U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican, had held the seat for four years before losing a 2026 rematch to Democrat Rebecca Cooke.

By Gus Pirlot, THE BADGER PROJECT

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican from Prairie du Chien, filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Friday to run again for the 3rd Congressional District seat in 2028, just days after losing it.

Van Orden, who won the seat by defeating state Sen. Brad Pfaff in 2022, lost Tuesday to Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who was challenging him for the second time. The loss came on a historic night in which Democrats flipped multiple congressional seats nationwide.

The 3rd is one of the few swing districts in the country. Cooke, who ran three times before winning, will take office in January. Van Orden first ran for the seat in 2020 and lost to long-time incumbent Ron Kind, then won in 2022 after the moderate Kind retired after 26 years in Congress.

In the 2026 campaign, Cooke raised and spent more than $12 million to beat Van Orden, according to the FEC. Van Orden, in contrast, raised and spent about $9 million. Including independent political groups like super PACs, at least $58 million was spent on the race, according to analysis from WisPolitics, making it one of the most expensive House races in the country this election cycle.

Cooke won by over 6 percentage points, although this election saw lower turnout for both candidates compared to the presidential election of 2024.

In his concession speech on the night of the election, the often sharp-tongued Van Orden was positive.

“Now she’s gonna represent me in Congress, and it’s incumbent upon you to make sure that you understand that and that you support her,” he said. “That’s who we are as Americans. That’s who we are as Republicans, and that’s what we’re gonna do. So I wish Rebecca Cooke the absolute very, very best.”

During the campaign, Van Orden faced criticism and an ethics complaint for using AI-generated images of Cooke in campaign materials. His 4-year stint in the U.S. House was not without controversy either, as he made headlines for reportedly cursing at Senate pages, angrily confronting Democratic staffers during a White House briefing and engaging in a public, sexually explicit feud with Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan. Before taking office, he was also accused of confronting a library worker in Prairie du Chien.

This story was funded by a grant from Press Forward’s Election Integrity Fund.

The Badger Project is an independent news nonprofit in Wisconsin.