Rebecca Cooke is again trying to flip Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, courting rural voters with a campaign focused on farm costs, health care and the future of family agriculture. At an Oct. 9 roundtable on her family’s farm near Eau Claire, the Democrat said she would push to address long-standing rural problems and reverse Trump administration policies she argues have made them worse. Former Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, joined her and urged Democrats to show up more consistently in rural communities. “Democrats don’t show up,” Tester said, describing how his home region shifted from reliably Democratic to Republican. He said rural residents should have a voice in Washington alongside other communities. Cooke lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden by 2.7 percentage points in 2024, outperforming Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the district by 7.4 points. Van Orden first won the seat in 2022, defeating Democrat Brad Pfaff by 3.7 points after longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind retired. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has placed the district among its top targets for 2026. The parties and outside political committees have spent nearly $30 million on the contest, with campaign advertising growing increasingly negative. Cooke accused Van Orden of failing to prioritize family farms. She said farmers are being squeezed by higher diesel and fertilizer costs, tariffs affecting crops including soybeans and cranberries, and rising health insurance premiums. Cooke also criticized his record on a farm bill and said some farmers in the district have seen monthly premiums rise from $400 to $1,800. Those claims were not independently detailed at the roundtable. A Van Orden spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Farmers who attended the roundtable and a Wisconsin Farmers Union town hall in Gays Mills that day raised concerns about health coverage, cuts to food assistance programs and the effects of immigration enforcement on the workers dairy farms rely on. They also warned that policies favoring large agricultural operations could further undermine smaller family farms. Cooke said she would seek a seat on the House Agriculture Committee if elected. Her proposals include a “right to repair” policy allowing farmers to fix their own equipment rather than depend on costly dealership repairs, a farm bill aimed at small and midsize operations, a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers, a public health insurance option and expanded Medicare coverage for vision and dental care. Her path to victory may depend on winning over some rural voters while turning out supporters in Eau Claire and La Crosse, said Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Cooke does not need to win rural areas by a wide margin, he said; even a modest shift could matter in a closely contested district. Cooke also faces the task of unifying Democrats after a divisive August primary, in which she defeated former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge by about 20 points. Chergosky said negative campaigning against the opposing party can sometimes help bring a fractured party’s supporters together. Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, has promoted his work on farm legislation and on visa programs for immigrant dairy workers. Cooke has criticized him for not holding open town halls and said his Oct. 20 debate with her would be his first debate appearance since his 2020 campaign against Kind.