STEVENS POINT, WI — This week, despite ongoing calls from State Rep. Katrina Shankland, Rebecca Cooke has declined the final opportunity to participate in a televised broadcast debate in advance of the August 13 Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
Cooke has consistently avoided committing to a televised Democratic primary debate at UW-La Crosse, a heralded tradition in the 3rd Congressional District. This week, she withdrew her commitment to a July 30 date after previously missing both deadlines offered by organizers. For the last month, UW-La Crosse, La Crosse area broadcasters, and the nonpartisan League of Women Voters offered many different in-person and virtual debate options to all three Democratic candidates, with a combined total of 21 hours of options over six dates in July and August. Shankland is the only candidate to respond affirmatively to every option.
Cooke’s actions mirror those of the incumbent, Radical Derrick Van Orden. Following her campaign launch last fall, Shankland has repeatedly called on Van Orden to agree to a debate; this spring, she launched her “Debate Me Derrick” website: debatemederrick.com. Last Tuesday, WisPolitics reported that Van Orden would only join a general election debate on his terms. He told WisPolitics-WisEye in an interview, “I don’t know, we’ll see, we’ll see. But I will say this—if we’re doing a debate, it’s on my terms.”
In response, Shankland said:
Rebecca Cooke just declined the last opportunity for a TV debate and the only opportunity in the primary to face the media without questions provided to candidates in advance. If she’s too inexperienced to debate other Democrats on TV, then she is too inexperienced to debate Derrick Van Orden—and she’s not ready for prime time.
Debates contribute to an informed electorate and a healthy democracy, and open, transparent broadcast debates reach the greatest number of people in the most accessible format. Nonpartisan debates offer voters the strongest insights into the candidates and the most accurate assessment of the field. Given the concerning trend of candidates from both parties who have been dodging debates recently, I’ve been tirelessly advocating for us to uphold the tradition of the broadcast debate in La Crosse.
Without a broadcast debate for the primary, how will we expect Derrick Van Orden to agree to a TV debate in the general election? Radical Derrick Van Orden has made it very clear that a general election debate in the 3rd Congressional District is up in the air after skipping them altogether in 2022. We can’t let him run from his extreme and divisive record. I’m not afraid to stand up to any candidates or politicians evading public accountability, regardless of what party they’re from. I’m prepared to debate any time, anywhere and will always put the voters of Western and Central Wisconsin first.
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