{"id":40340,"date":"2026-08-12T07:41:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T02:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40340"},"modified":"2026-08-12T07:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T02:41:53","slug":"democrat-backed-by-blue-dogs-and-bernie-sanders-wins-primary-as-parties-prepare-to-battle-for-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40340","title":{"rendered":"Democrat backed by Blue Dogs and Bernie Sanders wins primary as parties prepare to battle for the House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit_1500w\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260811--Rebecca-Cooke-vsb-1933-e08dfb.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-fc8eb7\" class=\"body-graf\">Tuesday\u2019s primaries are setting the matchups in around a half-dozen competitive House races that will be key to the fight for the House majority in November, including in a hotly contested Democratic target in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6d19d6\" class=\"body-graf\">Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin\u2019s 3rd District, NBC News projects, and will take on two-term GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden in the fall. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1c7ac9\" class=\"body-graf\">The race will be a rematch from 2024, when Cooke lost to Van Orden by about 3 points even though President Donald Trump carried the district by 7 points.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-87b6ac\" class=\"body-graf\">A small business owner, Cooke has touted her roots growing up on a dairy farm and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/bernie-sanders-dives-key-house-battleground-trump-carried-2024-new-end-rcna213874\" target=\"_blank\">tried to eschew political labels<\/a>, boasting a range of supporters from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to moderate groups like New Dems and Blue Dogs to a progressive icon in Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4b5550\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI am a Blue Dog and a New Dem, but I\u2019m also very progressive where it counts,\u201d Cooke told NBC News last year. \u201cI don\u2019t like the labels and the boxes that kind of have been created, because immediately, you know, you\u2019re written off and \u2018othered\u2019 in your party because you\u2019re this or because you\u2019re that. And really, I\u2019m just \u2014 I\u2019m running because I\u2019m for western Wisconsin, period.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f3458e\" class=\"body-graf\">Republicans are looking to paint her as too far left for the district. Van Orden campaign spokesperson Grace Kim recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanordenforcongress.com\/democrats-sound-the-alarm-rebecca-cooke-is-wrong-for-the-3rd-district-of-wisconsin-and-wrong-for-the-country\/\" target=\"_blank\">said in a statement<\/a> that Cook \u201chas aligned herself with the most extreme elements of her party,\u201d pointing to <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?si=ysYxN3YXS8MDEEgA&amp;v=L6-mpWRz-3w&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\">footage <\/a>of her saying she would support Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City and calling for a ban on AR-15 rifles. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-7163a5\" class=\"body-graf\">Cooke has proven to be a strong fundraiser, pulling in nearly $8.6 million to Van Orden\u2019s $7.5 million so far this election cycle. And the race is sure to attract millions more: Super PACs from both parties have already reserved $9 million in airtime for the fall, according to AdImpact. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d2c9e9\" class=\"body-graf\">Democrats also hope they can put another Wisconsin race in play in November: the 1st District in the southeastern corner of the state, where GOP Rep. Bryan Steil is running for a fifth term with Trump\u2019s endorsement. Trump won the district by less than 5 points in 2024.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-62a4b3\" class=\"body-graf\">Mitchell Berman, a former nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, won the Democratic primary, NBC News projects, after deciding to run for office after the Department of Government Efficiency\u2019s efforts to slash the federal workforce. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-095c67\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI got an email asking me to justify my job,\u201d Berman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/07\/30\/meet-the-democrats-vying-to-challenge-bryan-steil-in-wisconsin-1st-congressional-district\/91081824007\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z116550p118050l115250c118050e1100xxv116550d--55--b--55--&amp;gca-ft=49&amp;gca-ds=sophi\" target=\"_blank\">told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/a>. \u201cGive Elon Musk three things that I did in the previous week as an ER nurse at the bedside at the VA. I realized, this is no longer about improving care for veterans.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-347964\" class=\"body-graf\">Berman\u2019s fundraising has lagged behind Steil, who has raised $5.5 million so far this election cycle, while Berman has pulled in $713,000. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d1fe74\" class=\"body-graf\">Democrats are also eyeing Minnesota\u2019s 1st District as a potential pickup, although it is further down the party\u2019s list of targets, given Trump won this seat in southern Minnesota by 12 points in 2024. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-5b2d49\" class=\"body-graf\">Trump has endorsed GOP Rep. Brad Finstad in the race. Democrats Jake Johnson and businessman Alex Eaton are competing to take on Finstad in the fall. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-069070\" class=\"body-graf\">Republicans are looking to pick up Alabama\u2019s 2nd District in the southeastern corner of the state after a redistricting effort redrew the state\u2019s congressional lines. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e4c513\" class=\"body-graf\">The seat, currently represented by Democrat Shomari Figures, had been one of the state\u2019s largely Black districts, but it shifted towards Republicans after the Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/supreme-court\/supreme-court-allows-alabama-congress-map-eliminate-black-district-rcna346920\" target=\"_blank\">ruled in June<\/a> that Alabama could use a different map preferred by state Republicans. In 2024, then-Vice President Kamala Harris had won the old version of the district by 8 points, but Trump would have won it by about 14 points under the new lines. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3fffe4\" class=\"body-graf\">Republicans have nominated state Rep. Rhett Marques, who will take on Figures in the fall. Marques is backed by prominent Republicans including Trump, top members of House GOP leadership and Sen. Katie Britt. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1a637b\" class=\"body-graf\">Republicans are also looking to make Minnesota\u2019s open 2nd District competitive as they defend the party\u2019s narrow House majority. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d5a3a4\" class=\"body-graf\">Trump lost this seat in the Twin Cities suburbs by 6 points in 2024, but it has been a competitive district in recent election cycles. And Democrats no longer have the benefit of incumbency, since Rep. Angie Craig vacated the seat to run for Senate. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-755a60\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">State Sen. Matt Little won the Democratic primary and will face GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt in the fall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday\u2019s primaries are setting the matchups in around a half-dozen competitive House races that will be key to the fight for the House majority in November, including in a hotly contested Democratic target in Wisconsin. Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin\u2019s 3rd District, NBC News projects, and will take on two-term GOP Rep&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260811--Rebecca-Cooke-vsb-1933-e08dfb.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}