Democrats vying for western Wisconsin House seat won't hold TV debate

WASHINGTON – You might’ve heard them online, but you won’t see the three Democrats vying for a battleground western Wisconsin House seat debate on TV this year.

Plans for the only television broadcast debate in the Democratic primary for the state’s 3rd Congressional District fell through this month after debate organizers said two of the candidates could not agree on slew of proposed dates and times.

Organizers with La Crosse’s debate coalition, a group that has organized past televised debates in the district, said they tried for nearly two months to arrange a debate, but Rebecca Cooke, a small business owner who ran for the seat in 2022, and Eric Wilson were unable to agree on a date.

Stevens Point State Rep. Katrina Shankland, meanwhile, accepted every proposed debate time.

“We spent nearly 6 weeks going back and forth with the candidates trying to figure something out, but we were obviously unsuccessful,” said Anthony Chergosky, a University of Wisconsin La-Crosse political science professor and member of the debate coalition, which includes the university, local media and the League of Women Voters.

“The debate ain’t happening,” he told the Journal Sentinel.

The developments mean voters in the purple 3rd Congressional District will not see a televised debate before the Aug. 13 Democratic primary for the seat. The winner of the primary will face freshman Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in November.

Chergosky said organizers offered the candidates about 20 time slots across six days in July and August to hold a debate, but either Cooke or Wilson rejected the proposed times or later backed out after initially accepting.

Cooke and Wilson both noted all three candidates participated in forums across the district in April, May, June and July hosted by 3rd Congressional District Democrats and streamed by Civic Media. The candidates participated in another forum last December.

But Shankland has pushed for a televised debate, pointing out she accepted every debate offer, and singled out Cooke as “not ready for prime time.”

Cooke’s campaign this week told the Journal Sentinel that they “encountered difficulty finding a time when all three candidates were available.” When organizers attempted to arrange a debate between only Shankland and Cooke on a date both women had agreed to weeks prior, Cooke’s campaign said that date no longer worked. Attempts to arrange a virtual broadcast debate were similarly unsuccessful.

“With only 14 days to go until the Primary Election… we are focused on ensuring that we can speak directly with as many voters as possible and have already filled our schedule to achieve that,” a Cooke spokesperson said.

While attacks over debates are nothing new, the back-and-forth in the 3rd Congressional District hints at a change of tone from last cycle’s primary. During 2022’s televised Democratic primary debate, in which Cooke participated, candidates largely avoided attacking each other. Rather, they kept their focus on Van Orden.

This week, Shankland attacked Cooke over the debate dispute and speculated that rejecting a televised debate would make it more difficult to get Van Orden to agree to a debate during the general election — something Democrats unsuccessfully tried to do last cycle.

“Without a broadcast debate for the primary, how will we expect Derrick Van Orden to agree to a TV debate in the general election?” Shankland said.

Shankland’s debate push comes as Cooke holds a large fundraising edge in the primary.

As of the end of last month, Cooke reported raising $1.8 million and had more than $1 million in cash on hand. Shankland reported raising about $798,000 over the same period and had $342,136 in her war chest. Wilson, meanwhile, has raised $127,000 and had just $45,000 in cash on hand.

Van Orden’s latest campaign finance report showed he raised $4.6 million so far this cycle. He had $2.3 million in cash on hand.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrats vying for western Wisconsin House seat won't hold TV debate