If you get to Congress, what will you do to change that?

Well, thank you so much for having me, Dana.

You know, I spent yesterday and I spent a number of days talking with students.

We have six UW campuses and universities across the third congressional district.

And that's something that I'm hearing from a lot of young people.

They're concerned about being able to get out of college and find a good paying job and pursue their version of the American dream, which for a lot of them looks like.

buying a home or that big truck.

What makes you think you can win?

Do you think, would you like to see Donald Trump, uh, in this [laughs] hotly contested district? Would that help you, or do you-

He's been there.

I mean, he's, he's come to the district.

Um, you know, Derek Van Orden campaign, uh, can't campaign on his own platform or accomplishments because he has very few of them.

He's brought in over 10 cabinet officials to my district.

He brought in RFK Jr., not to talk about the hospitals that we've seen close or rising healthcare costs, but to talk about moving milk to the top of the food pyramid.

In that same week, he brought Donald Trump to the 3rd Congressional District, um, to talk about the wins, the things that they've done for farmers, when, in fact, farmers are struggling more than e- ever, um, because of reciprocal tariff's impact on our soybeans and cranberry producers, the war in Iran, which has, um, increased input prices for diesel and fertilizer, and then the failure in expanding ACA tax credit premiums, which folks, uh, many farmers rely on the ACA for their healthcare, have seen insurance premiums go up from 400 to $1,800 a month.

Is your campaign feeling like you have an opportunity to engage people who 20 months ago voted for Donald Trump and turn them into people who v- will vote for you?

So what are you doing?

So I can tell you a story about how I sort of learned that I needed to look after myself.

We were probably a couple of years into diagnosis and she'd just been moved onto an insulin pump.

So initially we had injections and this had been stressful because again, it changes everything.

What you thought you knew, the way insulin is delivered is slightly different.

And it was very very stressful not helped by the fact that the hospital had misadvised us on how to calculate her doses we'd gone away on holiday and i was having a couple of health issues myself and my endocrinologist phoned up to talk to me about some results and i just i stood in the middle of the field when she rang and i just burst into tears and she said to me what's wrong and i said i just literally can't cope with this anymore and she said what with what's wrong with you? And I said, well, no, my daughter's diabetic and being an endocrinologist, she obviously understood what was going on.

And so she stood in this field in the middle of Devon, bawling my eyes out.

And in terms of the impact that it's had on the rest of your life, other areas of your life, if Abigail hadn't got this need for you to be there 24-7, what do you think you'd have been able to do differently? Or how do you think your life would have been different if you weren't a carer?

And I, I, I, I get the sentiment because there is to-- in some parts of this country, in some places, the backing of the DCCC is a bit of an albatross.

Mm-hmm.

Here's what I'll say is I didn't start with the backing of the DCCC.

Um, I started as somebody who had ran a small business in my hometown of Eau Claire, somebody who has been a waitress since I was 16 years old on and off most of my life, um, and worked my way to earn this sort of support.

Um, you know, I was not endorsed by the outgoing congressman in 2022.

Someone else was endorsed in that race.

In 2024, most of, uh, the establishment Democrats backed my primary opponent in that primary, yet I won that primary by nine points, and it's because we've really worked to organize regular working people all the way along.

What's your sense of that?

Why do you think the seat can be flipped?

Yeah.

I think a- again, it's about running a value-centered campaign that's pulling people together.

Um, so I think people in DC are, they're so far left or so far right and unwilling to work across the aisle to get things done.

I'm very much a moderate Blue Dog Democrat, and I'm proud of that, and I think people are looking for less chaos and division stirrers.

W- yeah, why now? Why does it feel different this time around?

So, you know, in 2024, I outperformed every Democrat on the ticket.

So I outperformed Harris by 9,000 votes.

I outperformed our senator, Tammy Baldwin, by 5,000 votes, and we did that because we really worked to show up.

In what was a red wave year, we worked to show up in rural communities and working class spaces that I feel like our party has been leaving behind.

And we were talking about issues and things that we knew were really keeping people up at night.

We were talking about the economy, we were talking about securing the border, and I think that this, in this go around, um, when I think about have things gotten better or worse, um, in talking about some of those issues, and I, we know that they've gotten worse.

Are people in your district interested in these projects?

Yeah.

But especially under the Trump administration, uh, the tariffs, especially reciprocal tariffs and how they've squeezed our soybean farmers, our cranberry growers in this district.

And then you add into the war in Iran, uh, which nobody voted for.

Uh, like, uh, Darren Van Ruden said, uh, "Folks voted for an America First agenda." Uh, they don't-- didn't vote for another foreign war that is increasing the price of diesel, that is increasing, uh, fertilizer prices.

And then finally, healthcare.

Um, you know, when I was growing up, we didn't have health insurance.

If my mom got a job off the farm that allowed us to have it, it was great.

Yeah

It's still nothing but a couple of paragraphs on a webpage.

That's exactly right.

Um, you know, I think people in where I live are really struggling to get the health- not just the healthcare access that they need, but to be able to afford it in general.

