de Aragua member allegedly assaulted a mother and daughter in her hometown of Prairie du Chien, raising awareness nationwide about immigration crime. spotlight.
It is even more difficult to clarify the positions of Democratic opponents on these issues.
Cook's website does not mention immigration on her list of priorities. still recent adsher talking points are carefully tailored to appeal to voters who are “somewhere in the middle.”
Cook is literally defining himself on the spot, standing in the middle of the road on his family's farm and firing off the promises of a Goldilocks platform.
“I will stand up to Democrats to ensure a secure border and stop wasteful spending,” she said, before vowing to also stand up to “extremists like Derrick Van Orden.”
in Latest Marquette Law School Poll Among registered voters in Wisconsin, Democrats (1%) rank immigration and border security as the least important issue to them, more than independents (6%) and Republicans (31%). There were also far more.
Mr. Cook's moderates on border security may be trying to attract Republican votes in rural districts, where Mr. Cook's Partisan Voter Index rates R+4.
More than 10,000 undocumented immigrant workers annually make up an estimated 70 percent of the workforce on Wisconsin's approximately 5,500 dairy farms. April 2023 survey By the University of Wisconsin-Madison Labor School.
Cook entered the December 2023 election during the hotly contested Democratic primary. zoom panel with fellow candidates hosted by Citizen Action Wisconsin.
In answering community questions about immigration, Cook used the opportunity to differentiate himself from the Republican incumbent.
She said she is “someone who supports DACA and supports the American Dream and Promise Act,” including the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and the granting of permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants who later entered the country. He mentioned the 2021 bill that would grant the right. As a minor.
“This is a testament to Derrick, who ran a campaign to secure our borders with no regard for the impact on the communities and people who already live in the United States and contribute so much to our economy and society. It's a stark contrast to someone like Van Orden, the entire community,” Cook continued.
The newspaper contacted Mr. Cook and Mr. Van Orden to ask about the details of their immigration policies and their different approaches to the border.
Cook's response lacked specifics on border security beyond calling for more Border Patrol agents and reiterated his position on immigrants brought to the United States as children.
“We can do both,” Cook told the Post. “We can secure our borders and keep law-abiding immigrants brought here as children in this country. I support more border officers and border security, but this We need someone in Congress to fix Washington's broken immigration system.”
Van Orden attacked Cook on a number of fronts, but also talked about his efforts to address immigrant labor issues.
“The two major differences between Mr. Cook and me are that I always put the safety of my fellow citizens first, and I have served as a Navy SEAL in multiple combat zones over the decades, which proves that. That's it,” the Republican told the Post.
“The last difference is that Mr. Cook is bipartisan. I am a member of the bipartisan Farm Labor Task Force in Congress, working diligently to fix the problems of our broken immigrant labor system, especially the H-2A program. “We have been working hard,” the statement continued.
“We can simultaneously ensure the security of our borders and the economic stability of our job market. All we need is the will and the means to do so. I have both, Cook does not. .”
The H-2A program allows foreign nationals to legally work in temporary agricultural jobs as long as they meet certain regulatory requirements.
The latest poll for the 3rd District election, conducted in late September, was conducted by the Republican-affiliated Congressional Leadership Fund. The poll shows Mr. Van Orden leading Mr. Cook by 5 points, 49% to 44%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 points. A Democratic-leaning House Majority PAC poll conducted Sept. 8-10 found Cook leading Van Orden 49% to 47%.