And so I think, you know, what we saw from the House this past week in expanding ACA tax credits, um, hopefully for another three years, if the Senate passed it, passes it, it's still another band-aid.

Uh, but with Trump's suggestion just to put some money into an HSA account, I think is totally out of touch of what it actually costs for healthcare in this country.

Um, I'm on the Affordable Care Act.

I've seen my, um, my monthly premium increase by $200 a month.

What, what do you make of this?

So, uh, do you think the tide is shifting?

Absolutely.

I mean, I think that you can just see it in the way that people have been active, um, since the last election.

I mean, folks are protesting in our communities, like, at least once a week, right, all across this district, and showing up, uh, in big numbers.

And they're doing that on top of, you know, caring for their aging parents or making sure that their kids are getting off to soccer practice.

They're finding the extra time to really exercise their voices.

And so, um, I, you know, I certainly think that we're gonna see the tides turn, um, when it comes to, to 2026.

As you say, not just what you're opposing, but what are you gonna do?

It's kind of everyone in the area.

No, that's exactly right, and p- I, you know, I, part of why I stepped up to run for Congress is to increase healthcare access and affordability.

And while I've been running, we've had two major hospitals close in my hometown of Eau Claire, which has been really dramatic in people's ability to be able to get, uh, the care that they need, and that has a ripple effect.

And with the passing of this legislation, we're going to see more rural hospitals close.

We're gonna see the access to care get even worse.

Um, and I think it's really shortsighted on Republicans' part to what's gonna really happen, um, to people's lives.

I mean, people are going to die because of the, the passage of this bill.

Your SNAP beneficiaries are getting it, and your farmers are getting it.

So, that's what we're cutting SNAP for, that's what we're cutting Medicaid for, that's what we're now thinking about cutting Medicare for, to pay for almost $5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy.

Absolutely.

And when that's, that's the difference.

Um, this administration is being run by oligarchs.

People like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, they haven't had to choose between paying their rent or paying their groceries.

And regular people, when they go over their budget-...

they get overdraft fees.

Yes, they're not favors.

The fact that constituents are being heard by somebody seems to count for a lot.

No, I- you know, I think it really does.

I think there's a lot of chaos and a lack of stability that has people really very worried.

Um, you know, in my district, there's senior citizens and folks that are protesting every Wednesday in Eau Claire about their concerns about medic- cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.

And people are really showing up.

Um, those crowds continue to grow each week, and it's really clear that people like Derek Van Orden, who has failed to show up at any sort of town hall or to address his constituents, um, in person, want to cozy up to caviar conservatives, people like Donald Trump, and we'll see how that plays out for him next November.

We're gonna find other markets for them."

No, absolutely, and you know, I think in particular it's gonna have a real impact on our agricultural communities and on farmers.

All right, so as you can see, he's not there. The residents of Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District directed questions to an empty chair reserved for Congressman Van Orden. Our next guest is the Democrat, uh, Rebecca Cook. She lost to Congressman Van Orden by just two points in 2024. Last week, Rebecca Cook announced that she's running against Van Orden in 2026 in Wisconsin's 3rd District. And I, I'm gonna hope he's gonna show up for some meetings, uh, when, when you're running against him. This is quite something, Rebecca. It's, it's just, it's s- I mean, it's, uh, the Republicans were not doing things, they're not showing up. People want to talk to their elected representatives, and that is their right in America.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's been an utter failure, uh, of leadership on, on Derek Van Orden's part. Um, and that's part of the reason why I was getting into this race here, uh, in March and getting in early is I think that we have to really hold people like Derek Van Orden and this administration accountable and to hold his feet to the fire. And there's been not just today, but a number of opportunities for Derek Van Orden to engage with his constituents, and he's failed to do so. Um, and that's a big part of the job of being a member of Congress is showing up and listening to people. And so, you know, we have, as you probably know, a very important Supreme Court race, uh, happening here on April 1st in our spring elections. And so it's all gas, no breaks until then. But I'm gonna be hosting opportunities for people around this district to be able to have community conversations, to be talking about, um, the things that Derek Van Orden is voting for and how it's impacting them and the big, uh, the big things that this administration has been doing that's been a real detriment to working families in this district.

Yeah.

... uh, than you might see in some of your interviews. So I just got done waitressing. I work at a restaurant in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I grew up working class, and I'm still working class. Um, I grew up on a dairy farm in this district. And, you know, I, I think to, to Derek Van Orden's point, um, he's not showing up to listen to working families. The people that are showing up at these town halls are people that work regular jobs like I do. They're waitresses, they're small business owners, they're union workers, they're farmers, and they're looking for answers, and, and he's not providing them. And so, you know, I think that we need to, uh, continue to recruit regular people off the sidelines that understand what working families are struggling with and that are gonna fight like hell, uh, to expand the middle class. And I think that that's our, our duty to be doing right now. Um, and people are, are fearful with a lot of the things that are happening, um, and they're screwing with people's lives. And I think it's an opportunity for us as Democrats, uh, to really show solidarity and leadership, um, and to get out there and hold these folks accountable.